It’s a bittersweet thing when your play comes to the end of its run. I’ve felt it a number of times now for The Sweety Bottle. We were spoiled by that first outing (thanks again to ACNI) and yet I experienced a wee sense of loss after it finished up at The Roddie McCorley Club (where I saw it in all of its glory for the very first time). Then again at the end of its run at The Baby Grand. And once more after it finished its regional tour. I only caught the Downpatrick date (where it brought down the house), but it was really lovely to think about the play out and about on its own. Like the idiot teenage son you kicked out of home for his own good. Basically, the words I penned with my da were making people laugh while I chilled on my sofa. Mind-bending.
And then last week we had a dig at the big stage in The Grand Opera House. Let me repeat; The Sweety Bottle rocked the GOH auditorium…
I stopped writing this for ten minutes to really appreciate that. Thousands of people saw the play last week. THOUSANDS!
So, thank you to Tony Devlin and all the Brassneckers who brought it from the page to the stage. Niall Cullen told me it would happen after that first night at the Roddie’s. I believed him but didn’t appreciate the gravity of his promise. And thank you to the actors who put their hearts and souls into the performance, night after night. Marty Maguire, Katie Tumelty, Lalor Roddy, Ciaran Nolan, Gerard Jordan and Gordon Fulton… youse are buck-loop and utterly brilliant. I’ll be dropping your names like hot spuds for the rest of my writing career.
And Carolyn Stewart at U105… Your cheque’s in the post.
I’m confident my da, Joe Brennan, shares the same sentiment.
Special thanks to the extended Brennan family for all the support. The play honours my grandfather and grandmother, and by extension, their legendary brood. I couldn’t ask for more.
Actually… I wouldn’t say no to another run. Just saying.
6 comments:
Congratulations on your success. I'm not a theater person, but have a idea of how difficult it is to mount a production once, let alone for it to have multiple successful runs.
I confess I have an ulterior motive for hoping you'll have reason to discuss it again soon. Knowing what I know of you so far, it's only recently I haven't had to read the title twice, as my first glimpse always pops into my head as "The Sweaty Bottle." It would be a shame to have broken myself of the habit but not see any more references.
Hah! That's the problem with intentional typos (sweety vs sweetie); they often cause confusion. If the picture that accompanies this post was of a higher resolution, you'd see that confectionery is spelled wrong too. It's a hat-tip to another shebeen (illegal drinking den) that sold soup by the cartoon.
Sweaty Bottle, though... I kind of like that.
That is so great, Gerard. I think it's especially wonderful that you and your dad got to have this experience together.
I have a feeling that it's not the end of the line for this play either. You never know who might have been in the audience.
Thanks, Seana. I hope you're right!
gb
Congratulations on the brilliant success of your multiple-run play.
It is wonderful to see you doing so well.
Thanks MG! Good to see you here. Hope you're well.
gb
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