Galloping Buck Jones (1994)

I first met Frederick Edward "Buck" Jones in the pages of Weston St. John Joyce's book The Neighbourhood of Dublin, and I was delighted to make the acquaintance of such a romantic, slightly heroic, chap with connections in 18th century theatre and law-enforcement.  During the run-up to "Dublin, European City of Culture" i.e. late 1990 - early 1991, I had a couple of conversations with Martin Murphy about "things we could do", and the Buck Jones story was one possibility that I suggested.  We didn't have the opportunity to pursue Buck any further on that occasion, but a while later I saw Tinderbox performing Can't Pay, Won't Pay, by Dario Fo, and I was delighted with the quick changes which Dan Gordon, in particular, carried out with such flair.  The production set me thinking about how Buck and his nemesis, Larry Clinch, might be played by the same actor, and I was doomed.
In 1993, I presented the script for Galloping Buck Jones to Tinderbox: they seemed the right people for the job.  They loved it and staged a rehearsed reading, directed by David Grant, at the Old Museum.  They then had to go away and think about whether they could give the play a full production.  There was a day in the coffee-room in the Old Museum, when I was talking to Paddy McCoey about The Narrow Ground at one table, while the Tinderbox crew held a meeting at another table.  There was a bit of chat and banter, and then we each got on with our respective businesses.  What I didn't know at the time was that the Tinderboxers were discussing Galloping Buck Jones, and (I think) deciding to produce it, while I sat ten feet away, oblivious.  The show was staged in 1994 as a Tinderbox/Lyric Theatre Belfast co-production.
While writing this play, my fiction grew up and around the character of Buck, giving him a baby son who was spirited away to the wilds of Donegal after the death of Sarah Devlin, an unfortunate woman who got herself shot for Larry Clinch's sake.   More doom: five years later, after the birth of my own son, I knew I had to go back and find the baby, hence The Hunt for Red Willie, but that's another story.
see http://www.tinderbox.org.uk/ from whom I lifted the poster image (sorry), or see http://www.flickr.com/photos/tinderboxtheatre/4016819372/ for a full-size version; and http://www.irishplayography.com/ for cast and other credits, and script.