Blue Boy Tour Dates

Check out the tour dates for The Blue Boy of Glenmore:

The Brennan family lived very close to the area that this play takes place. When I was six, we moved to Warrenpoint, the town on the other side of Carlingford Lough. Joe Brennan has had a lot of time to reflect on his version of Omeath, and the surrounding areas, over the last thirty years. Expect brilliance.

The Blue Boy of Glenmore, by Joe Brennan

Love this poster.

It's getting closer. My dad's latest play. I'm really looking forward to seeing this one. To date, I've only read the script. Seeing it, with the high standard of acting long associated with Brassneck Theatre Company, will make for a fantastic experience. And yeah, all right. Because I'm family, it's likely I'm biased, but I know that of the four plays he's written on his own since we co-wrote The Sweety Bottle, this one best showcases Joe Brennan's strengths as a playwright. Can't wait to see how Tony Devlin's vision of it comes out on the stage.

Check out the Brassneck Theatre Company website for updates on venues, ticket sales, etc. If you can't make the opening run at the Roddy McCorley Social Club you might find a tour venue that suits.

So did you click it? Go on. Need more convincing? Check out the pitch:

Winter 1978. Cooley Mountains, Ireland.

Jemmy John is a tortured soul. The sheep on the glen and the farm are his life, but his younger sister Colleen yearns for something much more.

With the help of a local car mechanic, Colleen is determined to escape Glenmore for the chance at a better life... but her older brother Jemmy is having none of it! The life-long conflict between these sibling rivals is the catalyst that ignites the shocking events that unfold.

An absorbingly haunting and sensational dark-comedy, 'The Blue Boy of Glenmore' is a truly unmissable piece of theatre from the multi award-winning Brassneck Theatre Company, who brought you 'The Holy Holy Bus', 'Man in the Moon' & 'A Night With George'

Now click the link.

Still Playing About With Old Thoughts

I'm thinking about writing a lot lately (as a precursor to writing a lot). In order to get this blog active again, I think I'm going to post a series of links to interviews or blog posts I've done about writing. I'll either signpost it and say I still agree with what I thought then, or challenge that past version of me by calling bullshit on whatever advice I have since learned is no pearl of wisdom.

Because of yesterday's post about my dad's upcoming play, The Blue Boy, set in Omeath (just across Carlingford Lough from Warrenpoint where I've set a bunch of stories myself), I figured I'd start with this fun interview we did for Owen Quinn's Time Warriors site in the midst of The Sweety Bottle's modest success.

Click here, people!

And while I work on the second Shannon McNulty novel (one of my Warrenpoint based works), I'll be thinking about these encouraging words from my father:

"Of course he got his skills from me. I won five shillings for writing, at the age of ten. That was forty eight years ago. I can still remember the two big silver half crowns, it was a fortune in those days. Seriously, I won’t try to take any credit for Gerard’s achievements, there was too much hard work and determination on his part to get where he is now. We worked very well together I think that was quite unusual."

This might be one of my favourite writing interviews. It's like a virtual pat on the head.

Papa's Got a Brand New Play

A quick apology to Declan Burke for stealing his blog title style. Imitation and flattery, squire.

And so, you lucky people who read this, should get ready for the latest Joe Brennan play. I've been reliably informed that The Blue Boy is in production with Brassneck Theatre. I've read this play, but had no hand in editing or rewriting. This is a true blue Joe Brennan piece. And it's incredibly powerful. I really can't wait to see this one. And that's not just because I'm Joe Brennan's son. My father has been writing solo for years now, and this play is his masterpiece.

I would have bummed and blown more about The Sweety Bottle (set and writers pictured above) had I not been one of the co-writers. My braggadocios nature needs to be kept on a short leash. And I don't lie about other people's work. If I don't like it, I'll rarely attack it (unless it's a measured critical essay or something boring like that). I won't talk about it at all, really.

Anyway, I'll post a blurb for Joe Brennan's new play as and when it becomes available. Watch this space.

He has me thinking about working on another play (I've written a couple solo myself the last few years) but I really need knuckle down and finish the second book featuring my Warrenpoint detective, Shannon McNulty.

Peace, folks.

Dad, Dad, Daddio!

The picture above was sent to me by my father and co-writer of THE SWEETY BOTTLE. The email was titled WEE ROCKETS, though he suggested an alternative in his email, "Oul Crockets, Granda Joe's Revenge".

Interesting fact, the first time I heard the term 'rocket' used in the Belfast context (translates as unpredictable, crazy, fun in a scary way) it was a family friend's description of Granda Joe. Second, third and fourth time too, I think.

This may help you understand me a little more.

Happy birthday, dad. You rock.

I'll have some #killerbooks content on the blog over the next week or two. I'm mostly reflecting on everything I experienced/learned right now.

Bittersweety Bye-Bye

I really need to get some pun lessons from Declan Burke...

But here, that's the end of The Sweety Bottle's regional tour. I'm kind of stuck for words, to be honest. It's been emotional, you know? Luckily, Terrence Blaine has plenty to say in his review. It starts out like this:

"When Joe Brennan was a boy growing up in Belfast, his grandfather took over a confectionery store in the Lower Falls area, and installed an illegal drinking club in it. Things that happened in the so-called 'Sweety Bottle', and the characters who drank there, swiftly became the stuff of family legend, and were much debated and discussed over the Brennan family dinner table. Forty years later, in collaboration with his son Gerard, Joe has woven a selection of Sweety Bottle stories together in a two-act play, revisiting a place now gone (levelled in the interests of urban redevelopment), but certainly not forgotten in the memories of those who grew up in the West Belfast area.

Good as the stories are (the audience is in a virtually constant state of hilarity), the danger is that The Sweety Bottle could easily have ended up seeming merely episodic, a string of unconnected anecdotes with no particular reason for putting them on a stage together.

The Brennans have, however, managed their raw material much more cleverly than that: from an early stage the narrative is bound together by lugubrious references to a certain Grinder McVeigh, who has torched a neighbouring shebeen for barring him..." 

Read the rest here.

The Sweety Bottle -- Coming VERY soon!

Belfast in the 1970s. At the rear of Brennan’s sweet shop, a popular ‘shebeen’ is in full swing. This secret drinking den is a place where punters come to escape the troubles around them and to exorcise their own personal demons.

Through the many huge characters and calamitous incidents, we embark on a voyage to an era where the city and its people never ceased to find humour in even the darkest of times.

A hilariously nostalgic trip down memory lane, ‘The Sweety Bottle’ is sure to have you crying with laughter as we remember everything that was good about Belfast during the rare auld times.

Directed by Tony Devlin

Written by Joe Brennan and Gerard Brennan

Starring Marty Maguire, Carol Moore, Lalor Roddy, Gordon Fulton, Gerard Jordan and Ciaran Nolan

The tour is starting next week! Check the Brassneck Theatre Company website for tour dates.
 

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.

Tales from the Sweety Bottle - The Ladies

Click the above image to read. This is the sixth of a six-part series of stories based on Brennan family anecdotes. The Sweety Bottle was a Lower Falls shebeen ran by my grandfather in the seventies. The Ladies first appeared in the Andersonstown News on Monday 26th January 2009.

Copyright ⓒ Gerard Brennan 2009

Tales from the Sweety Bottle - The Rabbit

Click the above image to read. This is the fith of a six-part series of stories based on Brennan family anecdotes. The Sweety Bottle was a Lower Falls shebeen ran by my grandfather in the seventies. The Rabbit first appeared in the Andersonstown News on Saturday 24th January 2009.

Copyright ⓒ Gerard Brennan 2009

Tales from the Sweety Bottle - The Mexican

Click the above image to read. This is the fourth of a six-part series of stories based on Brennan family anecdotes. The Sweety Bottle was a Lower Falls shebeen ran by my grandfather in the seventies. The Mexican first appeared in the Andersonstown News on Monday 19th January 2009.

Copyright ⓒ Gerard Brennan 2009

Tales from the Sweety Bottle - The Missus

Click the above image to read. This is the third of a six-part series of stories based on Brennan family anecdotes. The Sweety Bottle was a Lower Falls shebeen ran by my grandfather in the seventies. The Missus first appeared in the Andersonstown News on Saturday 17th January 2009.

Copyright ⓒ Gerard Brennan 2009

Tales from the Sweety Bottle - The Mouse

Click the above image to read. This is the second of a six-part series of stories based on Brennan family anecdotes. The Sweety Bottle was a Lower Falls shebeen ran by my grandfather in the seventies. The Mouse first appeared in the Andersonstown News on Monday 12th January 2009.

Copyright ⓒ Gerard Brennan 2009

Tales from the Sweety Bottle - The Badge

Click the above image to read. This is the first of a six-part series of stories based on Brennan family anecdotes. The Sweety Bottle was a Lower Falls shebeen ran by my grandfather in the seventies. The Badge first appeared in the Andersonstown News on Saturday 10th January 2009.

Copyright ⓒ Gerard Brennan 2009