Podcast of Strongbow’s Clock!

Strongbow’s Clock podcast on WLRfm (broadcast Oct. 27th).

Set in Brennan’s Bar, a peculiar pub on Waterford’s O’Connell street, Strongbow’s Clock is a comic ghost story concerning a pair of barflies, an immigrant Hungarian barman and the events that ensue when the pub’s clock stops working and a mysterious young woman is swept in the pub door.

Nick and Angela have met at the same time in Brennan’s Bar every evening, for years. They are served by Gabor, a Hungarian who has become ‘more Irish than the Irish themselves’, and who is a keen, if confused orator of Irish history. On this particular evening however, the antics of a Hallowe’en circus in town delays both Nick and Angela’s arrival and interrupts Gabor’s daily ceremony of winding the grandfather clock. The regular flow of events is thus unsettled, jovial banter turns nasty and the exposure of a dark secret looms. Then, the evening takes a further surreal turn with the arrival of a dazed young woman from Ferrybank…

Strongbow’s Clock is a comic ghost story. It is also a study of the consequences when unrequited love is toyed with carelessly, and the violence such passions can stir.

Strongbow’s Clock is directed by acclaimed playwright Jim Nolan and stars leading Irish talent Michael Power, Jenni Ledwell, Ema Lemon and Nick Kavanagh. Strongbow’s Clock was my fourth radio drama and followed Cow, The Daffodil and Cake, also directed by Jim Nolan. My radio work since includes: The Angel of Trafadden, Shellakybooky, The Cat in the Box and Mussels.

Strongbow’s Clock was made with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the television license fee.


Feedback for #BrazenStrap

 

The show is up. Two dates down, one more to go. The journey has not been without its hiccups but all was alright on the night (or matinee). I have yet to go through the feedback forms (on to do list today), though a quick glance says that this show appears to have struck a chord. There’s some really encouraging feedback on social media:

His Excellency the Irish Ambassador Daniel Mulhall came along and had this to say on Twitter post show:

@DanMulhall
Well done to Irish playwright @SueHealy & cast of That Brazen Electric Strap of a Wan. A well-constructed, sharply-scripted, enjoyable play.

And the director Shevaun Wilder:
@ShevaunWilder
Saw great performance of new comic tragic ‪#‎Irish‬ ‪#‎play‬ ‘sans decor’ @KingsHeadThtr today ‘That Brazen Electric Strap of a Wan’ by Sue Healy

From the actor Corinne Wicks:

Funny, poignant and moving new play with no set and a fantastic cast That Brazen Electric Strap of a Wan (yep that’s title!) – @corinnewicks –

Powerful and funny new writing – @popaganda

From TripAdvisor: “What a performance ! This funny pacy short play had a full house when we were there for the opening yesterday.
If you find yourself in London on 14th or 19th – see if there are any tickets left. It is a touching story of Irish life, youth, ageing and the need to have fun. 4 great actors and a nice,taut text.
Hope it gets picked up by the telly and radio. I see from the website it is shortlisted for a prize.”

The final show is on Thurs. 19th at 3pm. Come along!!! http://www.kingsheadtheatre.com

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Limerick for Brazen Strap

A bauld brazen strap from Trafadden

Had wild, wild ways that did madden

Her good sister, Treas

An cailin go deas

‘Til a rent boy from Dublin did happen….

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Show Opening

SHORTLISTED for the EAMON KEANE AWARD. My new play ‪#‎BrazenStrap‬ remaining shows at 3pm SAT 14th and THURS 19th @ The Kings Head, Islington. Dir. Adina Levay, Cast: Paddy Glynn, Frank LavertyMadeleine BrollyDes Healy. Tech: Elaine Lau

COME ALONG!

http://www.kingsheadtheatre.com

 

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Shortlisting!

 

Happy daze

My play, “That Brazen Electric Strap of a Wan”, has been shortlisted to the final six for this years Eamon Keane Full Length Play Award,  at the Listowel International Writers’ Festival in Ireland. Very happy with this news – this script is buzzing….


Rehearsals – final week

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#BrazenStrap

https://youtu.be/lNXAiyy_co8

The music is composed, the props are in the post, the actors are off(ish) book and we’re bound for Chelsea Theatre for the final week of rehearsals for ‘That Brazen Electric Strap of a Wan’ at the King’s Head, May 7th, 14th and 19th… It’s really taking shape – final tweaks and touches now.

Majority of tickets sold for first 3 p.m. performance on May 7th, but still a few left if you hurry !! https://kingsheadtheatre.ticketsolve.com/…/873550700/events…


Cast Announced!

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Box office here

My Rehearsals’ Week One vlog thoughts here

My play That Brazen Electric Strap of a Wan,  at the King’s Head Theatre, Islington, May 7th, 14th & 19th, at 3p.m. 
Arts Council England/National Lottery are funding this production-without-décor and I feel very lucky to have attracted some stellar talent to the show.
That Brazen Electric Strap of a Wan will be directed by Adina Levay (Young Vic Directors’ Programme). The cast of four includes high profile Irish actors: Frank Laverty (All That Fall, Michael Collins, Angela’s Ashes), Paddy Glynn (A Skull in Connemara, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Cinéma Français) Madeleine Brolly (Una, Leaves on the Line) and Desmond Healy (Time and the Conways, Festen).

Set on the fictional Irish island of Trafadden, Co. Waterford, That Brazen Electric Strap of a Wan centres on Treas, a 77-year-old retired headmistress who has been “good” all her life. Nearing the end of her mortal coil, she now determines to absorb her wanton sister Moll’s spirit and explore sex and drugs. For the former she hires a troubled rent boy from Dublin, Ronaldo. The terrain becomes further complicated when the district nurse, Fintan, pays an unexpected visit.

That Brazen Electric Strap of a Wan is a darkly funny comedy-drama about regret, guilt, survival and moving on. Metaphorically, the play is a wry state-of-the-nation look at contemporary Ireland, and the scars left by the century long journey since the turbulent years of the Easter Rising and the War of Independence (1916-1922). 

 

See you there!


The Daffodil

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It’s spring, new beginnings, daffodils. In honour of the season that’s in it, I’m reposting a podcast of my 2013 radio drama ‘The Daffodil’.

Set on the fictional Irish island of Trafadden, The Daffodil tells the tale of the relationship between Eurovision wannabe ‘Liam Egan’ and Eurovision hasbeen ‘Banba’, both mired in denial for different reasons.

Starring Jenni Ledwell and Michael Power and directed by Jim Nolan.

You can listen to the podcast here


That Brazen Strap

The box office is now open here for my play ‘That Brazen Electric Strap of a Wan’ playing at the King’s Head Theatre, London in May.

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Treas Callaghan is a 77-year-old retired head-mistress who has been “good” all her life. However, now nearing the end of her mortal coil, she has come to realise that all she upheld in her life, the church and society, ultimately harmed and limited her. Treas is increasingly haunted by the memory of her older sister Moll, a brazen strap who was hounded from the island in the 1950s.

Treas determines to absorb her sister’s spirit and explore the areas barred to her a young woman: working with electricity, taking magic mushrooms and having sex. For the latter, she hires a troubled rent boy from Dublin, Ronaldo.The terrain is further complicated when Northern Irish nurse Fintan McGinley makes an unexpected call.

A metaphor for contemporary Ireland a century on from the Easter Rising, the play is a wry, darkly comic look at the state of the Irish nation, the scars of the twentieth century and its legacy. Do come along…

This production is funded by an Arts Council England grant/National Lottery Funding.


Open the Doors

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The marvellous Northern Irish painter Betty Brown and her portrait of Medusa.

There are artists and writers who believe ideas are fed to them from “somewhere else”, a parallel universe perhaps, where these images and characters and stories truly exist.

Clearly, that “somewhere else” is a very vague concept and means different things to different scribes: it could be a religious concept, a spiritual one, or even tied in with scientific theory such as ‘brane cosmology’. Whatever your persuasion, writers who hold such beliefs say it is very important to allow your mind to be open to receiving these ideas – wherever they come from.

Personally, I’ve had moments when I felt plugged into a conduit, receiving stories, characters and ideas fully formed, all wrapped up and ready to go – though I hesitate to say if this was a spiritual event or just the  way the brain works in creative mode.

And it is a rare enough event – I can never conjure ‘the writing rapture’ but if I write often it’ll roll around every now and again. And when it does, it’s a  magical moment when stories and characters cascade.

All we can do is sit down to write every day and hope for the best – most days you’ll get coal but if you keep at it, the diamond muse will show up sooner or later.