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. “
The Big Green Apple 