Wednesday

Two days of intensive new writing activity in which I begin to get a grip on the way Druid do things here.

The reading of YELLOW BOOTS on Monday (the Russian play) – one of three ‘Druid Debuts’ – is a success in that it shows up both the strengths of the piece and the areas the writer may still want to have a look at. If the writer takes the ‘positives’ from the experience – ie what she has learned dramaturgically, and the immense kudos of having had a reading at one of the world’s most famous theatres – then the experience will have been a good one.

It may be that this play finds a home; it may not. But the reading is one rung on a ladder into the heart of Ireland’s theatre writing community – a charmed circle in a land where writers are revered (a sighting of Brian Friel or Tom Murphy in the street is a cause for comment).

Yesterday I conducted a session with some of the younger writers in Druid’s orbit – many of them also (script) readers for the theatre – the very first rung on the above-mentioned ladder, and, it seems to me, an excellent way in.

I always say to aspirant writers – get yourself inside a theatre somehow, anyhow – even in the box office, or as an usher. What better way than by reading and critiquing the work of other writers?

Yesterday lunchtime, a performance of two Enda Walsh one-act plays, well done by Thomas and Sarah Lynch. The first deals with the aftermath of a child abduction – distressing for any parent – and I think I’ll leave it at that.