Thu, 21 December 2006 variety is the spice of writing
Over the weekend I completed the edits on “Bone Mother” as requested by Paul Tremblay, the co-editor of the Fantasy anthology (and Fantasy Magazine). It was a painless process, because the suggestions were mostly wise and useful. I used the opportunity to correct a couple of small errors that a friend pointed out.
On Monday [...]
Fri, 13 October 2006 one for the calendar
IFTN mentions an event that should interest Irish screenwriters, playwrights, and film aficionados.
A new play by New York playwright and Oscar-winning screenwriter John Patrick Shanley (Moonstruck, Alive) will debut in Ireland on Thursday 26th October at the Abbey Theatre. The Tony-winning play is called Doubt, and is set in a Bronx Catholic school in [...]
Wed, 17 May 2006 hike to your theatre
Tonight I attended the Druid Theatre Company’s version of the John B. Keane play, The Year of the Hiker. It was originally produced in 1963, and this Druid production is the final instalment of a trilogy of Keane’s plays that the company has tackled (Sharon’s Grave (2003) and Sive (2002)).
Recently, I’ve been making a concerted [...]
Tue, 02 May 2006 the price of a pint dictates all
Hurray, it’s May!
I was away a lot in April, hence the absence of entries. Last month was unpredictable, rather like our famous Spring weather, and I’m glad it’s over.
That last sentence evokes in my mind T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland in two ways:
April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixingMemory and [...]
Tue, 18 April 2006 We are all born mad. Some remain so.
Samuel Beckett is the type of dramatist that people love or hate. Some see his theatre as an elitist, alienating joke, while others view it as truth unveiled in minimalist simplicity.
Here in Ireland there have been a huge number of events–on television, in the cinema, on the radio, in the theatres, and in exhibitions–this [...]
Wed, 22 March 2006 all the world’s a play
On Monday night I attended the premier of The Walworth Farce by Irish playwright Edna Walsh. It’s a Druid Theatre production, directed by Mikel Murfi, and starring Syan Blake, Denis Conway, Garrett Lombard and Aaron Monaghan. The play reminds me of a quote by Shakespeare from his excellent comedy, As you Like It:
“All the [...]
Fri, 17 March 2006 star light, star bright
I’ve been reading The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri recently. It’s one of those books that writers tend to lavish praise upon, so it’s been on my “to read” list for some time.
The first chapter on premise is particularly good, and pretty much echoes the conventional advice I’ve gleaned about how to start [...]
