The Parting Glass

For the last couple of weeks I've been working on this :

( Poster by Aki Ginory )

The story of The Parting Glass starts around 18 years ago; the only time I've been to Ireland, I spent a week walking through Wicklow, with a weekend in Dublin at either end : the first Saturday night I went to the Abbey Theatre to see Sharon's Grave by John B. Keane; and the following weekend, before getting the boat back to Holyhead, I saw April Bright, by Dermot Bolger, at the Gate. And was completely blown away.

Ireland seems to turn out writer after writer with a lyrical, poetic turn of phrase, an ear for dialogue which sounds real, and above all the ability to make audiences laugh and then move them to tears within a few pages of script : but even in this context, I knew Dermot Bolger was a bit special. So it's quite something to have the chance to present one of  his plays to a Madrid audience for the first time, in the company of John McClafferty, James Duggan, Javier Gómez-Acebo, Eimear Fee, and Jackie Cresswell.

I think the one thing I love most about theatre is it's a collaborative art form : it's a privilege to be working on this with these mighty talents.

For the next couple of weeks, I'll be babbling on here about all sorts of stuff to do with the business of directing this play : starting with, of course, football !