I have just launched a new webpage on reviews of my work. The Link is HERE. Please read and see what the experts think. The good and the bad. Fortunately, it is mostly good and very constructive. Thanks so much to all those experts who have given their time to review my work. I feel very humbled.
Expert reviews matter because they act as an early, credible signal of an author’s value — helping readers, publishers, and the author themselves understand what the work contributes and why it’s worth attention. They establish credibility, highlight strengths and weaknesses. They influence visibility which is important to every author. From a development point of view, thoughtful critique helps a writer understand how their work is being received and where they might grow. I believe everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it. So thank you so much to all who have reviewed and read the work in my LIBRARY.
Thinking about reviews brings me to wondering how I can bring life to my plays. Take them off the page and give them real energy. To do this they need to be produced, performed and viewed by people like yourself.
I recently was part of the audience for a brilliant play by Abi Morgan Called “Lovesong” (written in 2011) at the Theatre Royal in Waterford. Abi Morgan is a Welsh playwright, screenwriter, and author, widely regarded as one of the most influential contemporary writers working in film, television, and theatre. She is known for emotionally incisive storytelling, strong female perspectives, and a blend of political, historical, and intimate themes. She was the screenwriter for notable films like “The Iron Lady” starring Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher and “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy”. I hadn’t heard of her until this play, but I will most certainly keep an eye out for more of her work.
It was a brilliant emotional play, very well written and superbly performed by the Red N’ Blue Theatre Company. It was refreshing in content and delivery. It would bring an emotional tear to the eye. I would love to write something like ”Lovesong” that would be so touching to even one member of an audience. Obviously I need a theatre group to perform my words for any chance of that.
However, it got me thinking as I looked at the advertised plays being performed by other drama groups in the southeast of Ireland. So many works of John B Keane! All that have been performed year after year by different drama groups. “The Field”, “Big Maggie”, “Sive” etc. Not that I’m being critical of John B Keane who was a brilliant playwright and is certainly a playwright to be admired, but why is it always a John B Keane play?
We live in world where Cinema is being eclipsed by streaming. Most films are now being watched on streaming services rather than at the cinema. Cinema has become a very rare entertainment outlet for many. Theatres and Theatre Groups cannot afford this to happen to their product. You cannot beat live theatre! However, young people need to be attracted to the theatre for its survival. Ninety percent of the audience for the performance of “Lovesong” were over 60, including myself. Yet the play itself contained themes of importance to both the old and the young. Theatres and Theatre Groups need to attract the young audiences to protect the future of live dramatics.
“The Field” by John B Keane was first performed at the Olympia Theatre in 1965. (61 years ago). The Oscar for the Best Picture that year was won by “My Fair Lady”. Adapted from the 1956 stage musical and ultimately from George Bernard Shaw’s play “Pygmalion.” Think about this… How many cinemas in the world are still showing “My Fair Lady” starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn? And if they were, would they have an audience? Yet theatre groups, particular amateur ones, will regularly perform the same plays again and again from the 1960’s and before. Possibly because the production is not challenging, in that it’s been done so many times before. In modern terms, it is copy and paste. They should ask themselves, what is the main age profile of their audience? Are they struggling to get your actors and crew? Will their theatre group survive without creating new audiences and encouraging younger participation? I doubt it. No organisation survives without attracting new members.
I would implore Theatre Group producers to take on new material. At least once a year. It can be still set in the past. “Downton Abbey” is set in a similar period to “My Fair Lady” but has a newer slant on the period, attractive to younger audiences. Please give writers, your local writers, the opportunity to expose their material. Sport changes all the time. It is still fundamentally the same game but new coaches package the same product differently to entice the fresher audience and supporters. Once a year is not too much for a Theatre group to put on something fresh. They can still perform the John B Keane classics and maybe attract another new audience for them as well once you get them in the door for the fresh material.
I do have skin in the game here. There should be no need for full disclosure. It should be obvious. If there is any director or producer or cast member from a theatre group or indeed a theatre who would like to premiere, even world premiere a play, I would love for you to take on one of my works and stage it. Without a theatre group, my works are just words. It is the theatre group than breathes the life in the words on the page. Just like the Red N Blue Theatre Company did for “Lovesong”. Please use my contact form and get in touch. I would also love to hear your comments on this blog. Feel free to add a comment. Maybe you prefer the old classics and can explain why. Let’s not be strangers. As they say in the best customer service, your opinion matters!
