Our annual New Theatre New Writing Week showcases the best scripts from up and coming writers in Ireland.
BOOKING INFO
This event is from 6.30 – 8.30pm each evening and ticket holders must attend both the scenes and the readings. Tickets must be collected by 6.25pm, or they will be released to a standby list.
New Writing Week cast ensemble includes: Steve Blount, Patrick J Byrnes, Sue Collins, Barbara Dempsey, Ethan Dillon, Phelim Drew, Ruairí Heading, Cal Kenealy, Gus McDonagh, Edel Murphy, Ally Ní Chiarain, Michael Patrick, Geraldine Plunkett, Roseanna Purcell, Daniel Reardon
Directors: Caroline FitzGerald, Anthony Fox, Claire O’Reilly and Cathal McGuire
Monday 13th Nov:
6.30pm:
15 min excerpts from Daddy by Daniel O’Brien, Black Cherry by Krystal Sweedman & Waking The Land by Jessica Freed, directed by Anthony Fox
7.30pm:
The Monday BC by Shane Gaffney, directed by Cathal McGuire (dur. 50 mins)
Long-dead prophets Moses, Isaiah and Ezekiel are ill at ease in eternal paradise. Having received urgent summons to a boardroom in a corporate heaven, they are informed that their preaching and scriptural writing have placed God in a precarious position in his competition with the rival gods for believers. In addition, God Himself has been overdoing the smiting. A new prophet is due, and it is the task of the three veterans to devise a business pitch that will reverse Judaism’s flagging fortunes; questions are raised over the possibility of going Polytheistic to better compete with their rivals, the logistics of miracle-working, and potential revisions to established scripture. Should the prophets fail, God will have them cast down to hell.
Tuesday 14th Nov:
6.30pm:
15 min excepts from Hotel Eirene by Christopher Moore, The Bull: Death of a Ladiez Man by Jim Connell-Moylan & World Perfect by James Ireland, directed by Anthony Fox
7.30pm:
Giddyup’s Way by Ciara Cassoni, directed by Caroline FitzGerald (dur. 60 mins)
What happens when life throws us an unexpected curve ball and how do
we react? Are we better together or do we fall apart?
Joe and Saoirse’s stay at The Paradise Hotel is a whole new beginning for them. But
do they even want it? Joe is determined to put the past behind them and look to the
future but this is easier said than done and Saoirse can’t help but hold on to history.
Recriminations and fear creep in. Then they meet fellow hotel resident Daniel who
sets everyone on edge. What is he hiding? Does Nuala, the Front of House Manager
know more about Daniel than she is letting on? One thing is for sure, this is no
holiday.
Wednesday 15th Nov:
6.30pm:
15 min excerpts from A Certain Kind of Man by Gavin Turtle, Chemistry by Anne Anderson & DIRT by Nadine Flynn, directed by Anthony Fox
7.30pm:
The Toastmaster by Brendan Griffin, directed by Claire O’Reilly (dur. 50 mins)
Declan, a middle-aged family man is in turmoil. As a result of his father’s imminent death from cancer Declan is confronted with his involvement as a thirteen-year-old in causing his sister’s drowning. In order to confirm his guilt Declan must seek the full truth of that tragic day from his father who in turn claims total responsible for what happened. Declan’s wife argues that he is not giving their Leaving Certificate wayward son enough supervising. In his troubled state, seemingly in order to be able to deliver his father’s eulogy, Declan takes on the huge challenge of becoming a toastmaster.
ABOUT THE SCENES
Daddy by Daniel O’Brien
Daddy is set in a very little, very tiny house situated at the very edge of a faraway city known as TownTown. When local window cleaner Celeste enters the house, apparently called there for a job, he is greeted with suspicion. There are no windows in the very little, very tiny house and Celeste soon discovers that he is about to have great responsibility thrust upon him. Daddy is an absurd drama about power, belonging, purpose, and those times when you wish reality was a little less real.
Black Cherry by Krystal Sweedman
Leonie is a sex coach with a mission. Make sure her daughter April is so well informed, nothing bad will ever happen to her. Paul, Leonie’s husband, is trying to be a good man; a good husband, a good father, but no matter what he does, he can’t erase what he has done. No. What people think he’s done. April has been avoiding her mother’s calls for months, an action which is very unlike her. When Leonie tracks her down to see what is wrong she has everything she believes challenged. Black Cherry is a play about sex education, misinformation, autonomy and violence.
Waking the Land by Jessica Freed
Based on a little-known story, concerning three well-known Republican women, who were at the forefront of the Revolutionary period in Ireland, during the early 20th Century – Constance Markievicz, Maud Gonne MacBride and Kathleen Clarke. In 1918, the British manufactured what became known as ‘The German Plot’ – a ruse by which they round up over 100 Republican activists, incarcerating them without charge or trial. These three women were among them.
Hotel Eirene by Christopher Moore
Laura and Tim find themselves sharing a hotel room at a holiday resort, alternating between bickering and playful affection, as they wait for their unwell mother to finally put in an appearance and emerge from her own room. As Laura amuses herself with excursions to the nearby town, Tim meets and strikes up a flirtation with handsome fellow holidaymaker Brendan, and the pair quickly become close. But their newfound bond comes under threat as Tim finds himself on edge from the repeated and increasingly intrusive attempts of a local taxi driver to tout them for business. As Brendan and Laura try to get to the bottom of his stressed reaction, Tim starts to take his frustrations and anxieties out on them both- finally leading to devastating realisations about both the siblings’ past, and the true nature of their current holiday.
The Bull: Death of a Ladiez Man by Jim-Connell Moylan
A husband and wife looking for fun, friendship, and maybe more. A stranger walks into their back garden and stays for dinner. Things take a turn for the worse. The Bull is a play about information, deception, and the family unit.
World Perfect by James Ireland
Four brothers live in a lawless zone. Marc and Daniel vie for power over each other as Whiteman’s number two – with the spectre of their outcast brother looming large. But this is a dangerous game, and it turns out it is not only Whiteman who is merciless.
A Certain Kind of Man by Gavin Turtle
Dave is dead. Bullet holes usually have that effect on a man. Joe’s still alive, but that could change at any moment as he investigates his friend’s death. And then there’s Sarah. She only wants what’s best for her brother, honestly, which is difficult because he has no idea what’s best for himself. Maybe their father can talk some sense into him before it’s too late. The only problem is they haven’t spoken in five years. And Dave? Well, Dave is just glad that the hard part is over.
Set in present day Belfast, A Certain Kind of Man is a play about guilt, responsibility and the afterlife.
Chemistry by Anne Anderson
Tríona has just been dumped. She embarks on a journey in the hope of finding love again and discovers that virtual compatibility does not always mean compatibility in reality…
DIRT by Nadine Flynn
DIRT is a work in development by playwright Nadine Flynn. DIRT offers a glimpse into the lives of Dublin’s homeless. Through moments of wit and charming relationships, it examines the current homeless crisis and the affect this has on rough sleepers. DIRT aims to offer a new perspective, and bring some humanity to the homeless on our streets.
ABOUT THE WRITERS
Shane Gaffney
Shane, 21, is a recent graduate of the BA with Creative Writing course in NUIG. In his college years he developed a passion for theatre that began with the Galway University Musical Society. He has performed in various Dramsoc shows such as Endgame, The Lonesome West and Of Mice and Men and recently co-directed the short play cycle Autobahn. Outside of college he has written, directed and performed as part of the Theatre Room Galway. Current projects include a trilogy of spoof sci-fi short plays and several short film screenplays. This is the first full-length play he has written. He is thrilled to have this opportunity to work with The New Theatre.
Ciara Cassoni
Giddyup’s Way is Ciara’s second play and her first full length piece. She won the Best New Playwright Award and the Best Actress Award at the Cork Arts Theatre Writers Week in 2014 with her first play Dope – a bittersweet one act comedy. Ciara is a member of The Ramor Playwriting Group, in the Ramor Theatre, Virginia which was set up by Actor and Director Padraic McIntyre in November 2016. It was here that the idea for Giddyuo’s Way first started to grow. Ciara works as a Dramatherapist and Drama Facilitator with young people in Dublin and Meath.
Brendan Griffin
Brendan Griffin lives in Midleton, Co Cork. His stage credits include “The Leaving” Barnstorm, “Home Talk From Abroad” Everyman, Cork, and “Naked Photographs of My Mother” Fishamble, Tiny Plays 2. He was a member of toastmasters for a number of years.
Daniel O’Brien
Daniel has been involved in theatre in Dublin for the last five years acting, directing, producing, and writing. Daddy is his third original play script, following Nowhere Now (produced by At Large Theatre, Smock Alley Scene & Heard 2016/Edinburgh Fringe 2016) and June (devised with and produced by Gorgeous, Player’s Theatre, 2017). Daniel has also written and produced a number of short plays with both No Drama Theatre and At Large Theatre and an early version of Daddy was presented in a showcase produced by At Large Theatre at The Complex, Dublin, in summer 2016.
Krystal Sweedman
Krystal Sweedman is an Australian playwright, currently residing in Dublin, Ireland. In Dublin she’s presented work during The Provoke Festival in November 2016. 2015 saw two of Krystal’s plays produced in Brisbane, her first full length play, Sunnytown (at La Boîte Theatre Company) and her theatrical adaptation of Angela Carter’s short story the Tiger’s Bride (the Loft Theatre), The Tiger’s Bride was also restaged at the Australian Theatre for Young People, in November 2016. In 2014, Krystal co-adapted Schubert’s Winterreise (NIDA), was shortlisted for the Edward Albee Playwriting Scholar Award, and was a writer on the I-Cinema Amnesia project, presented in Sydney and the UK. After being selected for ATYP’s National Studio, her monologue ‘Sunrise Set’ was included in their production Out of Place in 2013, and published by Currency Press. Krystal completed a MFA in Dramatic Arts (Writing for Performance) at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 2013. Prior to NIDA, Krystal completed a duel degree of Business Management and Arts (Majoring in Drama and Psychology) at the University of Queensland.
Jessica Freed
Jessica appeared in two productions with the National Youth Theatre, before going on to train at the Gaiety School of Acting. She has since worked on a number of productions, across a wide spectrum – including stage, screen, Theatre-in-Education, street theatre and voiceovers. She is also a highly experienced role-player. Theatre roles include ‘Margaret’, in Charlotte Keatley’s award-winning My Mother Said I Never Should at the Viking Theatre and A Titter of Wit – a revue of two hundred years of the best of Irish comic writing – at the Irish Writers Centre, ‘Linda’ in Robin French’s award-winning play, Bear Hug and ‘Ma’ in Mark Wale’s surreal comedy, Bad Sunday (both at Bewley’s Café Theatre), ‘Kate’ in Christina Reid’s Joyriders at the New Theatre, ‘Maureen’ in Willy Russell’s Stags and Hens in Andrews’ Lane Theatre and ‘Mrs. O’Leary’ in Bernard Farrell’s play, One, Two, Three O’Leary, with Barnstorm Theatre Co. Most recently, Jessica played 1916 widow and revolutionary, ‘Kathleen Clarke’, in the IFTA award-winning TG4 docu-drama, Cumann na mBan, Mná na Réabhloide. It was this role that inspired Jessica to write her first play, Waking the Land. Other television work includes Fair City (RTE) My Life’s a Jungle (RTE2), Custer’s Last Stand-Up (RTE/BBC), Fomhar Searbh, Geimhreadh Geal (TG4) and Saol Eile, Scéal Eile (TG4).
Christopher Moore
Christopher is a graduate of English from Queen’s University Belfast (2007-2011), and of the MA in TV Fiction Writing at Glasgow Caledonian University (2015-2016). An alumnus of the Curtis Brown Creative novel-writing course (2013), he completed the Fireworks programme for young writers with Tinderbox Theatre Company in 2014. In May 2017, he had a play performed as part of Off The Cliff theatre’s ‘Metamorphoses’ festival at the Bread & Roses in London, and had a short story accepted for the Octagon Theatre’s ‘Best of Bolton’ day on 11 November 2017. During his time at GCU, Christopher wrote theatre reviews for the student magazine The Edit, and currently edits and contributes to the theatre review blog Scene Docs. Since his final year at Queen’s, he has also volunteered on a regular basis for War on Want charity bookshop in Belfast.
Jim Connell-Moylan
Jim is a theatre-maker and recent graduate of Trinity College Dublin, Drama & Theatre Studies and Film Studies. Recent credits as an actor include Swing (ISDA Festival 2017, TCD Rose Garden) and Love+, The New Tenant, and pool (no water) in the Samuel Beckett Theatre. The Bull is his first full length piece of writing.
James Ireland
James Ireland is a trans* writer and theatre-maker living in London and Dublin. James’ writing credits include The Elephant (Fringe Arts Bath 2017), Balsamic Vignettes (The Space @Jury’s Inn, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016, co-writer), Mercury (New Theatre Dublin, 2016), Fireplay (New Theatre, 2015), Lacey (The Players Theatre Dublin, 2013), The Dispersal of Wildflowers (White Lady Art Dublin, 2013), and a number of site-specific venues including Trinity College Printing House (Radio Plays, 2016) and Trinity Rose Garden Theatre (Mythfest, 2014). They have worked as a dramaturg on productions including The David Fragments after Bertolt Brecht (Samuel Beckett Theatre, 2017), The Believers (Samuel Beckett Theatre, 2016), and Information for Foreigners (Samuel Beckett Centre, 2016).
Gavin Turtle
Gavin Turtle is a writer from Belfast. He has been writing short stories for years but writing short stories is a solitary business and he was becoming increasingly in need of human contact. He recently began writing for the stage and film, first performing his own monologue ‘ACID’ for Pan Narrans’ Ghost Stories in 2015 and shooting his first short film ‘A Conversation’ in 2016. His first full-length play, ‘A Certain Kind of Man’ was shortlisted for the Lyric Theatre’s New Playwrights Programme 2017.
Anne Anderson
Anne has worked with local groups in the past most recently performing with Upstate Theatre in the Drogheda Arts Festival 2017.
Her work has been dramatised for radio, most recently a four part drama which was made with funding assistance from the BAI. Her short play Catch! was performed at Dundalk Writers festival in August 2017.
Nadine Flynn
Nadine graduated from The Lir Academy of Dramatic Art in 2015 with an MFA in Playwriting. There she studied under the guidance of Graham Whybrow of the Royal Court, and guest mentors, including Gavin Kostick and Conor McPherson. During her time there, Nadine workshopped three plays, The Price of Tea, With The Wild Wolves, workshopped alongside Conor McPherson for a 6 week period and Running With Dinosaurs, a rehearsed reading directed by David Horan, as part of Scripted, the end of year Playwriting showcase.
Since graduating she has had a rehearsed reading of Running With Dinosaurs in Smock Alley as part of Scene + Heard festival 2016 which went to a successful two week run in The New Theatre. Nadine’s play Patrick was also staged as part of The New Irish Playbook. Most recently, her play Polar Night enjoyed a successful run in the Dublin Fringe Festival 2017.
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