Posted on 1 Comment on DELAYED

DELAYED

I have just completed my winter writing project. It is a one-act play called DELAYED. I would really like to see it performed on the Irish one-act circuit later in the year. It features two characters in their fifties, one male and one female.  It’s the type of play that should suit many amateur drama groups who have more “experienced” actors looking for material that allows them a variety of emotions as well as a nostalgic trip down memory lane and a chance to relive their youth.  For the drama group the set is a simple. Just a few seats located at an airport (Luton) boarding gate. It is the ideal play for an amateur drama group and it is fresh material set now but remembering the past as the chemistry of the two characters and their back story evolves.

If you are a director, please consider it as your play of choice for your group for the circuit. Click on the link below for a summary and the opportunity to read the script. Please make contact through the Contact form. I look forward to hearing from, you.

DELAYED

Posted on No Comments on CALLING DRAMA GROUPS AND PUBLISHERS

CALLING DRAMA GROUPS AND PUBLISHERS

The nights are getting longer, darker and cooler as I write this October blog.  The GAA year is winding down.  Success was very limited in 2023 for my teams.  Now my attention returns to writing. Lots of ideas flowing around my head for plays and short stories and longer ones. However, before the words hit the laptop screen and store in the clouds, I am spending some time calling out to Drama Groups and Publishers. Hello!!

The stories I write and tell are nothing until people hear or see them. I have got so much satisfaction and pride from the small wins I’ve had in the past.  It’s the little things that make life wonderful.  From Macra Na Feirme performing a one act to the publication of a short story or poem, it does feel like scoring a goal in a major GAA match! Without drama groups, theatres, producers, directors, actors, stage crew, editors and publishers, those small moments of pride could not happen.  The work in trying to contact the appropriate people, prepare submissions or competition entries can be time consuming and certainly not the most attractive part of writing.  When someone contacts you back it becomes so worthwhile.  So please if connected to a Drama Group or a Publisher, please explore the stories I have to offer.  One hit would make the year!

DRAMA GROUPS

PLAYS BY SEAMUS D NORRIS

If you are involved in a drama group, please click the link. If you are a Producer, a Director, an Actor or Stage Crew or possibly the Chairperson or Secretary please check out my library of full-length plays and one act plays. There is a variety.  Some fun, some serious. Some Irish, Some American, Some contemporary, some historical. Some have large casts, some small.  One thing for definite, you will not be disappointed with the stories.

Maybe you are not directly involved, but you know someone who is.  Please share this Blog with them.  Use your social media connections.  I would really appreciate it. I would especially love anyone who is involved in Macra Na Feirme to check out my one act plays and make contact. An organisation that inspired my love of stage drama, inspired me to write and gave me so many wonderful memories. Some of my material would be well suited to an American or English audience. Reach out.  You might end up performing a World Premiere!

PUBLISHERS

When it comes to publishers, I know it is a longer shot.   I have one completed novel, one completed volume of short stories, one novel which is a work in progress and a completed novella that I would love to have published. If you are a Publisher or related to a publisher, please check out below and reach out to me. A million thanks in advance.

QUEST FOR JUSTICE

My first completed novel is a crime thriller with a science fiction undertone and a romantic sub-plot filled with suspense, intrigue and mystery stretching from Ireland to the Channel Islands to the United States and back to a thrilling action packed climax off the South West coast of Ireland. 88,000 words of compulsive and exciting reading.

DREAMS VOLUME ONE

A collection of 16 short stories written over a number of years.  I describe them as Dramatic, Romantic, Entertaining and Amusingly Magnificent Stories.  Stories that are inspired by a mix of imagination and reality.  They are Sport, Western, Romance, Crime or rural Irish themed. Dreams Volume One is about the story, the drama, the fun, the twists and the unexpected.  You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll wonder and you’ll enjoy. Stories set in Ireland, England and the United States of America with time periods varying from the mid 1800’s to modern day to sometime in the not-too-distant future.

THE UNDERDOG

A teenage boy who has moved to Ireland with his mother, brother and sister after the disappearance and presumed death of his Father in the Middle East.  They move to his uncle’s farm in a rural area.  He Gaelic sport of Hurling becomes his love.  The story revolves around his life, his family, his friends, his adversaries and the girl he likes with a subplot about the mystery regarding his father’s disappearance. He is an underdog and an adventurer. This is still a work in progress.

JAMIE

This is a novella of 40,000 words. The Emergency Response Unit is the elite police armed tactical unit of the Garda Síochána, Ireland’s national police and security service. Jamie is one of their best officers. After a tragedy strikes while on duty, he is partnered with a tough and beautiful female officer who has baggage that links her to a notorious unidentified serial killer.  Can they work together and track down the killer before history repeats? Plenty of mystery and intrigue.

 

Posted on No Comments on GIVE IT A CHANCE

GIVE IT A CHANCE

This has been a momentous week, with this website getting its 10,000th visitor.  Huge appreciation to anyone who gave the time to come visit since 2017.  At the end of the day, the target has always been drama and theatre groups, publishers and on the off-chance, filmmakers and producers. I’m not sure I’ve hit my intended audience yet and that’s where I hope this website goes from here.  To this end, I’m trying to come up with an improved social media strategy. This apparently means you cannot be modest about what you do. This is proving a big challenge mentally for me. So, in advance, apologies for any tone of arrogance. I also welcome any advice that will help me promote my work.

FALSE DAWNS

As I writer, my main aim is not monetary. Instead, it is to bring meaningful and entertaining stories to as many people as possible. There have been so many false dawns in this business. Just when you think you have broken into the drama and theatre groups circle, it all disappears.  I was really chuffed during Covid  when Barnstorm Theatre from Kilkenny included my Love In Lockdown contribution, the Power of Love in its 2021 lockdown streaming shows.  Feedback was wonderful. Again, so when it was included in the live performances at the Home Rule Club in 2022. I am really appreciative of all those involved in Barnstorm who made it happen, the directors, and all the actors.  So chuffed with the end product on both occasions.  I thought it might be the beginning of a fantastic run. However, almost a year after the live performances, there has been no follow up. Like so many times in the past, the dawn was false.

NEVER GIVE UP

I know that despite so many past disappointments, it is not in my nature to give up. I must keep trying. Let’s be honest, as I head towards retirement I am probably only coming into my peak as a Writer. The best is yet to come, but I would like to see a clear runway before I really take off!

SAFE OPTIONS?

I find it very demoralising when I see all the local theatre and drama groups going with the same old same old.  How often when it comes to selecting a play do they pick an old John B Keane or a “Playboy of the Western World” or a Brian Friel or a Walter Macken?  If the audience saw the same show being constantly repeated on television, they would quickly tune out and look for a new channel with new material.  They’d wonder why their audience is not growing when it is simple… They have seen it before!

They are also setting themselves up for comparison with previous efforts at the same scripts and production that have been produced over and over again.  In addition, how do these constant repeats attract new people to the theatre? There needs to be new audience members, and not have all the young people drawn away by the lure of the CGI of Marvel and DC comics where the story is secondary. I would say for local drama groups it is getting harder and harder to get people involved especially young people.  They need plays they can relate to. You can still have old, but the material needs to be fresh.  Again if it were movies on television, it is very hard to get young people to watch a black and white movie, regardless of how good it is.  We all know there are some really brilliant black and white movies, But that doesn’t mean young people will watch them. For theatre you need to get them in the door first.  Sometimes, that could be as simple as picking material from a new local writer (who might even be known in other fields, such as the GAA).   This is a category I would fit into in the South-East of Ireland.  The story is very important, and I love the story. It’s number one for me. I am a traditionalist, but new at the same time. A paradox I know, but that’s what I am.

DRAMA AND THEATRE GROUPS

Therefore, if YOU are involved in a drama or theatre group and looking for material, please check out my scripts (link below). I have full, one-act and short in my library.  Really would love to hear from anyone in the South East of Ireland, especially County Kilkenny or South Tipperary and Waterford for that matter.  I have some really good locally based material that is just crying out for a local performance.  I would also welcome interest from the USA, with a few historical plays based in the USA.  Take a Chance, have a read.  Plays are only a collection of words until they are brought to life and performed. Give the stories life.  You can do it!  Give it a chance!

PLAYS