Let's Get This Show Off The Road.
It's the last day of the play's tour today and the third of three sell-out shows in Dublin. I actually got to see it in the Project Arts Centre (which is a great venue, by the way) as a friend of mine (thanks Kate) had a spare ticket for the first night and I could just about stretch to the coach fare.
The room was full and the crowd young and buoyant. They laughed a lot. I thought a Dublin crowd would be cool and "impress me" - its a big theatre town after all, and they take their drama seriously, but no, they were totally with it, willing it on. I've never seen the see-sawing mood of the piece, the laughs followed by the punch to the stomach work quite so effectively. A lot of that was down to the enthusiasm of the audience but equally it was down to the cleverness and simplicity of Rhiann's direction (it was both and that's really always what you want) and to Simon's performance, which was incredible. His voice was road hardened and crackled like pig skin and he moved about the stage like a mad animal, pacing back and forth, shaking his head. He gave a sense of being doomed to have to give the performance he gave - there was no escape for him, no reprieve.
I often wonder what its like for an actor in a longish engagement, whether there's a point that it becomes meaningless cant and you glide by on your tongue's muscle memory, framing familiar shapes, making impressive noises that hit the back of the hall. Or is it an ongoing investigation, a constant re-calibration of the text and its effects, hunting down the perfecting combination of words and actions. Watching Simon's performance earlier in the week its hard to believe its the former. The detail and the effort were extraordinary; it was sophisticated and thrillingly human.
It was humbling, really. I really loved watching it. The Production Manager, sat at the other side of the theatre, said she could hear me laughing at my own jokes all the way through, and while I'm used to being a cheer-leader for my own work, it was unnecessary here - the audience knew when to laugh. Also, they weren't really my jokes any more - Simon had found ways to to stretch them out, to tease better laughs out of them than I'd written. Its the way he tells 'em.
Tonight the play does its last turn in Dublin. Its had brilliant reviews in papers that I have actually heard of, I've done an awful lot of telephone interviews (for me - having never done any before). I've been on the radio to actually talk about my own work and not just to discuss children's homework and is it ever alright to swear in front of a pet with Vinnie Hurrell. Its been a brilliant experience. As to what happens now I don't know but I'm hoping its not the last the world has heard of Malachy: there are a couple of lines I'd still cut!
My endless thanks to Rhiann Jeffrey for having the patience and forbearance to sculpt the play into its ultimate shape. She really has been a dream to work with, despite her face BETRAYING NO EMOTION at any time! And I'd also like to thank her for calling me "a good man" in a Facebook post: literally no one has ever said that about me before and my eyes glittered with salt tears! Thank you, Rhiann: you are a good woman!
I'd also like to thank for Prime Cut for seeing the play for what it was and bringing it back for this second iteration. I'm so pleased it got a chance be seen again, stripped back and naked. It really, really worked this time around. As always with PC it looked and sounded amazing: Ciaran and Sarah are both geniuses. And I got to have a play on in Dublin! And Sligo, where my mum is from.
She didn't go. I don't think she's been back home for fifty years. But it was nice, regardless.
And finally thanks to Simon O' Gorman as Malachy. Who was Malachy. You were just wonderful, mate. Thank you for giving me a chance to laugh at all my own jokes again.
The room was full and the crowd young and buoyant. They laughed a lot. I thought a Dublin crowd would be cool and "impress me" - its a big theatre town after all, and they take their drama seriously, but no, they were totally with it, willing it on. I've never seen the see-sawing mood of the piece, the laughs followed by the punch to the stomach work quite so effectively. A lot of that was down to the enthusiasm of the audience but equally it was down to the cleverness and simplicity of Rhiann's direction (it was both and that's really always what you want) and to Simon's performance, which was incredible. His voice was road hardened and crackled like pig skin and he moved about the stage like a mad animal, pacing back and forth, shaking his head. He gave a sense of being doomed to have to give the performance he gave - there was no escape for him, no reprieve.
I often wonder what its like for an actor in a longish engagement, whether there's a point that it becomes meaningless cant and you glide by on your tongue's muscle memory, framing familiar shapes, making impressive noises that hit the back of the hall. Or is it an ongoing investigation, a constant re-calibration of the text and its effects, hunting down the perfecting combination of words and actions. Watching Simon's performance earlier in the week its hard to believe its the former. The detail and the effort were extraordinary; it was sophisticated and thrillingly human.
It was humbling, really. I really loved watching it. The Production Manager, sat at the other side of the theatre, said she could hear me laughing at my own jokes all the way through, and while I'm used to being a cheer-leader for my own work, it was unnecessary here - the audience knew when to laugh. Also, they weren't really my jokes any more - Simon had found ways to to stretch them out, to tease better laughs out of them than I'd written. Its the way he tells 'em.
Tonight the play does its last turn in Dublin. Its had brilliant reviews in papers that I have actually heard of, I've done an awful lot of telephone interviews (for me - having never done any before). I've been on the radio to actually talk about my own work and not just to discuss children's homework and is it ever alright to swear in front of a pet with Vinnie Hurrell. Its been a brilliant experience. As to what happens now I don't know but I'm hoping its not the last the world has heard of Malachy: there are a couple of lines I'd still cut!
My endless thanks to Rhiann Jeffrey for having the patience and forbearance to sculpt the play into its ultimate shape. She really has been a dream to work with, despite her face BETRAYING NO EMOTION at any time! And I'd also like to thank her for calling me "a good man" in a Facebook post: literally no one has ever said that about me before and my eyes glittered with salt tears! Thank you, Rhiann: you are a good woman!
I'd also like to thank for Prime Cut for seeing the play for what it was and bringing it back for this second iteration. I'm so pleased it got a chance be seen again, stripped back and naked. It really, really worked this time around. As always with PC it looked and sounded amazing: Ciaran and Sarah are both geniuses. And I got to have a play on in Dublin! And Sligo, where my mum is from.
She didn't go. I don't think she's been back home for fifty years. But it was nice, regardless.
And finally thanks to Simon O' Gorman as Malachy. Who was Malachy. You were just wonderful, mate. Thank you for giving me a chance to laugh at all my own jokes again.
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