Welcome to the Big Green Apple Blog Site!

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BGA launch - me and George

The Big Green Apple is a theatre collaboration between the Attic Studio in Dublin (www.theatticstudio.net) and Origin’s 1st Irish in New York (www.1stirish.org).

In September (2013) ‘The Big Green Apple’ kicked off. Attic Studio members were given one week to write, produce and stage plays based around a given topic, this year it was ‘With Love From…’.

After a final selection process which took place in the Liberty Hall Theatre Dublin, five of those pieces were chosen to be staged this September at the Times Square Arts Center on 22nd and 23rd Sept as part of the 1st Irish. This process was closely documented by TG4’s arts show Imeall. See link: https://vimeo.com/78157074

The pieces that will be staged in New York are:

Jane Mulcahy ‘After the Eulogy’

Aisling McLaughlin ‘Waiting for Ebbets’

Paul Kennedy ‘Till the Ocean is Hung Out to Dry’

Órla Mc Govern ‘Kitchen’

Karl O’Neill ‘Where Have All The Roses Gone?’

Follow the journey by reading the Background of the project as well as the individual playwright’s stories (see links on the right hand side of the page).

 

 

last years BGA image

 

 

 

The present!

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So now you are up to date (read the ‘Background of the project’ blog which brings you through the adventures of the last year and details ‘What Is The Big Green Apple!’).

As I sit here working on press releases and more call-outs for sponsorship and accommodation in New York (massive thanks to the New York Irish Center who kindly put our accommodation call-out on their Facebook page and we’ve already had one person mail us :)), I spotted that the tickets are now on sale for the show in New York as part of the 1st Irish festival, and the event page is live!! How exciting…. Check it out:

The Big Green Apple at the 1st Irish Festival

 

Testimonials

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I want to acknowledge the excellent work which has taken place with some of Ireland’s emerging writers under the guidance of the teams of professional theatre directors who have collaborated to create some 10 new plays, 5 of which have been selected for staging in New York as part of the 1st Irish festival this September

Louise Purcell on behalf of Heather Humphreys, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht

 

The Big Green Apple project provides a very important international showcase in one of the most important theatre capitals to some of our most promising new writers

Ray Yeates (Arts Office, DCC & Big Green Apple judge)

 

I was one of the judges for the ten short plays commissioned by Attic productions last Autumn.

It was an exciting evening of Theatre, a good idea followed through with flair and aplomb.

Yvonne and Camille are doing excellent work in the promotion of new writing and deserving of all support possible in bringing the five plays that made it through the process to New York.

I would love to see them and the playwrights and the fully revised and extended plays have the opportunity to travel and show the work.

I fully support their application and wish them every success in realising this project that they have all worked so hard on.

With every good wish

Marina Carr (Playwright & Big Green Apple judge)

 

The Big Green Apple was a highly organised, creative event into which I was invited as a Director. It’s format challenged actors, directors and writers to think on their feet, to think outside the box and to dig deep for creative resources. It could provide no better shake-up for such artists looking for a challenge. The venture’s support team went to no end of trouble to ensure that the artists had whatever they needed and that the technical and performance elements went smoothly. It is encouraging to see that already there are plans to hone and adjust the formula; they’re responding to feedback and will make an already successful event better with time. The American leg of the venture lends real meaning and incentive to all concerned and should be supported as a true seedbed of future growth.

Paul Brennan (Big Green Apple Director)

 

As Overall Director of The Big Green Apple’s Dublin presentation I found the creativity, writing, directing and acting to be of very high calibre. The structure, format and process for its inaugural outing bodes well for its future development. The Big Green Apple is a real and important opportunity for Irish theatre makers to showcase their work in Ireland and the U.S. I will pay particular mention to its co-producers Camille Donegan and Yvonne Ussher for their initiation, care, diligence and producer savvy that was the core to its overall success. And of course to George Heslin, Artistic Director of First Irish Festival New York for his vision, passion and support.

The Big Green Apple has the potential to stake its place on the Irish/American cultural map

Raymond Keane
(Artistic Director of Barabbas Theatre Company & overall director of The Big Green Apple)

 

The arts are an essential part of our world through which we can
imagine a better future for everybody. The Attic Studio and the Big
Green Apple are a group of creative, talented people making the world
a better place through the excellent, imaginative and exciting work
they create and through the incredible and unique support and
opportunities they provide for many different artists. Long may this
work continue.
Mary Moynihan, Artistic Director, Smashing Times Theatre Company

Playwright Órla Mc Govern’s story

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The Spark

“The journey of an idea has always been both fascinating and important to me. For a play, the idea is often a glimmer, which may then mature to a frustrated scribble! Beyond that, if all goes well, a script may emerge, and after that, perhaps to a reading for voices. This becomes a manual for movement, with the guidance of a director’s eye (who also becomes the sculptor). The final exchange is performance, where the spark becomes a full flame incorporating that last essential element – audience. When I got to watch my Big Green Apple piece ‘Kitchen’ on the stage at Liberty Hall last year, it was a joy to see. The play was now alive. When I lived in Seattle, I took part in a wonderful project called 1448 – It involved the process of writing, rehearsing and producing fourteen plays in forty-eight hours. All with a set design and a live band and original score. I took part as an actor, and the feeling was like none other I’d ever experienced! There was such a sense of adventure and community in this project. The memory of how that felt has never left me.”

The Flame

“When I moved back to Ireland I became involved in The Attic Studio. That sense of community was very much there too, and in my early sessions, I made many great connections, and more importantly great working friendships. I began to write and worked with Camille writing several plays for her fantastic company ‘Alive-O productions’. The pieces included ‘Anna Livia and The Durty Big Eejits’ (a panto for a boat on the Liffey), ‘Apple Tarts and Donkey Legs’ (an audio play commissioned for the Guinness Storehouse), and ‘The Gateway’ (A site specific outdoor piece featuring a huge sculpture). I love the diversity of the pieces I am asked to write for Alive-O. I continued to create new work as both an actor and writer in Dublin and Galway. I became more involved in The Attic Studio and joined the Committee there. I also began to write for film and felt a whole new language open up to me.

When it looked like The Attic Studio would be collaborating on something with Origin Theatre Company in New York I became very excited! I know George from when he was an (excellent!) actor years ago in Ireland, and of course Origin itself has a great reputation. When it was decided that the collaboration would be a fast paced short play project, my blood began to race with excitement, the buzz from the Seattle project I’d done years ago still strongly with me! But I really wanted to take part, and this time to do it as a writer as opposed to an actor, so I needed to step out of the organizational loop for the project and submit to the call, like everyone else, and put my name in the hat as a potential playwright. To my delight, I was selected to be one of the ten writers. Whew!

Around the time of BGA, my old friend from Seattle, the fabulous actor Charles Leggett was scheduled to come visit me, so I encouraged him to sign on as an actor on the project. I love to write for actors, and I had this lovely fantasy that I would write a part just for him. ‘Chuck’ is also a great blues musician, so that was more juicy inspiration for the pot! So I sat down to write a comedy, featuring a musician as the central character – someone warm and charismatic. Perhaps I would write a zippy little piece that was light and tripped along lightly. What emerged on to the page however was a quite different! A bittersweet love-story about moving on – where did that come from? The spark was the same but when the wind changed, it blew the fire in a whole new direction. The selection of the actors for the piece was done on a rotational system, and of course Chuck was snapped up in the first round of casting for another piece (to end up being brilliant in Paul Kennedy’s play). All these changes aside, when I saw the final assembled cast for my own play, I was very excited: Strong actors, two of whom I’d worked with before and admired, and one who I could tell was talented and game for the challenge: Adam Henshaw, Ita Fitzmahony and Sheila Moylette. Helming the team was Director Lianne O’Shea, who is an exciting director with great ideas. Game on!”

The Fire

“The atmosphere on the night in Liberty Hall was incredible. The good will, the support, the nerves. Participating as a playwright had activated a whole different set of nerves, ones I didn’t even know I had. The night was a roaring success and that in itself gave me a huge sense of satisfaction. While there was an element of competition, this was, to me at least, more to add to the energy of the evening than anything adversarial. We were (and are) all in this together after all. That being said, when it was announced ‘Kitchen’ was going to NYC, the beam on my face got brighter that week!

The work the BGA team has put in is phenomenal; my huge thanks go to the team with a special mention to Camille and Yvonne. Camille is carrying the torch across the Atlantic for the next leg. No better woman! I am so proud to be a part of this project since its inception and hope the collaboration will continue.”

The Burner

Órla is also a working actor and improviser. She is passionate about improv and teaches & performs many of the improv festivals around the world. She is also a Voice Talent and loves radio drama. She’s the creator of an innovative night that started in Galway in 2012. “The night is called ‘Moth and Butterfly’, and it is a fusion of storytelling and improvisation,” says Órla. People can have quite limited views of both art forms, and I wanted to create a night that would both challenge and invite the audience in. The whole has in fact become greater than the sum of the parts in many ways! It warms me to hear audience members emerge saying things like “I never knew my stories were interesting before” and “my heart feels bigger after it!” If that’s the outcome, we know we’re doing something right!”

Writing wise, Órla is currently working on two new play projects for 2015. While ‘Kitchen’ is burning bright in NYC, Órla will be in rehearsal with her improvisational theatre company “The Sky Babies” for their new piece ‘Suitcase’, which premieres in October in Galway. “

Playwright Paul Kennedy’s story

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My play in the Big Green Apple is ‘Till the Ocean is Hung Out to Dry’. I have been writing for the theatre for a number of years.

My most recent play was ‘Do Not Go Gentle’ performed by Smashing Times Theatre Company as part of their ‘Witness’ series of plays at the Project Arts Centre. Other plays include ‘Over The Bridge’ at the City Arts Centre and ‘The World Will End in Fire’ at the theatreupstairs@lanigans. In 2004 I received an Art Council Award for which I wrote and directed ‘A Journey Through the Markets’ which was performed in Collins Barracks in Dublin.

At first, the challenge of writing a play in 24 hours didn’t appeal to me. I had always mulled over plays and done rewrites and dwelled on them. To do something so quickly seemed to run the risk of certain failure. Also I wasn’t sure if I could do it or not.

Someone I know has the moto ‘do things that scare you’ and I think that’s a good one to live by if you work in the theatre. So I bit the apple!

On 22nd September 2013, George Heslin, via Skye from New York, announced the theme of the plays which was ‘With love from…’ Something about those three words and the three dots excited me. I was glad the theme wasn’t something to do with the collapse of the economy or some worthy political ideal. And that night, I slept little. It felt pressured, but also exhilarating. Next morning I started to write and the bones of the play was done by that afternoon. I titled it ‘Till the Ocean is Hung Out to Dry’….a somewhat quote form W.H. Auden’s poem ‘As I Walked Out One Evening’

Ten directors gathered in a room to choose their preferred script and cast. They would then have 24 hours to rehearse 10 ten minute plays, to be performed in front of an audience of around four hundred people in the theatre in Liberty Hall. It was heady stuff!

My director was Bairbre Ni Chaoimh and when I heard that I was more than pleased. Bairbre assembled a cast of Charles Leggett, Noni Stapleton and Andy Kellegher and rehearsals began. I did some rewrites. I had used the word ‘schlepping’, in the script; I wanted to describe animals in a farm being uneasy and shifty. Bairbre came up with a better word ‘skittery’ which was written into the script. An American actor Charles Leggett helped replace words we use in Ireland with authentic America diction; mobile phone to be replaced by ‘cell phone’…’pal’ replaced by ‘buddy’.

Noni Gallagher played the part of the American wife to perfection and the cold, dark, broken and brooding presence of Andy Kellegher completed the line-up. I felt so fortunate to have a cast and director who so completely and intuitively understood the script. A deeper understanding in some ways than I had.

The evening of the performances was one of the most magical nights that I have spent in the theatre. A sold out house and you could feel the electricity in the lobby of the building; a fission of terror and joy.

When I slipped backstage, just to thank the actors and director for all their hard work, nerves were crackling; fear was omniscient…it was the happy agony of what actors do. Take big risks.

The show started. With everything being done in 48 hours I had expected that there would be a kind of element of tight rope walking to the proceedings; but the actors seemed remarkably self-assured. It was the audience who were the nervous wrecks. As each play progressed and people relaxed into the evening, laughter flowed and applause filled the space.

I was nervous as hell when my play started, but I quickly relaxed. Bairbre had done a fantastic job directing it. The words I had written a few days earlier sailed out into the back of the auditorium. The audience laughed. They understood it. The lovesick Irishman encountering a middle-aged American couple…and a little epiphany occurs among these three people.

Applause. I was a happy man.

The Big Green Apple is a unique opportunity for playwrights to have their work staged in both Dublin and New York. For many Irish playwrights, New York has a magical ring to it; the place where the plays of Mamet, Williams, O’ Neill and Friel were performed. To be going there with my play for the 1st Irish Festival produced by George Helsin and Origin Theatre Company is a great thrill.

Special thanks to Camille Donegan and Yvonne Usher who worked tirelessly to take this project from being an interesting chat over coffee to being brilliantly realised in three weeks time in New York. And also to Henning and the cast who are working hard at this moment to bring the five plays to life.

Break a leg to everyone involved.

Playwright Jane Mulcahy’s story

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If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere

My life has changed fundamentally in the last few years. Parenthood, while wonderful – full of joy and noise – is completely full-on and exhausting. I’ve much less time for pursuing my theatrical dreams since the birth of my daughter Aurora in February 2012 (a tiny bun in the oven during my all-female production of Hamlet in June of the previous year) followed by my son Luke less than 16 months later. So when I read about the Big Green Apple event on the Attic Studio’s Facebook page, I was totally game. The strict parameters regarding characters and theme appealed to me and the tight writing deadline was right up my street. While challenging, it was totally doable. Luke was only 4 months old and napped for a few hours every afternoon (he still does, thank goodness) and I used this bit of respite to pen After the Eulogy.

I had such fun writing the piece, which is a farcical comedy about Ireland, the banking crisis, marriage and big egos. The characters include a disgraced dead banker, two of his ex-wives and the cocky Brooklyn actor the dead guy paid to say nice things about him, because he couldn’t be sure anyone else would. In an era where ordinary mortals take pains to manipulate their public image via the Internet and social media, it’s not that ridiculous a premise that a vain sociopath would hire a complete stranger to spin yarns about him from the pulpit.

Of course I hoped that my script would be selected for performance in Dublin and might even make the final cut for Origins’ 1st Irish Festival, but it was really just so great to do something for Me at a time when thinking about myself and my needs inevitably had to take a back-seat. To have an avenue for my creativity – an opportunity to be my artistic self again for a short while, was a godsend. Although nappy and nursing duty meant I couldn’t be present during the rehearsal period at Belvedere college, I did bus it up from Cork on the evening of the show, only to hop back on the Aircoach 15 minutes after the curtain call.

It was a great buzz to see my short script come to life at the Big Green Apple event at Liberty Hall, directed so well by Maisie Lee and performed beautifully by Aenne Barr, SJ Quigley and Keith Singleton. When I heard my piece was one of the five selected for performance in New York I was “beside myself”, as they say. Having a play, even a short one, performed on a stage in New York, New York was a dream come true. And I will make it there, for the performances at the Times Square Arts Centre. I’m getting a reprieve from mommy duties for 8 whole days and jetting off with some friends to enjoy this lovely personal accomplishment as well as all the amazing things that NYC has to offer. It’s kind of madness, since money’s tight, but what an unbelievable opportunity. I just have to be there.

Aside from my excitement about seeing what Henning Hegland and his troupe of performers do with my script, I’m so looking forward to jazz at the Lennox Lounge, show tunes at Don’t Tell Mama’s piano bar and eating my weight in cupcakes and foie gras ravioli at Scarpetta. I was in NYC twice before and had a ball. The second time I was there I did a superb acting intensive with Larry Singer in Tribeca. This visit should be extra special, for obvious reasons. It’s a pity that my husband Keith won’t be with me (he’ll be minding our bunchkins in Cork), but I’ll have some of my girls with me to toast my achievement.

The script development process

After Liberty Hall and the big announcement, my colleagues and I were put in contact with two dramaturgs – the Abbey Theatre’s Jessica Traynor and Rebecca Nesvet, who is involved with Origins’ Theatre. We were informed that we could either keep up scripts as they were – under 10 minutes – or we could expand them up to a maximum of 20 minutes.

Being a writer who has no problem getting words down on paper (getting rid of them is always my problem!), I opted to lengthen After the Eulogy, confident that there was ample scope to develop the characters further. In fact, in the weeks that followed I developed the piece into a three-act play with the original post-funeral “after-party” functioning as the opening scene. For the purposes of Origins’ 1st Irish, I knew it would be way, way, way too long, but I figured I could, perhaps, combine the first scene with the final section in which Jessica, the dead banker’s younger ex-wife, was jilted at the altar by Jonah, the self-obsessed act-or. I road-tested a version of what I thought could become the New York script with a wonderful group of creative people from Cork, who are all part of the Broken Crow theatre ensemble. Lead by writer Ronan Fitzgibbon, the group was very encouraging about my initial idea, but less enthusiastic about where I had taken it. The advice was to go back to where I started and just expand the “moment” after the eulogy, rather than seek to bring the characters on a different, ultimately less interesting journey. I could see their point.

Jessica Traynor was remarkably giving with her time, providing written feedback on the original scripts and even making herself available to meet each writer in person. By the time I met her for a coffee and a chat at the Abbey, I had already amended the script in the light of the comments from the Broken Crow crew.  Gone was the ill-fated wedding at the end, and instead I fleshed out the original scene and tried to beef up the two women, so that they remained vital and present when Jonah enters and takes up a lot of air-time with his self-indulgent schtick.

Jessica was generally positive about the changes I had made to the script and gave me some excellent suggestions about where and how to strengthen it further. In particular, she urged me to consider opening the play with a little snippet of Jonah’s eulogy. When I got home, I did as Jessica suggested and wrote a portion of the eulogy. It worked.

For her part, Rebecca’s feedback on Jonah’s voice was most helpful. It was great to get the impressions of an American dramaturg on aspects of Jonah’s background and motivations. More generally, Rebecca posed some thought-provoking questions about conflict, sequencing and cultural references. All in all, I found the engagement with both dramaturgs – as well as the two script readings with Broken Crow – really fruitful and rewarding. I’d never had access to such knowledgeable theatre people on previous writing ventures, and I’m sure I could definitely have benefited it.

The writing process culminated in a reading at the Attic in late July. The original director and actors were unfortunately unavailable for this, but I got two actors on board who I’d worked with before – Diana O’Conner, a member of the Attic who I actually had in mind when I wrote the part of May and Ronan P. Byrne, one of the finest, most versatile male performers I know, who does a mean New York accent. Yvonne Ussher helped me fill the final role, inviting Niamh Hogan to read the part of Jessica. All three did an excellent job with my (almost) finalized script, especially in the light of the skimpy rehearsal time.

I was thrilled with all the laughs and the complimentary feedback after the reading though appalled when to learn the duration of my script. It was insanely long. Oh, I knew beforehand that I had cuts to make – several minutes to lose – I just didn’t quite realize how many! Only one of the other writers opted to extend his piece, but he was still well under the 20-minute deadline. The other three had the good sense to leave well enough alone. Their original scripts were just dandy – perfect as they were -no need to tinker with them unduly. But me … oh, I had to try to make more of mine and in the end I created an almighty headache for myself.

I was very close to scrapping the whole thing and going back to my 10 minute original. That would definitely have been the quickest, simplest option. But it certainly wouldn’t have been painless, since it would have meant losing so much of the fun, new stuff I had written, including the eulogy and Jonah’s improv, which I really liked. I managed to cut several pages more before sending it off to the Big Green Apple team with an instruction that “Henning can cut as he sees fit to get it under the wire. I am done.” Sorry Henning. I know this was not ideal, but hopefully you’ll gain a greater affinity with the text by having to make choices. I have every faith.

The Theatre of my Past

I have a variety of experience as a writer, actor and director. In June I performed the role of Sr Norma in my one-woman show, The Calling, about a youngish nun who starts to doubt her religious vocation following a chance encounter with erotic fiction. The show was part of the Cork Arts Theatre’s summer lunchtime series and was very well received. I hope to revive the piece later in the year. I would love to bring it to Dublin and maybe further afield. Yeah, New York would be nice. Sure. Why not. It’s just me and a couple of statues of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin!

My directing highlights include the gritty Irish premier of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Garbage, the City and Death (Smock Alley Boys’ School, 2010), the all-female version of Hamlet (Pearse Centre, 2011) and productions of my own plays Massaging Moses (Teachers’ Club 2009) and Murder Monologues (Cork Gaol 2005, Teachers’ Club 2008, Powerscourt Centre, 2009) all for Plastic Theatre, the production company I established with Keith Seybert, my husband, in 2002.

While I have been totally immersed in producing, directing, writing and occasionally acting in productions for Plastic Theatre in the past, it’s super stressful trying to do it all – or a lot of it anyway, on your own. And it’s been disheartening, more than once, to get small audiences when me and my cast and crew have put so much into a piece. There’s a lot of great work being made in Ireland and Dublin in particular. It can be hard, without funding or very visible, supportive mentors to generate the word-of-mouth necessary to pack houses. I’ve got to say it’s been really fantastic to have a team like the Big Green Apple crew- particularly Camille and Yvonne who have done Trojan work on this project – behind staging After the Eulogy. I am so grateful to the Attic Studio and Origin’s 1st Irish for this opportunity.

What the future holds

Regarding future writing endeavours, I plan to revisit several existing scripts to whip them into shape and maybe even send them off to big, bombastic production companies. Other people do it, so I probably should too. If they don’t know about me, they’re definitely not going to commission me. It’s just a matter of self-belief, I guess. I also recently started working on my first novel Descending the Tree. It’s about a marriage in crisis. So far I’ve written about 20 pages, all of which will most likely end up in the bin. It will be a tough slog. I like dialogue. The little details that make up a novel are a head-wreck. Finding the time to get down to it is also easier said than done. Sitting quietly with a computer is very difficult with two smallies under 2 and 1/2. They are both like tornados at the moment. But I am determined. It can be done.

After the Eulogy is one of 5 new plays by Irish writers staged as part of “With Love From” at the Origins’ 1st Irish Festival in New York. Venue: Times Square Arts Centre. Dates 22nd-23rd September 2014 @8pm.

http://1stirish.org/?post_type=show&p=1063

 

How can you help?

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How can you help?

After all of this determination and hard work, we are currently looking to complete the last leg of the journey. While the 1st Irish will cover the costs of the NYC production, we are looking for places to stay for the 5 writers plus donations towards travel costs.

If you have a spare room and are willing to accommodate one of the writers for approx 1 week (19th – 25th Sept), or if you want to donate directly towards travel costs, please email: thebiggreenapple2013@gmail.com for information on how to do so.

 

​What can we do for you?

There are many possible advertising options which can be arranged directly with you and  tailored to your preferred exposure medium e.g. website; brochure; inclusion-in-speeches, complimentary tickets etc.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Playwright Karl O’ Neill’s story

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“America, I have sometimes thought of going there…”

 

“It’s a bit frustrating, okay,” says Armagh-born actor and writer Karl O’Neill, whose short play ‘Where Have All The Roses Gone?’ is getting a New York premiere this September while he is himself onstage in Belfast at The MAC as Herr Schultz in the musical Cabaret. “But that’s showbiz – you’ve got to take the work when it comes. And I’m thrilled to be doing Cabaret, it’s a great piece, and Schultz is a lovely part. Of course I’d love to be there in New York, I’ve never been to the States – and I had fully intended to go – but what can you do? Funnily enough, my character in Cabaret has a line ‘America – I have sometimes thought of going there…’ Bit ironic, eh?”

While Karl has been a professional actor for over 25 years, it is only in recent years that he has begun writing for the stage. “Like many actors, I dabbled for years with writing, and had bits and pieces, short stories etc, published but it was really the success of my children’s book that forced me to take writing more seriously.” The O’Brien Press published Karl’s story ‘The Most Beautiful Letter In The World’ in November 2007. “Typically, I wasn’t around for the launch, I was playing The Wizard of Oz at The Lyric in Belfast at the time, but instead of an official launch the publishers left copies of the book in Dublin parks and playgrounds etc – very much in keeping with the story in the book – and I’ve been fortunate to be asked to visit schools and libraries over the years to read to children and talk about the book. Children are the best audience, the most honest and giving.” He has written many other children’s stories since, some have appeared in newspapers, but no second book to date. “I read a selection of unpublished work in schools, and I know they work there, that’s the main thing.”

An experienced radio actor, Karl has had radio plays produced by RTE – Ciaran Hinds, Brenda Blethyn and Andrew Scott have all acted in his plays – and he often writes for the popular Sunday Miscellany programme. “I love radio drama, it’s very underrated, it’s film for the ear.” He has been shortlisted for the PJ O’Connor and Francis MacManus competitions and nominated for a Zebbie award by the Irish Writers Guild.

A couple of years ago he was a contributor to Fishamble’s Tiny Plays For Ireland with a 4-minute playlet ‘Between Us We Have Everything’ which was performed at the Project in Dublin and was subsequently published by New Island Books. “That was a great encouragement, to see that produced, and to realise the potential for a shorter form of play. We Irish tend to be especially good at the shorter form, be it story, song, or poem, so why not drama? So when I heard about The Attic looking for writers who would be interested in writing a 10-minute play in 48 hours, it was a tempting challenge.”

“It was a sweaty deadline, but certainly concentrated the mind, and I was thrilled when my play was chosen to be produced in Liberty Hall last September. That was a great night, and I am eternally grateful to The Attic, and my director Aoife Connolly, and two wonderful actors Hilary Cotter and Aoife Moore, for bringing it to life. For New York I have been allowed to extend the play a little and that’s the version I won’t be seeing while I’m doing Cabaret!”

‘Where Have All The Roses Gone?’ is set in Central Park, beside the Shakespeare statue on the Literary Walk, where the paths of two emotionally-damaged women cross. “We were given the theme ‘With love from…’ and I decided to choose two characters from whom love has been taken. It’s not a total downer, there’s humour there too, there needs to be, and I hope the American cast find the characters interesting and rewarding to play.”

And what’s next for Karl on the writing front? “Well, I have an unpublished novel currently with a US literary agent, we’ll see how that goes, and I’m researching material for a stage play with a strong Armagh connection. I’m unemployed again when Cabaret finishes in October, so I’m open to acting offers….!”

CABARET runs at The MAC in Belfast from 16th September to 4th October.

 

WHAT THE PROJECT MEANS TO ME

It was a very exciting project to be involved with and extremely well-organised by The Attic Studio. Given our restrictions beforehand – no more than three actors, at least one of whom should be American, and New York had to feature – it certainly focused the mind, but it was only when we got the theme of the plays from George Heslin in New York (dramatically delivered that Tuesday evening in Filmbase via Skype) that the adrenalin kicked in and I realised I now had to produce something within 48 hours that fitted the theme and the constraints and, hopefully, would be dramatic, have characters with some depth, and dialogue that some very brave actors would be able to learn off and perform on stage within 48 hours also. That I managed to come up with something coherent and that people seemed to like, was a great confidence-booster for future writing projects.

 

 

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

There’s a bit of the agony and the ecstasy about New York for me. First of all, I’ve never been – despite the fact that my play is set in a specific location in Central Park – and to have my first visit coincide with a production of my little play seemed all too perfect. But I’m a working actor and I got offered a show (Cabaret) in Belfast which clashed with New York, and I couldn’t afford not to take it. Just to rub salt in the wound, my character in the show has a line “America – I have sometimes thought of going there…”. Maybe next time.

In The Beginning…

Posted on by The Big Green Apple

 

FLASHBACK – from The Big Green Apple’s co-creator and co-producer Camille Donegan

Its early June 2013 and I’m heading to New York on holiday. I email the Irish Theatre Institute to ask them if there are theatre people I should connect with while I’m there. The lovely Claire O’ Neil gives me a list of email addresses – several venue managers as well as contacts for Origin Theatre Company and the Irish Arts Center. I drop them an email and head off on my hols! When I arrive in New York I see mails from everyone I had contacted all saying they would like to meet me – COOL! I like this town! I had lived in NYC for 8 mths when I was 21 and its always been a very inspiring city for me. Coming back as a professional theatre producer (as opposed to a struggling actor!) felt good, and I was excited to make industry connections.

When I met each of the contacts, I told them about my own company – Alive-O Productions (www.aliveoproductions.ie) which specialises in outdoor theatre specifically related to Irish culture, heritage and mythology. I also told them about my freelance producing work and my role of chairperson of the Attic Studio. The Attic Studio is a community of actors, writers and directors who have meeting weekly for over 10 years to skill-share, network, collaborate, support each other and create new work. When I met George Heslin (from Origin Theatre Company and the 1st Irish Festival) for coffee, when I told him about the Attic Studio, I saw his eyes light up “Are there many writers in the community? Tell me about them”. Being passionate about the wealth of writing talent at the Attic Studio I proceeded to tell him about several individual writers from the community and outlined some of their work. I also told him about the ethos of the Attic Studio, which is run on a voluntary basis and provides a supportive, creative environment for its members. He immediately said that he would like to create a project with the Attic Studio…. This moment was the seed planting of what would grow to become the Big Green Apple!

I managed to get a little bit of a holiday in while I was there too! Here’s myself and Suzanna Geraghty in Times Square:

camille & suzanna nyc june 2013

I jumped into action (as I love to do!) and as soon as I got back to Dublin, myself and the Attic Studio committee had several brainstorms, including looking at other playwriting challenge projects around the world, and came up with a format (and name) for The Big Green Apple project. I began to realise that this was a monster, but rather than being afraid of that, I was exhilarated!

The first step was to get directors on board – we wanted professional directors but had no money to offer them – so we wrote to them and told them about the project. To our delight, nearly every director we approached said YES!

12th Aug 2013

It’s the night of the Big Green Apple launch at Liberty Hall Theatre bar. The buzz is electric, with well over a hundred people here – directors, actors, writers as well as friends and family. Live music from the fantastic Morgan Cooke and Philomena Fitzpatrick belting Alicia Keyes’ Empire State of Mind – yes, that song really sums up the energy of this project tonight! Play it!

George Heslin is in Dublin – it’s so great to have him here at the launch of this exciting new collaboration:

camille & george

Not only that but TG4’s art show Imeall are here too (Red Shoe productions). They are going to document the unfolding of the project and follow it each step of the way. Looks like they are getting caught up in the energy of this exciting venture too! The night proves a great success and Yvonne Ussher (who is co-producing the project), and I enjoy a well deserved glass of vino!

camille & yvonne

I announce the format of the project, the directors and judges involved, and key dates, during my speech at the launch:

“On Tues 24th Sept, the event kicks off – at 7:30pm at The Attic Studio workshop in Filmbase, the theme for the event will be announced by George from New York via video conference!
Writers then have until Thursday at 1pm to submit their treatments.
Out of the submitted treatments, 10 will be selected for staging.
These 10 writers have until Friday at 5pm to write and submit their short play.
Meanwhile actors and directors are paired up with treatments.
Friday 27th September is Team Up Night at Filmbase where the writers, actors and directors will meet for the first time for a script read through.
Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th September will be intensive rehearsal and tech days.
Sunday 29th September at 8pm in the beautiful theatre here at Liberty Hall, the pieces will be staged for a packed house as well as 5 industry judges.
The judges will select 5 pieces that will be staged in September in 2014 as part of Origin’s 1st Irish Festival. They will be cast and directed locally in New York.

So who’s involved so far?
We have had huge interest from everyone we have contacted about The Big Green Apple event. So far on board is:
Raymond Keane as the overall director.
Directors of the 10 short plays are: Mary Moynihan, Jakkie MacCarrick, Aoife Connolly, Maisie Lee, Paul Brennan, Roger Gregg, Patrick Joseph Byrnes, Lianne O Shea, Barbara Ni Chaoimh and Cathal Quinn.
Judges for the event are playwrights Marina Carr and Gary Duggan, Ray Yeates (Dublin City Council), Deirdre Kinahan (Tall Tales Theatre Company) and independent theatre producer Jen Coppinger”

So the plan was set….now we just had to do it!

Cue The Maddest week ever! …

Tues 24th Sept

Via live video conference with New York, George Heslin announces the theme to a room full of expectant writers. The theme is ‘With Love From…’. The writers (well most of them) rush home to begin the writing process. They have just 48 hours to come up with an idea and then submit a treatment for their 10-minute piece.

Thurs 26th Sept

Treatments are submitted. Raymond Keane, overall director picks his favorite 10 – these will be the 10 short plays that will be staged this coming Sunday!

From 3pm directors arrive to read the treatments and order them by preference:

directors hard at work

Then, via a bingo system, they get paired with pieces. Then they cast from the pool of actors which results in the following teams:

Writer Title Director Actors
Sorcha Hegarty Thrill of the Chase Mary Moynihan Sarah Kinlen, Rob Harrington,Annette Flynn
Orla Murphy Valentine’s Dead Paul Brennan Aron Hegarty, Aoibheann McCaul, Conor Marren
Jane Mulcahey After the Eulogy Maisie Lee Sarah Jayne Quigley, Aenne Barr, Keith Singleton
Mike Finn Little Bits Leftover Patrick J Byrnes Jose Mantero, Ger McAlinden, Ken Fletcher
Aisling McLaughlin Waiting for Ebbets Jaki McCarrick Michael Bates, Eddie Murphy, Mark Donaghy
Arnold Thomas Fanning Pickin’ Up Cathal Quinn Magaret McAuliffe, Jason Gilroy
Kathleen Rogers M Roger Gregg Lisa Walsh, Martina Carey
Paul Kennedy Till The Ocean is Hung Out To Dry Bairbre Ní Chaoimh Charles Leggett, Noni Stapleton, Andy Kelleher
Órla Mc Govern Kitchen Lianne O Shea Ita Fitzmahony, Sheila Moylette, Adam Henshaw
Karl O’ Neill Where Have All The Roses Gone? Aoife Connolly Hilary Cotter, Aoife Moore

 

Friday 27th Sept – Team up night – the teams all meet up to go through their scripts with the writers and making any last minute script changes. The actors head home to learn their lines before rehearsals begin tomorrow morning!

 

Sat 28th Sept & Sun 29th – Intense REHEARSALS at Belvedere College, Dublin!! 10 teams in 10 class rooms. Film crew, the show’s technical crew, our music director (Tom Lane who is going to play live sound and music for each piece!), as well as the producers going from room to room, planning everything to the tiniest of details to ensure that tomorrow is as smooth as it possibly can be!

 

Sunday 29th September 2013 – 7pm

It’s the night of the show and today has been manic. Doing tech for 10 plays in 1 day is quite a challenge not to mention the logistics of putting on 10 shows with different 10 casts! Thank god for the amazing Raymond Keane, our overall director, his generosity and patience know no limits! Along with Brian Tracey (Liberty Hall technical manager) and the show’s tech-team extraordinaire: Caoimhe Regan, Cathy O’ Caroll and Ciara Nolan – we feel in safe hands!

We’ve created a ‘snake’ system where each team will snake through the back stage areas of Liberty Hall theatre until its their turn to be on stage. We have amazing volunteers on board to ‘run the snake’…

So given all the elements involved in making the project, on, the marketing side things wasn’t allowed the usual time and development as we would have preferred. Is anyone going to come? We have no idea. Not many tickets have been sold. I’m starting to get worried… but don’t have time to focus on it. I’m in the dressing room a while later and someone tells me there’s a queue all the way down the quays! OMG!

By 8pm the theatre is packed and Rob and Connor (2 actors in the show), show me this ‘Sold out’ picture…. I could cry!!

sold out

I’m in the theatre, the lights go down, the show is on, my heart beats…. I’m nervous but excited – this is really happening! I’m terrified that there will be a technical issue, or actors will go blank – they’ve only had 2 days rehearsals and 1 tech run through each – what the hell was I thinking putting myself and everyone else on this bunsen burner of a night…

The pressure is on but as rapturous applause follows each piece, my nerves begin to settle and I am glowing inside and out with satisfaction – this is going well! As the last piece completes without a hitch and the cast all come out for 1 gigantic bow, I am absolutely ecstatic. Ok, so we had no money, just a passion for a project and an amazing bunch of people on board (who all believed in the project too) – and look what we created! Yes, this is very cool! Diggin’ it!

As the audience stream out of the show, they are buzzing as they discuss which piece they will vote for. The audience members all have voting cards and their vote will constitute one-sixth of the final tally.  Some people could say that’s all a bit X-Factor, but it seemed to really help the audience engage more deeply with the pieces.

In the bar afterwards, the atmosphere is electric…the 10 directors, 10 casts, Yvonne Ussher our co-producer and Raymond Keane our overall director, and all the fantastic techies and volunteers have made this night a roaring success – All 10 pieces are winners tonight!

aftershow2

Over the next few days, the judges’ results were collated along with the audience vote.

 

Tuesday 1st October – Liberty Hall Theatre bar, the winners are announced

“And the 5 pieces that are going to New York are:

Jane Mulcahy After the Eulogy
Aisling McLaughlin Waiting for Ebbets
Paul Kennedy Til the Ocean is Hung Out to Dry
Órla Mc Govern Kitchen
Karl O’ Neill Where Have All The Roses Gone?”

The writers are delighted!

See the results of the 15-minute documentary piece from Red Shoe Productions for TG4’s arts show ‘Imeall’:

Watch Me!

 

Between now and then… what’s happened?

George met with the writers in January and announced that they could extend their piece up to a max length of 20 minutes for their New York presentation.

Dramaturgs Jessica Traynor (Abbey Theatre) and Rebcecca Nesvet (Origin Theater) came on board to work with the writers to ensure the pieces were the best that they could be before traveling to NYC.

Jan 2014 – present

Funding and sponsorship avenues are pursued with Culture Ireland as well as several companies and individuals. Alas, to no avail. Looks like we might have to do this leg of the production on our own.

 

July 2014, There’s a reading of the final version scripts before they head off to the team in New York. Henning Hegland has been brought on board as director of the project. He is looking to cast 6 actors who will play multiple roles, for the staging in Times Square Arts Center on 22nd and 23rd September 2014.

 

August 2014 – still pursuing possible sponsorship avenues for travel and accommodation for the writers. What a shame it would be if they couldn’t travel to New York to see the US premier of their writing, and avail of all the opportunities that that presents. Fingers crossed someone still bites! Met Stephen Rea and Damien Dempsey the other night, and as they had both previous attended the Attic Studio. I told them about the project and our search for sponsorship. They both took my card – sure you never know!