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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 1964. Following the premier of the play there will be a free post-show event, which will start around 9.30pm. Oscar nominated Irish writer/director Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In America) will be “In Conversation” with John Patrick Shanley, and the two men will discuss the play, Hollywood, and filmmaking. It should be an event well…
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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 world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts,” I’ll note upfront that I don’t attend the theatre regularly, although it is an art form that I enjoy. There is much to like about The Walworth Farce,…
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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 a project: make sure your premise (or concept) is solid. This is partly why the progress bar on the right has not advanced, because I’m worrying at my concept. I don’t want to advance further into the outline stage until I’m certain about my central concept. In the meantime I’ve written another piece of…
