Thursday 26 February 2009

Good News, Everyone!


I don't know if it's the planetary alignment, karmic back-pay or just dumb luck, but this has been quite a month. Me and my da met Tony Devlin for a coffee at lunch time today and talked about our play, The Sweety Bottle. Tony is an accomplished actor who has branched out and founded Brassneck Theatre Company. Tony read, enjoyed and offered to professionally produce The Sweety Bottle in Spring 2010. We're gratefully taking him up on that offer.

It's a long way off, but Belfast theatre (like publishing) is dependent on funding, and since The Sweety Bottle is a six-man show, they're gonna need a lot of cash. So, Brassneck plan to put on a one-woman show, a two-man show and then our play.

If nothing else, this writing malarkey has taught me patience. When you think about the time it takes to write a novel, get an answer from a publisher or catch a lucky break, a year seems like nothing to me. But to sweeten the deal, they'll probably do a reading of the play in this year's West Belfast festival. August 2009. Doesn't seem too far away.

Anyway, another lesson learned. Make sure the next stage play only needs one or two actors.

22 comments:

adrian mckinty said...

Congrats man!


When can we start calling you "darling"?

Gerard Brennan said...

Adrian - Why, immediately, lovey.

Cheers, man.

gb

seana graham said...

August may seem far off now, but it's really just around the corner, and from there 2010 is a mere stone's throw.

I hope your dad is revelling in this latest bit of news as well.

Michael Stone said...

Excellent news. You're on fire, man. I tried to leave an appropriate pic here but blogger wouldn't let me. You'll have to make do with this link:
The pic I couldn't post here!

Gerard Brennan said...

Seana - True, the time will roll in quick enough.

Yeah, my da's over the moon. Planning his next play already. He'll have to wait a wee bit if he wants me to collaborate again, though. I'm up to my armpits in projects.

Mike - Damn blogger to hell! Very apt pic, though.

Cheers.

gb

Tony Bailie said...

Good news Gerard, glad to see it all coming together.

Declan Burke said...

Nice one, squire. So that's writing novels and short stories, and plays, and movie scripts, and editing anthologies ... and of course, CSNI. You are, are you not, Norn Iron's answer to James Patterson? In a good way, like.

Cheers, Dec

Brian O'Rourke said...

Gerard,

Congrats, man! Jesus you're all over the place. Glad to hear the hard work is paying off.

-b

Stuart Neville said...

Yet more congratulations, Ger, and to your dad too. Theatre is a form I know nothing about, so kudos to you on the versatility.

The word verification is: wowee

Probably a good way to describe your year so far, I think.

jerrygordon said...

That's fantastic news. Congratulations!

"Anyway, another lesson learned. Make sure the next stage play only needs one or two actors."

Or two actors playing six roles...

Gerard Brennan said...

Tony - Cheers, mate. It's all been a bit hectic the last few weeks, but there's not much else can happen. Maybe we'll eventually grab that coffee in a couple of days.

Dec - Patterson in a good way? Yeah, I can live with that. Cheers for pointing out my Jack-of-all-trade-ness.

Brian - Thanks. I do feel a bit all over the place. I better rein things in over the next few month. Concentrate on the current novel.

Stuart - Good man, recognising my da's contribution. Most of the material was his. I just had to translate it to the stage. Wowee and jammy-as-feck seem equally appropriate. Cheers.

Jerry - Fancy seeing you here. Thanks. Yeah, doubling or tripling up did occur to me in the early stages, but I was a bit scared of it. Not sure why, but it seemed like a skill a little beyond my grasp. I might attempt that in the next one, though.

Cheers, all!

gb

Anonymous said...

I was the first to point out your Jack-of-all-trade-ness, Gerard darling.
congrats again
Ciao
Marco

Gerard Brennan said...

Marco - Yes you were, lovey, and I shall never forget it.

Thanks again.

gb

Gerard Brennan said...

Marco - Didn't you have anything to say about this Peter Rozovsky post?

I could have sworn you recommended Paper Moon to me... Did I remember that wrong?

gb

marco said...

I have been a couple of days off and didn't check the internet.
I don't know about the recommendation- Paper Moon isn't generally the one I think about re: Camilleri

My selection of the best Italian (crime) fiction available in translation, only one title per author (hard choice), would be, in alphabetical order:

Camilleri - The Terracotta Dog
Carlotto - Death's Dark Abyss
Lakhous - Clash of Civilizations over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio
Lucarelli - The Damned Season
Saviano - Gomorrah


You could also look out for the Gomorrah movie, which has won a couple of awards and has been almost universally well received

Ciao,
M.

seana graham said...

The Saviano seems to be doing pretty well in our store, without any kind of 'product placement', or even any help at all, really. Must be the movie giving it a boost. When I go in tomorrow, I'll try to remember to give it a bit more prominence.

Unknown said...

Congrats on the good news. Imagine how cool it would be to sit in that audience and see your words come to life on stage. Give us a streaming media feed when the time comes.

Gerard Brennan said...

Marco - Thanks for the recommendations. I'll be sure to check at least two or three of these out this year.

Seana - You've more power than you let on, don't you?

Justin - Thanks, man. Yeah, that's going to be a crazy experience. I can't wait. I'll keep you all posted.

gb

seana graham said...

Gerard,

Actually, I have less power than I let on, but that's just between you and me, okay?

Gerard Brennan said...

Seana - I'll agree to that, if you face out my book at in your shop, if and when it's ever released over there.

Deal?

gb

seana graham said...

If and when it is released here, and if I still have a job there, I'll certainly do that. I'll read it and write a shelftalker for it too.

But we get ahead of ourselves.

Gerard Brennan said...

Seana - Yeah, way ahead of ourselves, but it's nice to dream.

Cheers

gb