Theatre – Seamus D. Norris

16 October 2023Admin No Comments

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.

5 March 2023Admin No Comments

GIVE IT A CHANCE

This has been a momentous week, with this website getting its 10,000^th 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

25 April 2022Admin No Comments

LOVE IN LOCKDOWN LIVE!!

I feel I should be shouting that title, like a commentator on Sky Sports before a match. Love in Lockdown… Live!!!

Yes, it has been a while since I added to this blog, so with the live performance of Love in Lockdown which features my own play “Power Of Love” due to be performed at the Home Rule Club in Kilkenny from the 5^th to the 7^th May (8pm), what better time to throw a few words together and ask for your support. The live performance has been a long time in the planning, but it is finally almost upon us. Tickets are available at Eventbrite Love in Lockdown: LIVE Tickets, Thu 5 May 2022 at 20:00 | Eventbrite Get your tickets early. You won’t be sorry. It will be one of four plays on the night.

The live version has a new director in Dubliner, Ger Blanch who has previously worked with Fishamble. Paul McManus from Carlow Little Theatre reprises his role as Sammy. He is joined by another Carlow Little Theatre actor Michelle Phelan, both fresh from performances in Juno and The Paycock. Everyone is really buzzing and again huge thanks to Philip Hardy and Barnstorm Theatre Arts for the production. They have been amazing.

I would also like to thank KATS theatre group who recently did a reading of another of my plays called the “The Sub” at John Cleeres in Kilkenny as part of their Scriptease program. The play is based around the other favourite pastime of my life, the GAA and tells the story of a match from the perspective of one of the substitutes. Hopefully, this play too can be brought to life on the stage sometime down the road. Massive thanks to Delia Lowery, Hugh Keenan and all those involved in the reading from KATS.

With the lockdowns finished (for now at least) it’s really a busy time with the arts, the GAA and making sure I relax and enjoy the simple pleasures of life that I did enjoy during lockdowns. Time has become challenging again, but I am determined to control as much as possible and take those breaks away to savour life and the world. I hope you are too.

27 April 2021Admin No Comments

POWER OF LOVE

Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Will lockdowns finally end? Everyone has tried to find ways to get through these challenging times. I have returned to writing fiction in various forms and more comprehensively. The end product of one such project will be streamed live this Thursday 29^th April at 7:30pm on Zoom. (Details at the end of this blog)

I have been lucky that a short play of mine has been produced by the Kilkenny based Barnstorm Theatre Company. The theme is “Love In Lockdown” and my play is called “Power of Love”. It is a project that started in the latter quarter of 2020 and the approximately 15-minute duologue is part of ten similarly selected and diverse writings to be performed. The first five of which were streamed in March. They had originally been planned to be performed on St. Valentines week. Unfortunately, restrictions played havoc with that plan.

Filming took place on Saturday and went very well considering all but one rehearsal took place over Zoom/Teams and it is a single camera to give a theatre feel. It’s a wonderful idea to bring theatre to people given that people cannot go to the theatre. So, if you are looking for something novel to pass the lockdown time, please use the link to the live streaming. It will also be available on the Barnstorm Theatre Company YouTube channel afterwards if you miss the live performance on Zoom. There are also plans to broadcast on radio and do live performances when restrictions lift. Hopefully you will enjoy it and I look forward to your reactions and reviews on here afterwards.

I would like to thank the Barnstorm Theatre Company for the opportunity. No script is complete until it has been interpreted in real life. It has been a very gratifying experience. Special thanks to Philip Hardy, Cara Doherty and Maeve Ingoldsby for their invaluable advice and experience during the script writing phase. A lot has been learned. I would like to thank Trish Brennan of the Barn Owl Players who directed it brilliantly and maintained the integrity of the story I was telling whilst also making it an entertaining piece of theatre. Also, thanks to two brilliant Carlow based actors, Carrie Doran and Paul McManus who brought the characters to life with great understanding and enthusiasm whilst overcoming the challenges of the new way of doing things.

I am genuinely excited about this and look forward to audience reaction, good or bad. I describe it as a romantic comedy with a dark side, but it could be a dark comedy with a romantic side. It’s open to interpretation. The story is about Ella and Sammy who are two Gardai based in Kilkenny that have history. However, time is running out for Ella and things need to be said. Their long-time attraction to each other has been blighted by obstacles and fears of social etiquette, loyalty and age difference. Dramatic and potentially catastrophic circumstances put them together in a situation where only the truth matters. Are they literally sitting on a timebomb that will destroy their lives forever or will there be enough time to connect?

Check out Barnstorm Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/barnstormtheatrecompany/posts/405824590759224

Love in Lockdown 2
Time: Apr 29, 2021 07:30 PM Dublin
ZOOM LINK.
Meeting ID: 826 8839 0764
Passcode: 594503