A Taste For The Theatrical

I'm A Moving Blogs...

2010-07-06T01:45:00.000-07:00

For the sake of handiness and convenience, I'll be moving the majority of my blogging over to a brand spanking new website that Ken McGuire made for me. He's a dote.

It's over on johnmorton.ie if you're interested in checking it out and from there, I'll likely blog.

Summer

2010-06-23T03:37:00.001-07:00

Vultures Episode 5 Bloopers

2010-05-31T09:17:00.000-07:00

And from Vultures Episode 5 'The Adventures Of The Hidden Microfilm' comes a whole bunch of the bits we messed up:

Enjoy!

Spring

2010-04-26T06:36:00.001-07:00

'Address The Silence' by Von Bizmark

2010-04-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

Von Bizmark have just released their 'Address The Silence' single and we got the lovely job of doing the video for it.

I scripted and directed it with Alan Slattery producing it under our Mycrofilms outfit. Also thanks to John Doran, Lucy McKenna, Stephen Morton and Sarah Dunphy for all their work on it. Sarah also got to do some acting along with Jessica Walsh and Stephen Colfer who did a fine line in loving and torturing. But mostly torturing.

I'd had this voodoo doll couple chase concept chalked down for a potential music video and when John Coady of Von Bizmark sent me the track and there was a mention of 'voodoo dolls' it was pretty inevitable that this was the video to use it in. And here it is:

The single itself is out since Friday and the lads have a tour in full swing to support it, all details can be found over on www.VonBizmark.com. There's also a website set up for the video itself so check it out over here. Ken McGuire of Rewind PR is the man doing a fine line in promoting and websiting for Von Bizmark so additional thanks to him for pimping out the video.

Vultures Episode 4 Bloopers

2010-04-04T06:30:00.000-07:00

The bloopers for the fourth episode of Vultures 'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' have just gone online. Proof conclusive that there's nothing funnier than people fucking up. Apart from people falling.

Enjoy!

Skangered

2010-03-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

I came across this little curio online a few weeks back. It's a clip from the first film I ever made back when I was 17. Made by YIFM in 2001, Skegs and Skangers was my idea of an Irish teen movie set on the weekend before a bunch of Kilkenny youths go back to school. Unfortunately it had no nudity, bongs or anything else remotely interesting. Mostly people getting in fights with scumbags at shit house parties and being embarrassing with girls. So essentially, it was not unlike my actual teen years.

Here's one scene from it that ended up a bit more finished. It features Mark Colgan, Mick McGrath and Chris Walshe in a shop that no longer exists in Kilkenny:

I can remember none of us had a fucking clue how to make a film and I'm pretty sure the whole thing is nonsensical because there was roughly 30,000 storylines. But it was pretty good hands on experience at the time and I remember it being a lot of fun. The film remains unfinished (or abandoned) and will likely never see the light of day. It had a huge cast that could do with the embarrassment so maybe some more of it may resurface.

I took all the teen characters and moved them on a few years and used them to make another Kilkenny piece, a play called Smitten, which was first performed by Devious Theatre in 2008. A lot of the characters are the same and the story was just as ramshackle. I'll probably do something with the same characters when they're in their 30's as well.

It is very likely that it will involve lots of different stories set in Kilkenny and not make much sense when pieced together.

Devious Theatre's Dario Fo Season

2010-03-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

Pretty much all of my blogging activity over the past 8 months has taken place over at the Devious Theatre website as we worked on our Dario Fo Season.

Now that it's over I will (a. return to this lonely neglected blog and (b. find something else to do with my time. Hopefully.

We've wrapped up the entire Dario Fo escapade with a huge feature blog that sums up the entire experience. It's quite a read and a piece of archiving that will stand to us in future times. The entire project has been thus far the pinnacle of my wee theatre life. You can read a lot more about it right here.

No Point Crying Over Spilt Olives...

2010-03-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

I had intended to do a lot more updating of my blog through the production of Can't Pay? Won't Pay! and well, I didn't really. Much to my busy chagrin.

Most of my blogging for the show was done on the Devious Theatre website and my own blog hasn't really gotten much love in the process.

The show (and indeed our entire Dario Fo Season) finished on Sunday after 7 months of hard work from the entire Devious Theatre crew. We were delighted with the audiences, the feedback and the reviews, one of which was posted today. You can read it here. And that brings our excursion into the work of Dario Fo to a close.

It was a lot of fun and I'm going to miss it.

Here's some pictures from the show. There's literally gazillions of blog updates about the show over on DeviousTheatre.com so that's definitely the place to go if you'd like to find out more.

Vultures Episode 3 Bloopers

2010-02-21T05:42:00.001-08:00

All the bits we fucked up from 'The Mystery Of The Night Time Refuse' have just gone online.

And there's quite a few of them it must be said.

Enjoy!

Once Upon A Time In The Glorious Revolution

2010-02-15T07:24:00.000-08:00

Once Upon A Time In The Glorious Revolution is an Irish historical western that I was very fortunate to work on last year. After the trailer was released a few weeks back, the entire film has just been put online in all it's rainy, blood soaked glory.

Written and directed by Sean Clancy, it's a about a family of Irish guerilla fighters in the 17th century who are thrown into disarray when an old comrade comes back looking for revenge. I play one of said family of guerilla fighters and it was a mighty fun shoot, jumping, hopping, lepping and killing lads around the beautiful, wild Leitrim countryside. Why more films aren't shot in Leitrim I don't know, it's a veritable harvest of amazing locations, as you'll see with this film. Apart from the fucking midges. Which you'll also see in this film. Bastards.

Apart from meself, the cast features Peter McGann, Dermot McKee, Stephen Considine, Caolan Clancy and some handsome, multitasking pup as the youngest of the three brothers. I'm the middle one so that made a nice change from real life.

I wrote a previous entry about the shoot here. And now the final product is ready for online eyes to see. It's been shopped around a few festivals as I speak.

Sean has just put the film up on IMDB and it can be watched right here.

Can Poster Will Poster

2010-02-12T07:52:00.000-08:00

We're just about 4 weeks off the opening night of Devious Theatre's production of Dario Fo's Can't Pay? Won't Pay! and business is really starting to pick up.

I've been working on the play for the last couple of months in terms of development and rewriting the script. Since January I've had the good fortune to be directing the show. It's the second part of our Dario Fo Season and so far it's the biggest project we've undertaken as Devious Theatre. It's pretty much been a non stop Dario Fo fest since we launched the project back in August 2009.

This week we unveiled the final poster for the play, as designed by the wizard that is Paddy Dunne and it features the first reveal of the cast of Can't Pay? Won't Pay!

Here you see the shoplifting duo Antonia and Margherita (Angela Barrett and Hazel Fahy), their husbands Giovanni and Luigi (Ken McGuire and Ross Costigan) and the hapless Inspector (David Thompson)

I've just posted a new rehearsal blog over on www.DeviousTheatre.com. You can check it out here. Keep and eye on that there sight for all other info and bits and pieces on the production.

It runs 10th - 14th March in the Set Theatre, John Street, Kilkenny.

Vultures Episode 2 Bloopers

2010-02-10T08:22:00.000-08:00

The bloopers from the second episode of Vultures 'The Scarlet Lady Vanishes' have just gone online. There's not an awful lot of them but here's what we cobbled together. As always, gratuitous corpsing.

Enjoy!

Old Fangs Arrives At Sundance

2010-01-25T06:59:00.000-08:00

Nearly a year ago I wrote a post about a short animated film I was involved with called Old Fangs.

Now a year later, the film, written and directed by Adrien Merigeau and produced by Cartoon Saloon has been screening in the Animation Showcase of this years Sundance Film Festival.

This here is the film but it's probably best to watch it over on Youtube. The bigger the better.

The film tells the story of a young wolf who embarks on a journey with his friends, a cat and a fox, to visit his childhood home and hopefully reconnect with his father. My involvement in the film is that I am the voice of the cat. And he wears a hoodie. So I'm pretty chuffed to be involved in such a fantastic project and also be the voice of a cat who wears a hoodie.

I did my recording over a year ago and since then I've got to see the project coming together and the final product really is a credit to Adrien and all of his collaborators. It was a pleasure to be asked to work on it and it's great to see it getting such a warm reception.

The process of making the film was documented on Adrien's blog and can be viewed here.

You Just Keep Me Hanging On...

2010-01-21T04:31:00.000-08:00

A one act play I wrote called Tenterhooks is getting another airing tomorrow night as a part of What's On Tom's 7 Deadly Scenes show. 7 short plays all performed in 2 hours in the really lovely surroundings of the Set Theatre.

Tenterhooks stars Jack O'Leary and Lynsey Moran and is directed by Andrew O'Leary. It's a black comedy about a suicidal woman searching for a knight in shining armour in a variety of different suicide and accident blackspots. That's pretty much it.

So, that and 6 other plays for 10 Euro is a pretty good deal. And it's one night only! 7 Deadly Scenes plays tomorrow night in the Set Theatre, John Street, Kilkenny.

I wrote a review of the last performance I attended and if so interested it can be checked out here.

Can't Pay? Won't Pay!

2010-01-12T15:19:00.000-08:00

Rocking into my first big theatrical project for 2010 and it's the second part of Devious Theatre's Dario Fo Season. This time it's his 1974 comedy Can't Pay? Won't Pay!

A wild farce about shoplifting, unemployment and standing up for yourself against government forces, it's my second crack of the whip at directing a Dario Fo play after Accidental Death Of An Anarchist back in December. I was delighted with how that play was received, the audiences were more than healthy and we got some really lovely notices. So I'm hoping this one can trump it.

We've assembled another fantastic cast and crew and I couldn't be happier with them unless they could do the get in in 10 minutes or had their lines off tomorrow. This time out the cast will consist of Angela Barrett, Ross Costigan, Hazel Fahy, Ken McGuire and Paul Young. They've already sat in for our first cast reading and recording which were followed by the start of rehearsals this week.

I'll be blogging the rehearsal process over on Devioustheatre.com so if you're interested in the progression of the play, that's where I'll be documenting it. As will the rest of the team in what we hope will be a good sustained campaign of bloggination.

Can't Pay? Won't Pay! by Dario Fo will hit the Set Theatre, John Street, Kilkenny from 10th - 14th March 2010 at 8pm nightly. You can grab your tickets over on the website and the printed versions should be hitting Rollercoaster Records in the next week.

Vultures Festive Bloopers

2009-12-24T05:42:00.000-08:00

This is a bit of festive fun from Vultures, the bloopers and gratuitous corpsing from our very first episode The Kris Kringle Konundrum, which went online December 24th 2007. Enjoy and happy Christmas!

Tenterhooks

2009-11-20T06:28:00.000-08:00

Just a wee note about a one act play I've got coming up next week. It's called Tenterhooks and it's being produced by a new theatre group What's On Tom out in Thomastown.

It's playing as part of a series of short plays entitled 7 Deadly Scenes, and I'm delighted to be part of the line up.

The play itself is my first one act so it was a bit of an experiment for me and everthing that came after has been a bonus. And with a great director and a really top cast I've had very little to do. Which makes a welcome change at the moment, as I'm up to my balls in Dario Fo at the moment.

I'v described the play as 'a black comedy set in a variety of accident and suicide blackspots' and I think that pretty much sums it up. It's a two hander with Jack O'Leary and Lynsey Moran making up the cast and direction being handled by Andrew O'Leary.

As far as I know, tickets are nearly sold out but there still might be a few floating around. Ticket enquiries can be made to whatsontom@gmail.com and the show runs from November 26th - 28th.

Accidental Death Of An Anarchist Revs Up

2009-11-13T03:48:00.001-08:00

Time has flown like a motherfucker and I've barely had time to catch my breath and get together a few words about Devious Theatre's upcoming Accidental Death Of An Anarchist. The first play in our upcoming Dario Fo Season.

It's been a tremendously exciting process so far and I still haven't got over the giddy excitement of the fact that I'm directing a Dario Fo play and generally getting to immerse myself in the world and work of the great man for 6 months. Well, 4 months now because once we close up shop on this one, I'll be directing the next production in the Dario Fo Season, Can't Pay? Won't Pay!

Ahhhh, too much excitement, too little time to write coherently.

Anyway, I'll be blogging about the show from this Monday on Devioustheatre.com so I'll be able to give a bit more insight into how the production is running. So do keep an eye out for that. And it won't be just me, all our cast and crew will be giving their own insights into the play and we'll have a fine selection of bits and pieces to show off.

The show itself hits the Set Theatre, John Street Kilkenny from December 2nd - 6th.

All information on the production can be found over on Devioustheatre.com

These two wonderful Saul Bass tinted posters are again, the work of Mr. Paddy Dunne.

Love And A Bit With A Dog

2009-10-22T13:39:00.000-07:00

According to Geoffrey Rush's character in Shakespeare In Love, that's all that's needed for any play to work.

The new show from Devious Theatre kicks off tonight in Cleere's Theatre, Kilkenny.

It's Shakespeare In Bits, a Bard related sketch show performed by the wonderfully talented trio of Stephen Colfer, John Doran and Eddie Murphy.

We first performed a different version of this show during the Shakespeare In The House festival back in June. This time though, it's bigger and funnier and messier! And more expensive!

But it's all for a good cause. The show runs for 3 nights as part of the Rockfall Festival, now in its 21st year, which raises funds for the O'Neill Centre in Kilkenny. Tickets are 8Euro and all proceeds go to Enable Ireland and the O'Neill Centre. There's also going to be a matinee show on Sunday 25th at 4pm for the slightly cheaper price of 5Euro so chalk that one down as an option as well.

If it's irreverent sketch comedy with a Shakespearean bent that you're looking for, then you'll get it down in Cleere's Theatre this bank holiday weekend. Adding to the good news, Cleere's now have a loyalty card as well. Should be plenty of competition at the bar for stamps. Add the Savour Kilkenny food festival into proceedings and it's going to be a tasty weekend.

And there probably will be love... and a bit with a dog.

The Long Goodbye

2009-10-05T03:37:00.000-07:00

With a teary eye, the final episode of Vultures has just gone online.

'The Long Goodbye' is the concluding part of our comic detective serial and follows on from the events of 'Attack Of The Pinkertons'

The episode is synopsised as thus:

'With Isabelle Vultour captured and the Pinkertons establishing their firm grip on the town, the gentlemen detectives of V.P.I. must concoct a plan to get Isabelle back, stick it to the Pinkertons and for Vultour and McGrain... avoid a threesome with Natalie Blaise? But in order to do so they must rally the troops. And the actions of the bullying Pinkertons has ensure that there's plenty of volunteers. This is it. The final battle. The detective apocalypse. Who will reign supreme? Who will prove to the best detective force in town? Or will it all descend into a terrible mess? This is the long goodbye, where the goodbyes are long and the farewells are hard.'

Thanks so much to all the cast and crew who worked on Vultures over the past 2 years, without you we wouldn't have a low budget webcom!

Also, a big thanks to the people who have watched it and have supported the show since we first shot and screened that first episode in Christmas week back in December 2007. We're glad to have reached the end of the road with it, it's been a hell of a journey and this is a rather fitting goodbye. A long one.

Meet The Terrific Three...

2009-09-28T03:33:00.001-07:00

The trailer for the final episode of Vultures 'The Long Goodbye' has just gone online.

Set in the glory days of 1998, when the summer holidays were spent laughing, running, solving and knacker drinking, we're introduced to the teenage Dan McGrain, Jim Vultour and Natalie Blaise, all before things went very, very bad.

But for a while, these teen detectives were the best of friends and could do no wrong. And here they are, in all their Blyton-esque glory.

Thanks to the immensely talented gents that are David Sheenan, Neil Quigley and Peter Lawlor for producing that 70's tastic title track. And also thanks to David Galster, James Doran and Hazel Doyle for such good flashback acting.

'The Long Goodbye' goes online this Sunday October 4th over at www.VulturesPI.com

Running, Laughing, Solving...

2009-09-25T03:39:00.000-07:00

Here's our Vultures flashback picture that was first glimpsed at the end of 'Attack Of The Pinkertons'.

It shows our happy, smiling, group of teen detectives before things went very wrong.

L-R: Isabelle Vultour, Jim Vultour, Natalie Blaise (with Marlowe), Dan McGrain.

You'll see more from these Enid Blyton inspired scamps when the trailer for Vultures Episode 7 'The Long Goodbye' goes online this Sunday, September 27th.

The Pinkertons Have Attacked!

2009-09-22T03:26:00.000-07:00

The penultimate episode of Vultures 'Attack Of The Pinkertons' has just gone online. And here it is!

This is the first of our two part finale that will conclude with 'The Long Goodbye' on October 4th.

We had the screening for cast and crew on Saturday night and it was lovely to bring the series to a close with everyone who worked on it. People who we are enternally indebted to. The sheer exhaustion of finishing has been helped by the nice feeling of accomplishment in completing the series and telling the story we wanted to tell. It was a tough, long haul and we learnt many lessons, and indeed probably would do it completely differently but it was worth it. Which is really all that counts.

If you believe in the Pinkertons then you've probably seen their campaign popping up around the place and their website has been spruced up too. Here's some photos from the campaign as taken by Ross Costigan, who has provided fine acting, photography and directing throughout the project. Enjoy!

Oh, and keep an eye out for the Episode 7 teaser trailer which will go online this Sunda

I Believe In The Pinkertons

2009-09-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

Bastards.

Vultures 6 & 7 Title Cards

2009-09-11T02:52:00.000-07:00

We've just got our hands on the title cards for the upcoming Vultures finale. As is usually the case, Paddy Dunne has done another sterling job in representing the episodes in a fine display of design and fancy lettering.

Our idea for the Attack Of The Pinkertons title card was to go a little Manga on the look. And of course, pink. Which is quite befitting of the storyline in which the Pinkertons finally open shop and start their campaign to take over our little unnamed town. Our remit for this episode was to load up on the action and of course, we're suckers for Manga so we thought it'd be a nice look for what's shaping up to be our most violently cartoonish episode.

The title card for The Long Goodbye is a little more noirish and does a good job of evoking the sense that this is the final hooray for Vultures. We went a little 40's noir on this as the episode itself has plenty of smoky bars, subterfuge, femme fatales and indeed, goodbyes.

Attack Of The Pinkertons goes online on Sunday September 20th.
The Long Goodbye will follow 2 weeks later when it brings all matters to an end on Sunday October 4th.

I'll be posting a few bits and pieces here in the run up but as usuall, all things Vultures can be found over on www.VulturesPI.com

The Pinkertons Are Coming...

2009-08-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

We've just launched the trailer for the penultimate episode of Vultures 'Attack Of The Pinkertons'.

We've kept up the idea of using the trailers to bridge the gaps (and there have been long, long gaps) between episodes. But this one is kinda short and sweet. Which after the last few talk heavy trailers is a nice change. Although the Dragnet thing is very overdone at this stage, it was something we really wanted to indulge ourselves with. So here it is!

'Attack Of The Pinkertons' is just abouts finished and we're still beavering away on its sister episode 'The Long Goodbye' which will be taking a bow 2 weeks later on October 4th. And that'll be us done. But instead of me going on about it, here's the synopsis from the website:

"Entitled Attack Of The Pinkertons, the episode sees the newly unemployed gentlemen detectives of V.P.I. reacting badly to the Pinkertons opening for business. Unemployed and underground (well, in Tennyson’s house), Vultour and McGrain are intent on eluding the clutches of their old friend Natalie Blaise. Tennyson however is looking for a peaceable resolution, no doubt with a strong mug of scald and a chat involved. However, Natalie Blaise doesn’t seem to be open to dialogue. The Pinkertons are making their presence felt. And people are getting hurt. Can V.P.I. regroup and fight back? Will Natalie Blaise emerge from the shadows to explain herself in a long winded villainous fashion? Or is she merely just misunderstood? And what will Tennyson do to fill in the unemployed hours?

All these questions and more will be answered when the action packed denouement of the Vultures series goes online on the 20th of September.

All will be finally resolved two weeks later when our final instalment The Long Goodbye brings the series to a close on October 4th."

This episode is probably the one we're least complainy about. The first couple of episodes have suffered from all pratfalls associated with doing something as a part time project but with the last 3 episodes we've had a chance to refine it and get closer to what we want to achieve.

We'll be ramping up the promo campaign for the two final Vultures episodes in the coming weeks. Ideally, we'd have Pinkertons attacking people on the street but we're not too sure what the legalities of that just yet.

Von Bizmark 'London'

2009-08-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Over at Mycrofilms, we've just produced the first video for Kilkenny rockers Von Bizmark. It's for their 'London' single which is currently sale in Tower Records and Heartbeat City outlets around the country.

This was my first time getting to cut my teeth on a music video. I learnt a lot of lessons. For example, it's hard to get those women in silver hotpants to show up for any old video. And always keep the camera with you on sunny days. Always.

Without the hotpants and car washing scene, we just had to settle for the boys in Von Bizmark rocking out. Another fine editing job from Mr. Alan Slattery. And thanks to the Von Bizmark lads for working up a real sweat.

Meet Quint Quigley

2009-08-18T13:59:00.000-07:00

Quint Quigley (Kevin Mooney)

The profile for the fugitive stoner from 'The Adventure Of The Hidden Microfilm' has just gone online over at that very page.

Quigley was one of our favourite characters on page. We'd never had anything as exciting as a fugitive to work with and we wanted to flesh him out into something different than what we'd done before. So, yeah, stoner comedy and fart jokes. Voila, there he is. And we liked the idea that a fugitive who initiates a chase episode would in fact be completely brain fried and slow.

Our grand plan was for Quint to be the resident tech nut for V.P.I. Kinda like their equivalent of Q in the James Bond series. Hence, the name. Q central. But we never really got around to loading Quigley up with all the cool homemade implements that we wanted him to design. And he never did get to give V.P.I. cool gadgets to fight the Pinkertons with. But we did manage to get him across as a stoned and paranoid conspiracy theorist. So at least that base was covered. And thanks to Kevin Mooney for keeping that moustache for 3 months. Legend.

Quigley will be making his return in the forthcoming 'Attack Of The Pinkertons'. There'll be more announcements on that tres soon. In blog form! In the meantime, enjoying getting to know Quint a little bit better.

Thanks to Ross Costigan for another lovely profile capture in our ever expanding micro universe.

Meet The Hardy Lads

2009-08-12T02:33:00.000-07:00

Shane and Nicky Hardy (Peter O'Connor and Geoff Warner Clayton)

A character profile for these two young scamps just went online over on the Vultures website.

Introduced in Episode 5 'The Adventure Of The Hidden Microfilm', the Hardy's are two young scamps caught keying cars by Janine. Janine evidently saw something in them as she's recruited them to help her out with her own detective business, The Janine Drew Agency. You can find out more about these thick yet enthusiastic teens here. And you can watch The Janine Drew Agency in action here.

The boys are obviously based on teen detectives The Hardy Boys, much in the same way that Janine is partly based on Nancy Drew. We thought a modern Irish, slightly stupid and chav friendly version of the characters might be a nice twist. Spot the difference:

And yeah, there's a bit of Scooby Doo in there as well. It's a good look though.

There'll be a lot more from this lot in the upcoming Vultures 'Attack Of The Pinkertons'.

Remember Me In 1983

2009-08-03T03:46:00.000-07:00

Remember Me In 1983 is a new exhibition of nostalgic artwork by Kilkenny man Mick Minogue and it opens this coming Thursday night in the Coach Road Studios, Coach Road, Kilkenny. This is a lovely space where Mick has exhibited in the past but not to the degree that he will this week.

The exhibition is based around old tv series and cartoons from the 1980's and Mick has created some beautiful, bittersweet and tragic pieces of art from these much beloved staples of our 1980's childhoods (Check out Death Of Superted... it'd bring a tear to an oul shtone). He has been working on this series of paintings for the past year and on the eve of the Kilkenny Arts Festival he's showing it off. His excellent gig poster for The Lion's Mane last year was another great taster of what this work is. Also keep an eye on the lovely teaser poster campaign he has running around town where you can snatch glimpses of Mick's take on He Man and Ghostbusters.

What I'm reeaally excited about is the Saturday morning opening Mick is hosting this coming weekend. Complete with breakfast cereals, old cartoons and pyjamas, it's going to be some serious childhood regression for any of us kids of the 80's. I can't wait for 1983. I missed it the first time.

The revolution will not be televised...

2009-08-01T09:43:00.000-07:00

Once Upon A Time In The Glorious Revolution is a short western set in the bloody days of late 17th century Ireland. It was written and directed by Sean Clancy, a director who seems to be able to do anything and everything. Even make the tea. And a fine brew it was.

I got to spend some wet and wild, midge infested days in County Leitrim. And if any county in Ireland lends itself to a western, it's Leitrim. Mountains, lakes and valleys up the jacksie. I was a lucky man to play a part in it, along with my old Vultures mucker Pete McGann. And there's nothing a lad likes better than running around fields and mountains firing guns and jumping in ditches.

The final version is being cut and readied by Sean at the moment. But in the meantime I got my paws on a couple of stills:

The Janine Drew Agency

2009-07-30T03:40:00.000-07:00

We've started the promotional push for the upcoming sixth installment of Vultures 'Attack Of The Pinkertons'.

And the first thing we've launched is a website and promo advert for everyone's favourite teen chav detective, Janine Drew. Janine has decided to branch out and using all the smarts and business acumen she's attained during her Transition Year run, she's set up her own business. It's an after school detectve project entitled The Janine Drew Agency. And she's even got her own website www.JanineDrewAgency.com

She's joined by Shane and Nicky Hardy, two wayward young dopes who she's coralled into helping her. These lads have fliers and everything. It's pretty obvious who these three teen detectives are based on but hey, half the fun is in the inspiration.

Of course with three rival detective agencies operating in the land of Vultures, there's no doubt that all tensions will come to a head in Episode 6. The Janine Drew Agency are also relevant to another little subplot we've got going so do keep tuned to see where it all leads.

On the website you'll find Janine's promo videos and find her blog. Which should no doubt be a source of constant flashing fonts and sparkling icons.

'Attack Of The Pinkertons' is coming soon, real soon... Watch your backs.

Church On Time: Stags and Hens Closes

2009-07-28T03:59:00.000-07:00

The Devious Theatre Company wrapped Stags and Hens on Saturday night with a heavy, Red Bull accelerated heart. It was without a doubt my favourite production to work on so far in the three years of Devious Theatre. From an actors perspective, I never had as much fun working on a text. Probably because it was the first time I hadn't written, adapted, rewritten or polished something. The cringe factor was out the window on this one. And it was great to take a well written and finely tuned piece of writing and apply the acting process to it. And also to bring something as colourful, fun and relevant as Stags and Hens to a Kilkenny audience was a real joy.

The cast were extremely tight knit and close in a way that none of our casts had been before. I don't mean physically close although with that final scene in the hallway there's definitely a case to by made. But the chemistry was great and it really helped the final product.

Anyway, it's all done and dusted now and put to bed. We got some great feedback, great audiences and wonderful support from a lot of people. Ken has documented all of this in a blog he's just written over on the website, which can be viewed right here.

With all bases covered, I want to say a personal thanks to an amazing cast of actors, a fantastic committed crew and a very special thanks to a wonderfully supportive and talented director in Kevin Mooney.

So until the next Devious Theatre production, tarar. And hey, we're not done for 2009. Not by a long shot. Oh no. It is my dream to play a judge...

Dinner Party

2009-07-20T00:52:00.000-07:00

Stephen Colfer and John Doran, who I'm currently working with on Devious Theatre's Stags and Hens have just gone and released a lovely little short under the joint umbrella of Meaningless Movies and Slackless Films.

It's called Dinner Party, and here it is:

The Big Day Approaches...

2009-07-17T03:11:00.000-07:00

I've just posted a new blog about our final preparations leading into our upcoming production of Stags and Hens. You can find it here over on DeviousTheatre.com

I'll post something a little bit more detailed leading into next week. Right now, everything is busy, busy, busy and it's very exciting. By the by, the play runs in The Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny from July 21st - 25th. But don't read about it here, everything you'd need to know and more is over on the website.

Stags and Hens Trailer

2009-07-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

This is the trailer for our upcoming production of Stags and Hens by Willy Russell. Cut to the strains of David Bowie's classic 'Modern Love' it depicts the titular stags and hens engaging with the bathroom mirrors of the same nightclub they inhabit. And as you'll see they engage with them in completely different ways.

We shot this trailer on the 21st June and it was one of the most fun shoots I've ever been part of. We had a blast getting into our costumes and just letting fly in front of the camera. From concept to blocking, we at Devious Theatre developed the entire trailer along the way getting the assistance of Alan Slattery of Mycrofilms in Kilkenny, who shot and edited the trailer under the direction of Kevin Mooney, the man at the helm of the production. We've wanted to shoot a trailer for a Devious Theatre production for years and this was our first shot at it. Considering the buzz it's after generating and the feedback we've all been receiving, it's something we'll definitely try out again.

Tickets for the show are on sale and available by calling in person to the Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny or by phoning 056-7761674. For group bookings (six and over), please contact ourselves at The Devious Theatre Company by clicking here.

Stags and Hens: The Cast

2009-07-07T06:03:00.001-07:00

The Blood Brothers Featuring Peter Taylor (Eddie Murphy)

The Roadie (Paul Young)

Bernie and Eddy (Ciara Donegan and Ken McGuire)

Robbie and Billy (Myself and Stephen Colfer)

Linda (Roisin O'Reilly)

Dave (John Doran)

Carol and Maureen (Lynsey Moran and Mairead Kiernan)

Kav and Frances (Geoff Warner Clayton and Maria Murray)

The character intros in full can be viewed on www.devioustheatre.com. All these lovely promo images were designed by Paddy Dunne. Stags and Hens starts next week in The Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny. It runs from July 21st -25th.

70's Nite - A Devious Theatre Fundraiser

2009-07-05T05:06:00.000-07:00

We're having a fun packed night of 70'stastic tunes, fancy dress and dancing down in Cleere's, Kilkenny this coming Saturday night July 11th. And it's all in aid of the Devious Theatre.

We usually throw a yearly fundraiser in order to keep a theatre above our heads but last year was the first time we missed out (probably because we were too damn busy) but this year it's back.

And because of the upcoming Stags and Hens, we've gone for a slightly 70's vibe on this one and eschewed the live acts to concentrate on tunes, tunes and more tunes. T-Rex, Queen, Bowie, The Undertones, Kool and The Gang, Jackson 5, Roxy Music and Kate Bush are amongst the acts we'll be spinning. There's prizes for fancy dress and plenty of grub and booze to keep going. Oh, and a discoball. It's free on the door so come along if you're in Kilkenny this Saturday night.

The Word On The Street

2009-07-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

That spiky haired scamp Jack Street has just updated his blog.
He's got a lot of thoughts about local elections, Romanians and his arch enemy Hamish Lane.
And of course, a dead cat.

You can check out the musings of a filthy, snitchy informant over at his website JackStreetHasPanache.com

Pinkertons: Now Open In Leitrim

2009-06-25T07:58:00.000-07:00

The villainous Pinkertons of our ongoing webcom Vultures have recently updated their website. And it turns out they've set up a new branch. In Leitrim of all places. The swanky scumbags.

Over in the land of Vultures, the Pinkertons mob are upping the stakes as anyone who has watched 'The Adventure Of The Hidden Microfilm' might have seen. They've got the ominous Hooded Man and Eye Patch Man being joined by a very dapper Brick Man. With Episode 6 being titled 'Attack Of The Pinkertons', it's safe to say that things are going to escalate to a crazy degree. And we still haven't got around to their leader Natalie Blaise.

In the lead up to Episode 6, there's going to be a lot more activity over on the Pinkertons website so keep an eye on it. Just don't be tempted to join the fuckers.

Shakespeare Is Only In Bits

2009-06-24T15:44:00.000-07:00

As part of this weekends Shakespeare In The House festival which is taking place in Rothe House, Kilkenny, us folks at Devious Theatre are performing a 45 minute slot entitled Shakespeare In Bits.

With Stags and Hens being full tilt ahead, it wasn't possible for us to stage a full on Shakespeare production so we decided to do something to complement the fine work that will no doubt be done by the good thespians of Dreamstuff Youth Theatre.

The production is made up of various Shakespeare related sketches (Shakespeare's editor and a 16th centruy version of the Bale rant with William Shakespeare walking in front of the 'cantelbras'), some Shakespeare based works (The Reduced Shakespeare Company, Rosencrantz and Guidenstern Are Dead), some devised Shakespeare pieces, some monologues and a whole lot of nice little bridging devices between. It's going to be a crash course in Shakespeare for the ADD generation.

With a troupe of 7 actors (all well versed in the playing of Shakespeare), this should be a fast paced mish mash of a mixed bag of Shakespeare related hi-jinks. Apart from myself, the actors involved are Scott Barriscale, Stephen Colfer, John Doran, Ken McGuire, Kevin Mooney and Niamh Moroney.

The festival takes place all over the weekend and there's plenty going on throughout the rather splendid setting of Rothe House for two days. And it's all entirely free! So do pop along. Bring rotten vegetables if needs be. Just save them for the kids.

We're on at 3pm on Saturday and 2pm on Sunday.

Stags and Hens Poster

2009-06-22T02:11:00.000-07:00

The 70's tastic main poster for our upcoming production of Willy Russell's Stags and Hens has gone online over at DeviousTheatre.com

Expertly designed by Mr. Paddy Dunne, it features the titular stag and hen parties of the play in their own little toilet cubicle settings. Which aptly enough is where they spend most of the play anyway! It's got a lovely, and slightly tacky, 1970's disco feel which is exactly where the play is coming from. The promotion campaign is currently revving up for July 21st when the play will take to the stage of the Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny until July 25th.

Paddy has written a blog talking us through the poster and it can be read in all it's glory over here.

The rehearsals are coming along great and there's also some pretty nifty rehearsal photos over on the site as taken by Messrs McGuire and Galster.

The Adventure Of The Hidden Microfilm is online!

2009-06-08T03:24:00.000-07:00

The newest installment of Vultures has gone online as of last night.

This is the fifth episode of Vultures and I'm probably the most satisfied (as in least complainy) with this one. The general consensus coming from the cast and crew screening was 'the best one since Episode 2' which made me very happy indeed. Episode 2 has always been our best episode I think and it was nice to recapture the fast paced comic feel with this one. NOTE: If audiences prefer the ones with dead hookers and frantic fugitive escapades more than the ones about bin bags and blind dates, it's a good indicator that audiences like things to be exciting!

Personally, my favourite aspect of 'The Adventure Of The Hidden Microfilm' is getting to see the depth of cast. The supporting characters are really effective in it and every actor has done fine work to create such distinctive characters. From my own perspective, playing one of the detectives, I think we've succeeded in freshening up the dynamic between V.P.I. and their relationship with each other. It got a little stale in episodes 3 & 4 I felt, but we seem to be back on track heading into the final strait.

So, do enjoy the fruits of our tired, low budget sitcom making efforts. This week I'm back to chopping the footage down for Episode 6, which will go online in August. If, for some reason, you have Vultures related needs, the only place for them is over at www.VulturesPI.com. We'll have some real nice little bits and bobs in the coming weeks.

Episode 5 Is Ready To Roll

2009-06-05T08:31:00.000-07:00

After a lot of editing on really hot days with little air conditioning in the room, Vultures 'The Adventure Of The Hidden Microfilm' is just about ready for its bow this Sunday on www.VulturesPI.com

This is a glimpse at the title card for the episode, as designed by Paddy Dunne. Suitably 70's paranoia thriller, it gives a nice taste of the kind of vibe we're going for on this one. This is our North By Northwest / The French Connection aping episode. Hopefully keeping the adventure to the forefront along with the comedy. I'll quietly say it's the best one we've done so far but don't take my word for it.

Here's the newly Youtubised version of the Episode 5 trailer. Please do take a gander when it goes online Sunday.

Meet Jane Tennyson

2009-06-03T07:45:00.000-07:00

The character profile for Jane Tennyson has just gone online over on the Episode 4 page.

Played by Annette O'Shea, Jane is the slightly potty mouthed and somewhat aggressive Bangarda twin sister of Niall Tennyson, played by Sean Hackett.

Jane was another one of those characters that we had come up with very early on, but like Janine, we never got to put her into an episode until 'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates'. In that episode we only just about got her established, and even at that I've a feeling that she was established to be something she might not be. But we do get ample time to spend with her in the upcoming 'The Adventure Of The Hidden Microfilm' where you'll get a chance to see the character take a bigger part in proceedings.

In terms of the roots of this character, over on the Development page myself and Paddy have wrote another one of those needlessly over referential essays about characters that we do so like to write. This one is 'The Making Of A Modern Law Lady'. And you'll find out much more about the character and generally, why she exists.

As you can see, police dramas were a big part of our research. Especially TJ Hooker.

Stags and Hens

2009-05-28T00:38:00.000-07:00

At the weekend we launched the 2009 programme for The Devious Theatre Company with a wee session and meet and greet in The Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny. Kevin Mooney made the announcement that our main production for this year would be a production of Willy Russell's STAGS AND HENS, which he will be taking the directing reins on.

This is one that I'm really amped up about doing. The play is just an actor's playground and Kev has put together a really diverse ensemble cast of which I am delighted to be part of.

The play is a very sharp comedy about the social mores of a bunch of working class Liverpudlians in 1978. It all takes place in the ladies and gents bathrooms of a dingy nightclub where both the stag and hen parties of the same wedding have ended up. And from there, things take some very funny, dark and emotional twists and turns along the way. It's a fantastically well written play, definitely the best we've worked on so far. Over the years it has been marred a little by successions of dodgy student productions which tend to play up the booze and debauchery instead of the story and character but we're intent on keeping the story to the fore. And it's a damn good story.

Rehearsals started this week. Lots of acting rust to shake off. And the Liverpool accent is a bastard. I sound like one of the Chuckle Brothers at the moment.

All updates on Stags and Hens are going to be hitting the Devious Theatre website as we have 'em.

Also at the launch we announced our involvement in Shakespeare In The House and nicely asked people for funding by launching our 'Friends Of' program.

More of which can be found over on the website. I'll write further about Shakespeare In The House as our programme comes together for it.

Dopplehammer

2009-05-26T01:58:00.000-07:00

This is a little extra we've put up online as we approach the June 7th release of 'The Adventure Of The Hidden Microfilm'.

When we needed a movie trailer to be playing in the background of Tennyson's cinema trip in 'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' there was only one movie star for us: Jason Statham.

We've had a long standing love of Statham. Kind of in an ironic way, but also in a way where we just plain like his gruff, ass kicking, high concept ways. Some legend is the Stath.

So this is our tribute to him: a fake movie trailer for a film called Dopplehammer. It features the vocal talents of Murt Brennan, Maria Murray, Eddie Murphy and Ross Costigan.

Trainspotting: The Cunt Cut

2009-05-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

With all of the scenes for Devious Theatre's Trainspotting now gone online, there comes the turn of a little extra that we put together for the cast and crew of the production which ran in Kilkenny (nearly this time last year... time certainly flies) in June 2008.

It's the entire play edited down to its most prominent word: cunt.

Warning: Desensitization will follow.

For more Trainspotting videos, you can check out the Devious Theatre Youtube Page.

The Making Of A Russian Black Widow

2009-05-14T08:51:00.000-07:00

We've just posted a piece about the making of the Tatiana Leeson character from 'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates'

Played by Edwina Whearty, the silent but deadly Russian mail order bride from hell was the last character we conceived for Vultures and undoubtedly, the most Russian of them all.

For information on the character and how we came up with her, please do check out her entry on our increasingly unwieldy Development page.

Vultures 'The Adventure Of The Hidden Microfilm' trailer is online!

2009-05-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

The trailer for the fifth installment of Vultures 'The Adventure Of The Hidden Microfilm' has just hit up those interwebs. And here it is in all its Smith and Jones aping glory.

The fifth installment in our ongoing comic detective serial goes online on Sunday June 7th exclusively on www.VulturesPI.com

The press release for the episode reads a little like this:

"Entitled, ‘The Adventure of the Hidden Microfilm’, the new episode sees the gentlemen detectives of V.P.I. contacted by a mysterious fugitive on the run from the authorities. This fugitive is in possession of a secret microfilm belonging to the rival Pinkerton agency. Except he doesn’t know exactly where he put it. Although he suspects it might be inside him. And it could be a floppy disk or a USB key either. He’s really not sure. Can V.P.I. strike a blow to the Pinkertons before they’ve even opened? How do they get the microfilm from the fugitive? And really, who is this Natalie Blaise we keep hearing about?

All these questions and more will be answered and then asked again when ‘The Adventure Of The Hidden Microfilm’ goes online.

Vultures is produced by local production company Mycrofilms and has been funded and supported by the Kilkenny County Council Arts Office since it commenced in December 2007. The series wrapped in March of this year and the final pair of climactic Vultures episodes will go online in August. For all information on the show, please visit www.VulturesPI.com"

And there we have it. There's some really nice promo material, which I'm pretty delighted with, coming out in the next few weeks leading up to the episode. I'll post what I can here but as usual, the bulk of the material can be found over at the website.

Devious Theatre's Trainspotting

2009-05-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

Here you'll find all the remaining clips from Devious Theatre's production of Trainspotting from June 2008. It gives a good insight into our production and the spin we put on the story. And of course, the word cunt is used a lot.

Tripping Out:

(This is taken from the chapter in the book entitled 'Strolling Through The Meadows')

Road To Nowhere:

(A particularly chipper sing along to the Talking Heads tune by Begbie and Renton)

Alison's Revenge:

(Taken from one of the book's most infinitely disgusting passages.)

The End:

(Not as conventional as a drug deal by any means. But it's got praying)

Meet Fred Bass

2009-04-30T01:41:00.000-07:00

Fred Bass (Eddie Brennan)

The long overdue character profile for monosyllabic, surly old sea dog Fred Bass has just gone online over on the Vultures Pilot page.

You can discover all you ever wanted to know about this most enigmatic of rum swilling fishermen cum store Santas.

Fred Bass was one of the very first characters we conceived. Mostly because of the fact that we had a Tintin-esque character in Niall Tennyson and it made sense to have a Captain Haddock character to compliment him. Although we have refrained from having Fred yelp 'Blisterin' barnacles!' just yet. But give it time...

This photo, courtesy of Ross Costigan, places Fred right outside one of his favourite haunts, The Fish Centre. It's one of my favourite Vultures character promos so far. Put Fred next to anything with fish and I'm happy out.

The Playboy Of The Western World

2009-04-29T03:14:00.000-07:00

Went to see Dreamstuff Youth Theatre's production of JM Synge's The Playboy Of The Western World last night. It was a fantastic performance of a play that's not easy to pull off by any means.

This is the smallest Dreamstuff cast that's ever been in any of their plays and I have to say, it made it all the better. All the characters were played by very good performers with a great grasp of the text and they all had plenty of room to shine. Mike Kelly, the director, made a great choice by playing up the black comedy in the text which is something that professional companies can scarcely manage at times (Druid not withstanding of course). Peter O'Connor and Aoibhin Murphy were brilliant in the iconic roles of Christy Mahon and Pegeen Mike and I'm sure they're only going to get better as the run continues.

Dreamstuff Youth Theatre's production of JM Synge's The Playboy Of The Western World plays until Saturday May 2nd in The Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny. Tickets can be booked at 056 - 7761674.

Meet Pat Cairo

2009-04-27T03:12:00.000-07:00

Pat Cairo (Paddy Dunne)

The character promo for the affable, guitar strumming Corkonian has just gone online on the Episode 4 section of the Vultures website.

Played by Paddy Dunne, Pat Cairo is possibly the nicest new boyfriend a girl could have. He also wears remarkably well knitted jumpers. All the more reason for Jim Vultour to hate him so.

Find out more about Pat Cairo and look at his smiling face right here. And if you just can't get enough at this stage, then check out the Making Of Pat Cairo entry in the Development section of the website.

It's got the background of how we came up with the character, why we came up with him and why he looks so much like Liam Clancy.

Pat Cairo was one of the most fun characters to write and I know Paddy had a blast playing him. He was mad for that little smig of his. Any excuse to grow it. There'll be more Pat Cairo to come in the new Vultures episodes, most likely smiling and all. More on these new episodes I speak of very soon indeed.

Meet Isabelle Vultour

2009-04-20T04:01:00.000-07:00

Isabelle Vultour (Liadain Kaminska)

The newest in our Vultures character profiles is the extremely long overdue entry for the lovely Isabelle Vultour, played by Liadain Kaminska. The profile for the affable, softly spoken, ballerina sister of Jim Vultour and love interest of Dan McGrain can now be found on the page for the Vultures pilot.

Isabelle is a character that I really like, probably because she's so nice, like any good love interest is. But I always liked the twist that she's so nice that she attracts nice men who instead of flattering her, make her think she's going to get perved on or raped. Like Dan McGrain. Who's not like that but nowadays it's not a good idea to send anonymous gifts and letters to a lady you like. For 8 years.

She's spent the first 4 episodes being really nice but she's finally going to have some material to get her teeth into in the next few episodes. Which is good because otherwise Liadain probably would have quit by now.

Episode 4's Bonus Leftovers

2009-04-15T13:42:00.000-07:00

No, not deleted footage or extended footage or extra scenes. Bonus is the word we're using. Hell of a word, really. So fun and bouncy. As opposed to anything that might sound like we're really stuck for stuff to show people.

We have amassed quite a few Vultures scenes that were cut from episodes but generally they tend to not be much cop. This however, is something we liked. And it's a whole cohesive sequence.

It got cut out of Episode 4 'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' due to time constraints. But we kind of wish we'd left it in. Mainly because the episode was long enough anyway. What's another 4 minutes when you've already given us 40? Amen.

Here is the full sequence of the V.P.I. detectives getting ready for the night out scenes that culminated the fourth episode:

Attic

2009-03-26T03:43:00.000-07:00

Attic is a film written by David Galster and directed by Peter O'Connor. These two guys have a bucket load of talent and potential between them and it was a real honour to be asked to be in their film. And the end result is just lovely. It's the latest short film to be released by Young Irish Film Makers. Ross Costigan, David Thompson and myself play three bored wastrels who hang out in, well, an attic. Have a gander:

Attic (2009) from Young Irish Film Makers on Vimeo.

80's Nite - April 3rd

2009-03-25T04:07:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna do some shameless plugging for a good cause here. Eddie Brennan (Fred Bass on Vultures and master builder extraordinaire) is going to Uganda in June for two months and he's organising a fun filled 80's Nite on Friday 3rd of April in Cleeres on Parliament Street, Kilkenny.

This is also an excuse to show off the lovely poster by Paddy Dunne:

The night is described as 'an awesomely radical bitchin' and bodaciously tubular fresh, wicked and gnarly night of 1980s nostalgia to the max.'

There's no cover charge in the door and all donations are appreciated. The money raised will go towards the building of new schools and much needed facilities in Uganda.

The Making Of A Trad Musician

2009-03-19T01:50:00.000-07:00

The newest update to our Vultures development section is an article about how we created that Guinness supping trad musician, Pat Cairo.

Pat Cairo is one of my favourite characters in Vultures. Probably because of how much he smiles. He went through an awful lot of different guises and looks before we went with the final one that jumped out of a van in 'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates'. But as you can see, when it comes to The Clancy Brother's jumpers, there is just no beating that look.

The full article about how we came up with Pat Cairo and all its pictorial bits and bobs can be viewed on the website right here.

I Heart Scott Pilgrim

2009-03-12T03:25:00.000-07:00

I usually just blog about things I'm working on in the hope that people get interested in them and will maybe watch them / attend them / eat them. As opposed to blogging about stupid shit like (a. myself or (b. nothing. So this blog transcends all of that as it's something I'm so interested in that I want other people to be interested in. It's a comic book series called Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley and it is my favourite thing in the world. Ever.

I just finished Volume 5 which is entitled, Scott Pilgrim v The Universe. And it is fucking brilliant. I routinely carry these books around me and pretty much consistently re-read them. In short I'm obsessed.

I came across these books 4 years ago or so at a time when I had an idea for a film that I was hoping to write for Young Irish Film Makers. It was based on my experiences of going out with a girl and then finding out that a whole bunch of guys were infatuated with her and you just stepped right into the firing line. All different types of guys from different walks of life. And you gotta fight for that girl! And uh, then I came across Scott Pilgrim (which is about his attempts to fend off the league of 7 Evil Ex Boyfriends of Ramona Flowers) and pretty much cursed and nixed my idea. And I didn't fight either. 'Cos I'm just not an awesome ninja.

Incidentally, that initial idea of mine soon transmogrified itself into an idea for a film called The Suitors which was eventually written and directed by my good friend Stephen Colfer and it's coming out soon. So, hey, it wasn't all bad.

And I went off and read Scott Pilgrim instead. And spending year after year biding my time for news and updates on the next volume and grinding my teeth and getting really obsessive. And now Edgar Wright has a film coming out so the little book I obsessively protected and only whispered about in shrouded conversations with people, is gonna go off big style and everyone will love it.

And everyone should love it. 'Cos it's fucking brilliant. It's like every bit of action, comedy and romance I've ever wanted to read in anything ever. I only hope the film does it justice. And it better, cos I'm grinding my teeth and getting really obsessive about it.

The Incident Of The Wrapped Sitcom

2009-03-09T07:01:00.001-07:00

After a year and a half of shooting, we wrapped Vultures on March 7th and I'm very pleased with what we've got in the can.

It's been a long haul. A lot of commitment, a lot of compromise but most importantly, a lot of fun. There were times when our ambitions vastly exceeded our budget and resources but with a lot of help from a lot of good people, we finally got it done. Now it's a weary sigh and a heavy heart and an eye on the next couple of months of post production and promotion. Tell people about it, go on. It has a website and everything.

The whole series has essentially been a big hobby for all of us. And at the end of it, looking back on the number of people who have worked on it, it's tantamount to a community project. With each shoot, we've got better and more proficient and we hope that's reflected in the last 3 episodes (more on that down the way). For the past 10 weeks everybody has been firing on all cylinders and we hope it represents the pinnacle of the work that everybody has put into this project. To them all, we tip our hats.

We are so proud and so thankful of the work that our entire cast and crew have put into this over the past year and a half. Without them, we would have been rightly screwed. Also, we are very grateful of the support from Young Irish Film Makers and Cartoon Saloon who have encouraged and supported us throughout this. Maybe they see in us the same young whippersnappers they once were, but the two organisations have been incredibly supportive and if we can continue to do work as they have done, we'll be happy campers indeed.

The Adventure Of The Hidden Microfilm' our fifth installment will make its bow online this spring. More details shall be leaked onto the interwebs in the coming weeks so keep an eye out.

Also, I can now finally and quite happily announce that there's not going to be 6 episodes in total. There's going to be 7. We lied. Well, not really. We just realised that to do justic to the story we needed more time to tell it and fuck it, we're doing it for free anyway so why not? The finale of Vultures will be a two part installment and both episodes will tie us up in a nice little package when they're released this summer. We know what the titles are, but we'll not divulge them just yet for slightly spoilerish reasons. So yeah, 'Tennyson Dies Of Cholera' and 'McGrain and Vultour Make A Porno' will be surfacing soon. Keep an eye on www.VulturesPI.com for all updates.

From a personal standpoint, I'd like to thank a couple of people in particular. Firstly, Alan Slattery helped me hatch the idea to him when we really had no idea of what it would become. Since then he has worked non stop to make Vultures into the best damn low budget sitcom he possibly can. You couldn't ask for a better producer and indeed, friend. Paddy Dunne has given this project his all ever since that day on a sweaty bus when I asked him if he'd be interested in writing this detective yoke with me. I've never had the pleasure of working so close with someone who's had such similar sensibilities. The writing part of the process has been my absolute favourite, a true pleasure. Ross Costigan has worked his wee white cotton socks off on Vultures since October and we're so grateful that he decided to put his life on hold for this. If it wasn't for Ross, it's very likely myself and Alan would have collapsed into a horrible multi-tasking mess before we got to the finish line so for that, we are eternally thankful.

And lastly, but not leastly, I'd like to thank David Thompson and Sean Hackett who have been on this project since it's conception. Back in 2006 they were the only two actors I knew who had enough screen experience, acting chops and the crucial ingredient, availability. Coupled with the convenience of myself, it made the best sense as our central trio and ever since then they have given up so much of their time to work on Vultures. If we didn't have the two of them, we wouldn't have had a show. Simple as that. They are toppers. On the last shoot, it just seemed like we achieved a level of fluidity as a trio, a really good working partnership and it's something I'd love to revisit at some stage. For now, I'll rest. Cheers. Cheers everyone.

Photographing Vultures

2009-03-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

There's a lot of really lovely new photos from the fourth installment of Vultures gone online now over at the website. You can have a gander right here.

The photos for Vultures were intermittently handled by Ross Costigan for the first two episodes. Since 'The Mystery Of The Night Time Refuse' he came on board fully as on set photographer and the quality of the picture content has gone through the roof. His eye for character and detail is razor sharp and thus, the pictures have so much life to them. When you're filming something with so many heightened characters and scenarios, it's important that everything is crystal clear visually and Ross has brought that to his work as photographer and also as a director. He's an exceptionally talented photographer and like a lot of talented photographers, he's had to spend a long time making shit bands look good in shit locations with shit lighting (There's many exceptions to this rule on his website. See the promo stuff for Clive Barnes and The Lion's Mane for example). But if the Vultures shoot has done anything, it's given him opportunity to show off his bag of tricks with a shitload of different characters, locations and scenarios. There's an awful lot more of his stuff to come from the shoot for Episodes 5 & 6 and they're going to be fucking great, I promise. In the meantime, check out all his other pictorial delights here.

Here's a couple of my own favourites from Episode 4:

This photo I love, not so much for the Vulturesness of it all but rather for the fact that Ross made a lovely looking park look even lovelier. We shot this on a very crisp, cold November morning and the light was just perfect. A lovely shot, even with a man stalking a mad Russian woman in it. Lovely.

This is a perfect example of a picture summing up an entire scene. It's not the easiest thing to do but it's done to perfection here.

This is one of those shots that captures the sense of behind the scenes in a really lovely way. Just a few actors bantering. As opposed to men tinkering with lights for hours. The colours here came out lovely. And that's the main miracle of this picture. Our office is shit for lighting.

This picture of Janine Drew and Jim Vultour is one of my favourites basically because of the unholy alliance of the colours pink and brown. I'm glad we decided to put those two together because that colour scheme is not just the essence of these two characters but also of how mismatched they are. Disgusting for the eyes, really. But in a good way. Another lovely example of a picture that illustrates a scene.

If these pics tickle your fancy head on over to the Vultures website and check out some more.

The Making Of A Chav Detective

2009-03-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

The development section on the Vultures website is one that we haven't found time to give much love to. What with all the pre-production and production and post production. So the process of archiving and putting all our little background details up there for all to see has fallen behind.

Now as we're winding down the shoot, myself and Paddy have found time to get some of that stuff up there. The idea of the development section is to throw a little light on how our ultra low budget web comedy was conceived and how we, eh... developed it I guess. It might be of some interest to some folks as a background to the show but mostly, mostly, it allows us talk all kinds of shite and drop name on all our reference points.

First up is an article on how the character of Janine Drew came about and how we finally achieved the dream of a character in pink velour and boots 'with the fur'.

The article can be found in the Development section right here. Just do a bit of scrolling down first. It's still a work in progress.

Vultures - The Irish Blog Awards 2009 Intro

2009-02-25T16:25:00.001-08:00

Here you'll find the video introduction from the gentlemen detectives of V.P.I. which served as the introduction for the 'Specialist Blog' category at this years Irish Blog Awards which took place in Cork on February 21st.

Thanks to Darragh Doyle for this one. It was a pleasure to discuss the fine art of the 'blogging'.

Choose Life / Welcome To Mother Superior's

2009-02-19T08:26:00.000-08:00

Here's two of our latest Trainspotting clips to go online.

They both form two different parts of the same scene. In the first is Mark Renton's now iconic 'Choose Life' rant which is soon interrupted by a smack craving Sick Boy. The second scene sees the two of them making their way to Mother Superior's drug den as the horrors of withdrawal kick in. There's a lot worse horrors to come though...

For more on our production of Trainspotting, we've a pretty extensive archive right here.

Devious Theatre go to the Irish Blog Awards

2009-02-17T04:59:00.000-08:00

Us Deviousers have been blogging away on DeviousTheatre.com since we got set up in May 2006 and now we've got an unexpected bit of recognition for it.

We've just been nominated for Best Arts and Culture Blog at the 2009 Irish Blog Awards which will be taking place down in Cork this Saturday night.

The blog has been run by the lot of us together and we've used it to document every stage of our production process from conception to rehearsals to design to promo campaigns, all the way through to the productions themselves and then into the archiving process. We've also branched out a wee bit and now include any Kilkenny theatre news and indeed, any local arts happenings. It's been an invaluable method of archiving for us and it serves as a nice reminder of the work that's been done and still to do. And I'm looking forward to having more theatre to blog about. We generally stand around and plan things and look like this before we blog about it:

So if you're interested, do check it out at www.DeviousTheatre.com and wish us well on Saturday night. Ken is flying the flag alone so I hope he doesn't get too drunk and make a holy show of us. Chances are, he will.

Lad!

2009-02-11T03:22:00.000-08:00

This short was made by John Doran and Jack O'Leary at the Meaningless Movies stable and it's just amazing.

Best film of 2009 so far. Eat that Mickey Rourke.

Old Fangs

2009-02-06T03:08:00.000-08:00

Old Fangs is a new animated short being made by that powerhouse of Irish animation, The Cartoon Saloon. And yesterday myself, Ross Costigan and David Thompson had the pleasure and the privilege of going into the studio to do some voice work for the film's central triumvirate of Cat, Wolf and Fox.

I'll write in more detail about it later but the main purpose of this post is to highlight the Old Fangs blog by the film's creator, the amazingly talented Adrien Merigeau. So check it out here.

And Cartoon Saloon also have their new animated feature The Secret Of Kells in cinemas on March 6th after it closes the Jameson Dublin Film Fesitval on February 22nd so that's another date for the ever expanding movie date diary. Which I don't actually have but could probably do with.

Meet Tatiana Leeson

2009-02-05T15:16:00.000-08:00

Since 'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' has just gone online, new character profiles are being added to www.VulturesPI.com. This is the first one up, a lovely picture by Ross Costigan that captures the Cold War in lady form.

Tatiana Leeson (Edwina Whearty)

Find out more about Russia's scariest export since TATU on 'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' page on www.VulturesPI.com.

'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' is online

2009-02-02T02:30:00.000-08:00

The newest episode of Vultures went online yesterday and it's free for all viewage at www.VulturesPI.com. Or else you can watch it here!

We're pretty happy with it I have to say. More and more our intentions and what we want to achieve is actually being realised. So yeah, little by little, it's getting there. But please do enjoy, I'd love to hear any feedback too.

Trainspotting Clippage

2009-01-29T03:08:00.001-08:00

Over the past couple of weeks we've been slowly releasing clips from our production of Trainspotting online. It played in the Watergate Theatre from June 24th - 28th of last year and it went rather well. Here's the first three clips that we put up online.

Blue Monday / The Opening

Spud's Accident

Meet Begbie

'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' is a coming

2009-01-21T02:45:00.000-08:00

The edit is nearly done and all the fancy bells and whistles are being put into place as we speak. So we can safely announce that the fourth installment in our constantly ongoing Vultures adventures will go online on Sunday February 1st.

We decided to go for a funky Saul Bass riff on the title card, plenty of primary colours and moving shapes. Paddy did a helluva of a job on this one, drawing from the title cards he designed for The Man With The Golden Arm, Vertigo, Psycho et al. It looks a treat, the title card fanboy in me just went wild.

As for the episode itself, I'll let the promo blurb from the website do the talking:

"Our newest episode sees the arrival in the V.P.I. offices of a TY student on work experience. Played by Suzanne O’Brien, Janine Drew is brash, ambitious and what in social circles is known as a 'chav.' Her appointment coincides with a series of errant romantic entanglements that degenerate into a potential powder keg of social embarrassment, messy divorce cases and extreme violence."

So that sums the whole shebang up. There's plenty of surprises in store on this episode and we had a great time writing it and filming it so I hope that translates on the computer screen. I'm also hoping it's going to show the improvement and the confidence we're gaining as the project progresses. Not to mention the crew. What a bonus!

It's going online Sunday week so please do give it a watch. It's also available on iTunes if you're an iTuner.

We're still in the midst of filming the 5th and 6th parts back to back, I'll write something about that soon. This mix of pre-production and production and post production leaves very little room for internet updates, or anything else for that matter but I'll try my darndest.

Start Magazine review The War Of The Worlds

2009-01-19T04:08:00.000-08:00

Start Magazine have just published a review of Devious Theatre's radio production of The War Of The Worlds in their latest edition. It goes as such:

"Devious Theatre’s radio version of H.G Wells’ War Of The Worlds (KCLR - October 31st) attempted to follow the pattern set by Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre’s famous version, incidentally broadcast seventy years to the day.

To our perhaps more sophisticated ears, the earliest part of the production worked best, as the Martian invasion was slowly revealed with programmes being interrupted as the horror unfolded.

The imaginative destruction of the region was replete with local villages such as Tulla and Castlecomer and this added to the interest and excitement felt by the listener.

The production itself was well prestented, with strong sound effects, especially able to bring over the idea of the multitude fleeing the approaching terror. All in all the piece was a job well done and suggests an alternative approach that can be taken by theatre companies in the area to produce work that doesn’t require touring and the costs invovled.

This was theatre sent directly to the listener."

The War Of The Worlds is still available as a downloadable broadcast which can be nabbed for free on www.devioustheatre.com.

The same edition also has Kilkenny's Rarely Seen Above Ground aka Jeremy Hickey on the front page with a nifty little article inside and it also has a brief article on YIFM's latest The Suitors and our own Vultures. The magazine, which covers all arts in the South East, can be downloaded for free here.

How To Identify A Pinkerton

2009-01-14T06:41:00.001-08:00

Pinkertons are in town and they are coming for your jobs and women and of course, with particular relish, your children.

How do I identify these Pinkertons?

Here's the how:

Jackie by Scott Walker

2009-01-13T03:00:00.000-08:00

Please do check out this fantastic animated video of the great Scott Walker's 'Jackie' as conceived and animated by the nurturing womb of the supremely talented Mick Harrison and cut together by Alan Slattery. It's the newest piece of work to sit under the Mycrofilms umbrella and it really is a lovely piece of madcap genius.

Do check it out, do do:

Vultures Episode 5 & 6 start filming...now

2009-01-04T04:10:00.000-08:00

As of yesterday, January 3rd, we began filming Vultures Episode 5 and Episode 6, back to back. Like the way proper sitcoms are usually done! The shoot is going on throughout January and February, with a lot of actors and a lot of scenes and a lot of tea powered work to be done. I've bought thermals, I'm clearing the evil demon of alcohol from body (for a while at least) and I bought a new multi nib pen and plastic folders. I am fucking ready!

I'm not at liberty to mention anything about the details of our low budget webcom shoot. But all I will say is that we've got a brand new updated crew on board, a rather large and varied cast of characters and that direction duties are being concurrently handled by myself ("Uh, I think you need a longer pause") and the currently one armed but ever resilient Ross Costigan ("Uh, that needs to be reframed...wait, yeah, that's it"). So on we march! More updates and info as we have them. We're still in the edit for 'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' so expect some sort of date for that to materialise for that soon. Here's me and Dave and Suzanne using our acting in it:

A happy new year to all!

My resolutions are pretty much:

1. Finish Vultures.
2. Get Vultures out there. Where, I don't know.
3. Finish Bansheeville. Needs more banshees.
4. Not write any more plays or low budget web sitcoms for a long, long time.
5. Take a holiday.
6. Finally get the time to use the car I bought back in 2007.
7. Eat more things with green in them.
8. Watch a lot more plays. And films. And read things.
9. I'd like to learn some sort of new and practical dance.
10. Save enough money to send me to South Africa in 2010. I'm also going to tie this resolution into having an excuse to go to South Africa in 2010.

Back to the grindstone.

Meet The Detectives...

2008-12-30T12:07:00.000-08:00

A series of splendidly designed and expertly photographed profiles for the main detectives of Vultures have just gone online. And about time as well. We've spent the past few months updating all the supporting character profiles, accidentally neglecting the shit out of our central characters in the process. They've kept the same dull, drab pages we'd initially flung up for them in 2007. Well, no more!

Ross took a great bunch of photos in front of our lovely office and Paddy went off and used his expert Photoshopping on them. So here they are. The gentlemen detectives of V.P.I finally in full technicolour glory:

DAN MCGRAIN (David Thompson)

Meet this well groomed, moustachioed, lady fearing, wooly hatted, most gentlemanly of detectives at http://www.vulturespi.com/McGrain.html

JIM VULTOUR (This is me with glasses on my face)

Meet this confused, mumbling, scruffy, dazed, chain smoking, clouded up deductive mind at http://www.vulturespi.com/Vultour.html

NIALL TENNYSON (Sean Hackett)

Meet this polite, dog loving, well fragranced, accident prone, most professional of investigators at http://www.vulturespi.com/Tennyson.html

There's good reading in them. They might have caused us a shitload of problems with retroactive continuity but damn it, there's good reading.

Say No To Pinkertons!

2008-12-24T07:52:00.000-08:00

We've just launched an anti Pinkerton campaign online at www.VulturesPI.com.

There you will find a very informative video presentation which tells you everything you need to know about the Pinkertons in a fair and balanced manner.

If you're interested in finding out more about these Pinkerton scumbags then do check out www.Pinkertons.ie.

Blade or Blouse... something like that.

2008-12-14T05:56:00.000-08:00

Her name is Natalie Blaise. Why are villains always the most fun to write?

'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' wraps up

2008-12-08T05:15:00.000-08:00

We wrapped shooting yesterday on the latest installment of our comic web serial Vultures. A cold, frosty but charmingly sunny Sunday morning saw our final scene for Episode 4 wrapped. Last night also saw us do some secretive shooting for Episode 6 and with that, shooting on Vultures for 2008 concludes. No rest for the wicked though. Not a hope.

We'll be spending the rest of the year getting 'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' ready for a January online bow and we'll also be getting ourselves geared up for shooting Episodes 5 & 6 in January, when we have nothing better to do but stand around outside in the cold with cameras. More information on those 2 episodes will be following along soon.

'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' has been abbreviated as thus:

"The fourth episode of our escapades will see the arrival in the V.P.I. offices of a TY student on work experience. Her name is Janine Drew and she is brash, ambitious and what in social circles is known as a 'chav.' Her appointment coincides with a series of errant romantic entanglements that degenerate into a potential powderkeg of social embarrassment and extreme violence."

The shoot for Episode 4 was a blast, partially due to a well spaced schedule and enthusiastic cast. But mostly down to having Ross Costigan working as director on this one. Ross is well familiar with Vultures at this stage so he knew the whole concept inside out and having sat around for so long and watched years of plays and films being filmed, he was chomping at the bit to get behind the camera and shout at us. After a couple of early hiccups on the shoot (namely freezing, ice rain) it picked up the pace and we've ended up with the best Vultures material so far. For me, it was great to be able to focus on work in front of the camera with Ross there manning the decks. He brought a fantastic commitment, focus and professionalism to the shoot and for the first time I felt as if I had someone on set who I could work with to push the boundaries of how the show looked and he brought out the best in everyone on set. Alan really upped his game as well and it's resulted in a really lovely looking episode which I have to give the lads all props for. The visual aspect of Vultures has suffered tremendously in the first 3 episodes due to not having the required crew to really achieve what we needed but with Ross full time behind the camera with Alan, the two of them really brought it to a level where it looks, yes, like a sitcom!

So, the editing process is kicking off this week and I really can't wait to get tuck into it in the knowledge that we've got coverage... lots of coverage. The shoot for 4 has me revved up for the shoot for Episodes 5 & 6, it's going to be hard, no doubt about that, but myself and Ross have a good handle on how to shoot it and Alan will take care of the production side of it. Scripting is near completed on both episodes (more of which later) so things are looking good on the entire Vultures wrap front.

Once there's a date set for it (no pun intended) then it'll be announced with mild fanfare and the crippling pressure of impending deadlines. It's how we work best, see. High blood pressure here we come!

www.VulturesPI.com is newly updated so check it out. All the photos on it (and here) are taken by the aforementioned Costigan ladchap and more of his work is available for visual perusal at his website www.Oss237.com

How Shall We Fuck Off O Lord?

2008-12-04T05:07:00.000-08:00

The first play I ever performed in was Monty Python's The Life Of Brian by Dreamstuff Youth Theatre when I was a mere pup of 17. This was back in 2000 as part of a very exciting initiative launched by Mike Kelly of Young Irish Film Makers and it was called Dreamstuff Youth Theatre. At the time, there were no outlets for young actors in Kilkenny to get experience or even just have the social interaction of hanging out with a bunch of like minded youngsters. And I can't describe how exciting for me, that the very first thing I'd get to act in was a production of a Monty Python film. And not just that but my favourite Monty Python film to boot! At the time, it was just the coolest thing in the world and so it proved when we performed it in the Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny from January 23rd to 26th 2001. And people came!

From there Dreamstuff Youth Theatre prospered and I got to act in a further 12 plays for them over the next 7 years and I also got invaluable experience in acting, writing, costumes and all manner of theatre work. It was the best possible education for someone who wanted to get into acting and without it, I wouldn't have been in any position to pursue theatre as a career. I still remember the looks on my fellow classmates faces on the first day of college when I got to recount all the theatre stuff I'd worked on in 2 years. I just hadn't realised how rare something like Dreamstuff is. They'd just been stuck doing the dog in some school version of Annie or in the Billy Barry kids, that sort of terrifying thing.

In my opinion, a really solid youth theatre is a better learning curve than any amount of colleges or training. The purest way to learn is by just doing. And from that first young, spotty crew on The Life Of Brian came the foundations of Devious Theatre as we have them today. Devious Theatre members Ken McGuire (as the titular character), David Thompson (The Virgin Mandy/Ben), Kevin Mooney (Biggus Dickus), Amy Dunne (Judith), Hazel Fahy (Mrs. Gregory), Sean Hackett (The Young Roman) and Dave Minogue (Ex-Leper/Harry The Haggler) all got our starts with The Life of Brian. I played the parts of First Wise Man, Francis the Revolutionary and Otto The Nazirene. We were all in the throes of puberty then, like so:

And so, it's with this whimsical and anecdotal rabble that I come to my point. Dreamstuff Youth Theatre are presenting the second coming of The Life Of Brian next week from Tuesday 9th to Saturday 13th of December in the Watergate Theatre. Further cementing my worrying reputation as the Peter Pan/Michael Jackson of Kilkenny youth theatre, I'm making a brief appearance in the play as Jesus The Christ, giving the Sermon on the Mount from the Watergate balcony. Finally, I get to play Christ! Flagellation here I come!

I've been up at rehearsals over the past 2 weeks and the production is looking great. There's a fantastic crew of young actors working on it (special mention for Peter O'Connor's Brian. This guy is the most exciting young actor in Kilkenny right now.) and I don't mind admitting that I've got one eye on the future new blood that can be pumped into the veins of Devious Theatre in a few years. It's going to be a great show and old man Mike Kelly is directing again with the same amount of aplomb and flair and cursing as he had in 2000. Their sets, costumes and programme also beat the hell out of ours. That's progression, right? Bastards.

And long may Dreamstuff Youth Theatre give Kilkenny youngsters the opportunities to work, rest and play in a fantastic theatrical wonderland after the drudgery of the school day. And of course, look at other young lads and young ones. Sex, sex, sex, it's all they think about.

Meet Janine Drew

2008-11-26T11:36:00.000-08:00

The promotion for Vultures Episode 4 'The Case Of The Poisoned Dates' is kicking into gear and here's the first new character to take a bow. Plus she's got an introductory trailer to boot. Please meet:

JANINE DREW (SUZANNE O'BRIEN)

Straight from www.VulturesPI.com is the lowdown:

'As our latest installment ‘The Case Of The Poisoned Dates’ looms into view, we’d like you to become acquainted with the newest member of the V.P.I. workforce, 16 year old Transition Year student Janine Drew. An ambitious young go getter she certainly is. Not to mention that she is what is known in cultural circles as ‘a chav.’ She will be doing her 2 weeks work experience in the cluttered offices of Vulture Private Investigations and no doubt, she will get up to all manner of merriment.'

You can check out her profile page at the Episode 4 section of the Vultures website.

And here's her trailer:

Chavtastic!

The War Of The Worlds goes podcast

2008-11-25T10:50:00.000-08:00

Our radio production of HG Wells' The War of The Worlds is going online on November 30th for anyone who was so freaked out and so disturbed by the October 30th broadcast on KCLR96FM that they just couldn't bear to listen. Or, eh, if people just missed it.

It goes online on November 30th at 8pm and can be downloaded as a podcast straight from the website, www.devioustheatre.com

All Hell's A Coming...

2008-11-17T04:48:00.000-08:00

"Men on bicycles, said Collins. - That's what I need. Good men on bicycles.
- I don't have one, I told him.
- I'm only after buying you the suit, he said. - So you can manage the fuckin' rothar yourself."
- A Star Called Henry by Roddy Doyle

In 1920 Michael Collins set up a covert group of hitmen who's sole job was to track down and kill English G-Men and spies during the Irish War Of Independence. These unknown men were referred to as 'The Squad.'

I'm currently lining up my first post Vultures writing assignment and it's going to be a feature screenplay, the first one I've worked on in over 2 years.

I've been working on a variety of different projects over the past few years and the vast majority of them have always had a deadline in place so it's always been an eyes on the prize, get down and do it kind of mentality. So once Vultures is in the can, I'd like to turn to something that I can write at a leisurely pace without any consideration of deadlines or budgets or logistics.

I haven't written a screenplay since Suckers in 2006 and I've never written a feature that hasn't been produced by Young Irish Film Makers. Screenplays were the first things I'd ever wrote and the first things I'd taught myself how to write. As a 14 year old I'd grab any screenplays I could, studying the structure and copying the formatting in order to teach myself how to write movies. It was my first love in writing and it's pretty much remained so. With Y.I.F.M I got the chance to write 5 features between 2001 and 2006 (Skegs and Skangers, the unproduced Holy Terrors, Lily's Bad Day, Eliza Mayflower and Suckers). I was lucky in a way because no one else up there was writing screenplays so the path was usually clear for me to submit stuff and make all the mistakes I needed to learn from. But the biggest stroke of luck was that a whippersnapper such as myself got the opportunity to do so.

So now the first project I'm working on of my own steam is hopefully going to get rid of my screenwriting rust and allow me to indulge in something extremely cinematic. Frankly, I can't wait to get back into it.

It's also the first time I've co-written a screenplay with someone so it's going to be a new experience all round. Working with Paddy Dunne on Vultures has just been invaluable in terms of honing and developing material, not to mention the fact that the inherent loneliness of the writer is made all the easier when there's someone else with you. This time I'm working with a very fine writer and actor by the name of Peter McGann who appears in Vultures as student lawyer Matt McLoughlin.

The feature is a comic actioner called The Hellfire Squad. And yup, it's based on the origins of the 12 men who made up Michael Collins hit squad during the War Of Independence. We have our characters mapped out and a treatment in place so I'm looking forward to tucking into it come next spring. Right now, it's research time. And after Bansheeville, I'm again getting to indulge my love for Irish history.

And when will The Hellfire Squad see the light of day? Who knows? And right now, that's the way uh huh uh huh I like it. Uh huh uh huh.

The Mystery Of The Night Time Refuse

2008-11-06T07:17:00.000-08:00

After a long night in the studio finishing the sound mix, Vultures Episode 3 'The Mystery Of The Night Time Refuse' is pretty much done, bar the few teensy bits of tidy ups here and there.

I'm quite proud of it I have to admit. I guess the overall ojective with this episode was to show people that we were getting better technically, that there was a long term story plan in place (aka not making this shit up as we go along) and that we could deliver consistent laughs with a solid story and interesting characters. And I think on those terms, we've succeeded. There are obviously going to be qualms. And I got plenty of them! Which is par for the course when you have a budget that comes in under 200EURO! Considering the scope and ambition and sheer naivety we had going into this project I'd still really love to see what we could achieve with substantial funding. But hey, that's a story for another day.

As it is, we've got a lot of people working really hard on this project and everyone is so damn dedicated. Which really is the heartening thing, when you've got actors and crew who not only enjoy working on a project but actively look forward to it. And hey, they're doing it all for free too!

So yes, Vultures is definitely a labour of love and without doubt the biggest creative undertaking I've ever taken on in my life. And at the end, if I can stand proudly by 6 episodes of something that, with my friends and allies, had blood, sweat and tears poured into it, then yup, I'll be a very satisfied mind indeed.

As it is, we don't know how this episode is going to be received, we don't know if more people will be attracted to the project, we don't know if it will work. All we can do is have faith and plug on regardless. Episode 4 is currently filming and it's been going great guns so far. So all we gotta do is keeping working hard (for free, yes) and try and somehow find the time to finish off Vultures in 2009. Fingers crossed.

We're trying to use the trendy buzz phrase 'webcom' as much as possible too. Use it! Use it! It's great and it's trendy. And also, we're sick of people saying 'Oh, isn't a sitcom supposed to be just half an hour?' and we'll get flustered and make lame excuses. But now, now we've got an answer and it's this: 'Webcoms are 40 minutes stupid!'. That'll put the shoe on the other foot.

Episode 5 & 6 are currently undergoing their drafting process. It's weird having planned a story arc for nearly 2 years to finally see it coming into shape. It's making me and Paddy feel kind of JK Rowling-ish. And yes, everybody dies. And there's a bit with a house elf.

All I'll say is this, we couldn't have picked a better time in Irish history for our long planned storyline to fall. If it gets labelled 'The Recession Sitcom' then I'll be a happy man.

Sorry, sorry, webcom, yeah, yeah, webcom, yeah...

Vultures Episode 3 goes online Sunday November 9th exclusively on www.VulturesPI.com

All photos here are by Ross Costigan of www.oss237.com and the title card was designed by Paddy Dunne who really should have his own website but just doesn't.

Mars Attacks!

2008-10-30T11:05:00.000-07:00

The launch of Devious Theatre's production of The War Of The Worlds is tonight!

The show has been finished, polished and covered in red weed in anticipation of it’s airing at 9pm on KCLR96FM and KCLR96FM.com.

It’s been a fantastic couple of months working on this project and for us, it’s opened up a whole new world of theatre. Radio theatre is a whole different discipline as I wrote earlier and it's something I want to indulge in more. It takes it right back to the spoken word and solely the spoken word. Exactly where all our great stories came from, aptly enough.

I hope that the production will go someway towards creating the sense of excitement and imagination that people had years ago as they huddled by their radiosets for all their entertainment. So if we can attract families, couples, the elderley, adults and kids alike and get them sitting in on a cold wintery night listening to the ol’ wireless, then we’ll be satisfied we’ve done our job. It’ll be even better if they descend into crazed hysteria and run out into the elements screaming of Martians. Orson Welles would be proud.

For my part, the writing process was a joy, the recording process was a true pleasure and I giddily look forward to sitting down tomorrow night to see the fine storytelling unfold, aided by a fine cast and a damn talented producer in Alan Dawson.

The last of the publicity material has gone out, Ross and Ken hit our hosts at KCLR96FM today for an interview and yes, the skies are definitely our enemy at the moment. So it must be said: the citizens of Carlow and Kilkenny have been given due warning.

We hope you’ll tune in tonight for our debut radio broadcast on KCLR96FM and of course, KCLR96FM.com. And remember, it’s only entertainment… just keep watching the skies. Happy Halloween.

Photos by oss237.com

Welcome To Bansheeville

2008-10-27T09:01:00.001-07:00

I've just finished work on the first draft of Bansheeville, the first play I've been commissioned to write.

I started work on it back in June and it's been a great experience, especially when you're working within the parameters of deadlines and being able to get top notch professional feedback too. Priceless learning curve.

After Heart Shaped Vinyl and Smitten, I was a bit nervous that my third play was a children's play and would I be able to write something that wasn't monologue heavy and full of foul language? But yeah, I think getting out of any comfort zones I had started to get into as a writer was the best thing for me at this stage of my writing life. Children are a very specific audience, not to mention a demanding one, so you really need to make sure that you're telling a really good story that they can connect with. It didn't take me long to realise that having written for Dreamstuff Youth Theatre for so long and worked as an actor with Barnstorm Theatre Company had given me such good experience in terms of seeing what works for younger audiences and I was able to apply this to Bansheeville.

I've had ideas for a banshee centred story for a long time and I never knew which form it would take but I think a children's play is the ideal way to tell it. I've always had this weird slightly morbid obsession with banshees ever since I was a child. It started with all those old stories you hear, grandmothers stories about these old Irish myths and the banshee was the one that really stuck in my little head. The idea of this horrible, screaming wailing woman hanging outside windows and warning people that they're gonig to die, is terrifying and as a child you just get entirely freaked out about what could be outside your window at night. Then I got really obsessed with that Disney movie Darby O'Gill and The Little People when I was young because it was full of leprechauns and Irish mythology and it had this flying, wailing banshee in it. Looking at it now, the banshee looks really dodgy with really lame special effects but as a child it just shits you up. The film also features a really young pre-Bond Sean Connery with a dodgy Irish accent and even dodgier singing skills. You really should check it out. For the laugh anyway.

So yeah, this is the banshee story I always wanted to write. It's about a 13 year old banshee called Siona and she hasn't found her scream yet and her hair is too knotty to comb and she lives in a colourful little place called Bansheeville. But even though she can't scream she's forced up into the big bad world because there's a shortage of banshees in Ireland due to the War of Independence. So with her little comb and list of Wailees, she's sent out to go and herald death. Which is obviously going to be hard when you can't scream.

So yeah, the perfect ingredients for a cracking childrens yarn: Death, banshees and the Irish War of Independence.

But to be honest, I think they were the elements that got it commissioned. Because I think people always underestimate children's capacity for subversive material and something like this could potentially connect...either that or I'm spreading my banshee terror to a whole new generation. I'm trying to make it as much of a fairytale as possible because fairytales are such an effective way for a child to be introduced to adult themes like death and sex and growing up and being responsible. Subversive see? So yeah, my inspirations for this are the works of The Brothers Grimm, Angela Carter and Terry Gilliam. So I'm hoping it'll be a nice funny, dark little fable for children. And maybe one day it'll make it up onto a stage. Early days yet anyway. But this is the first stage of the process completed and I'm really hoping to keep moving on with it.

And if you ever see a comb lying on the ground, do not pick it up.

The pen is down on Vultures Episode 4.

2008-10-17T07:35:00.001-07:00

Myself and Paddy have been scribbling away on the Vultures scripts the past few weeks and we've just finished Episode 4. Which I can happily and unofficially announce (as there's most likely noone reading) that it's entitled The Case Of The Poisoned Dates. Which is most definitely my favourite Vultures episode title so far, if not the most tenously related to the actual episode. Ah well.

It's going into pre-production from this very week and is shooting from the last week of October to the last week of November. I'm really looking forward to knuckling into this one. After each one, I always end up kicking myself in the shins about something so it makes me want to knuckle into the next one all the more. This episode is being directed by Ross Costigan (big hair, big camera, big www.oss237.com) so it'll be great to step back and let someone else have a crack of the whip on it. I've learned some invaluable lessons as a director on the first 3 but I need the time to catch my breath and get myself into good shape for the back to back Episode 5/6 shoot. Ross has a great visual eye and a first rate natural instinct for comedy so there's noone better to take custody of the baby for a while.

All manner of official announcements and the like will be oncoming soon. But do check out the website because it's still looking mightily pretty.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen...

2008-10-14T02:27:00.000-07:00

We've been hard at the recording of our 70th anniversary version of The War Of The Worlds the past week or so and we're just about complete. Our trips into the studio have already started to pay dividends though and the first of 6 specially produced radio and web adverts for the production has just went online at our website www.devioustheatre.com and they're also going to be airing on KCLR 96FM from this week too.

They've certainly succeeded in capturing that 'epic' feel that we're looking for in the battle scenes. Our sound designer and producer Alan Dawson likes to go into his lab and tinker away for hours and Christ, the results are really something. We've been laying down vocals all week and we're kind of going 'Ah yeah, that seemed okay. Was that alright?' and everyone else is like 'Ah yeah.' but you know, just know, that it's going to go through the magic Daw sound filter machine and it's gonna come out on the other end sounding, well, epic. Wellesian even.

The recording process so far has seen Kev, Ross, Ken, Daw and myself spending long, long hours in the studio, drinking ridiculous amounts of tea, copious amounts of biscuits and chain smoking stupid amount of fags. It's been really intensive and a good working experience for us. From the get go, we approached this project as a group... there's no Welles in our midst y'know? And we've tackled it as a group. Everyone is concise with direction and we've all been on the same page. As I mentioned in an earlier post, like excited kids getting to play in the classic sci-fi section of toy store. The sense of glee when we go through ideas for what the sound of a clanking tripod leg might sound like is just comical. Big kids for sure.

It's been a real eye opener for me in terms of radio production. Just being in the booth for a couple of hours and acting to myself, using nothing but vocals and imagination has really blown the dust off me. And to be honest, I was nowhere near prepared well enough vocally for this. I came out of the booth just kicking myself yesterday. The demands of vocal performance are completely different from the physical side, you have to get across so much vocally. Everything. Not just the story itself but the colour, the emotion, the effect of the words, the nuance of it all. It's a hugely demanding process and I have nothing but respect for the performers that can do it daily. I did a radio production of The Tain a couple of years back and I remember really preparing the shit out of it and working very hard on the craft of vocal work. Suffice to say, it's something I really want to revisit. I haven't focused on vocal performance in a while now and well, as recording The War Of The Worlds has proved, without your voice you're fucked as a performer. Unless...

Alternately, don't be surprised to see Devious Theatre doing Commedia Dell'Arte on the streets of Kilkenny next year. At which point, I'll take off my mask and my tights, turn to everyone else covered in sweat and go 'Jesus lads, I am fucking knackered. Fuck this physical theatre shit.' Time to start brushing up all round methinks.

Watch The Skies. 30.10.08. It's gonna be explosive.

Meet Noah Hennessy and Tom Moriarty

2008-10-09T05:52:00.000-07:00

Here's more additions to the character profiles for Vultures. You can check them out on our ever expanding website at www.vulturespi.com. These are 2 character that were introduced in the second episode, 'The Scarlet Lady Vanishes'.

NOAH HENNESSY (GUS MCDONAGH)

First up is the Italia 90 obsessed, permanently moustached taxi driver / butcher, Noah Hennessy played by Gus McDonagh. He's a man not to be messed with. Especially if you try to strangle his prostitute girlfriend.

Check out his profile at http://www.vulturespi.com/Episode_2.html

TOM MORIARTY (STEPHEN COLFER)

Next up is the ever so smooth, well groomed moustache of Isabelle Vultour's slick architecht boyfriend Tom Moriarty as played by Stephen Colfer. A man so slick he makes David Niven look like a hobo.

Learn more about this modern day Casanova at his profile http://www.vulturespi.com/Episode_2.html

The War Of The Worlds - 30.10.08

2008-10-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

So after a month of teasing and dropping dates, making a go of a small viral campaign (if it's good enough for the movies) and generally trying to get our wits about us, we launched our upcoming radio production of HG Well's THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. All at the same as we relaunched www.devioustheatre.com with a brand spanking new look and fancy new features and other such bells and whistles.

WOTW is the perfect project for us to launch with as our first foray into radio theatre. It's a classic piece of science fiction, we get to put our own spin on it and indeed, it couldn't be timed more deviously. On 30th October 1938 Orson Welles launched his famous (or infamous) broadcast of the play on C.B.S. and caused what my mother would term as 'absolute fucking ructions.' A lot of people thought his radio broadcast themed account was actually a really Martian invasion of America and fled houses, burnt things and generally caused chaos. In all fairness to Welles, there were liberal sprinklings of disclaimers throughout his famous broadcast. Maybe people were too busy screaming to notice?

So, in a homage to Welles, we're doing our own version, set entirely in the Kilkenny / Carlow region, 70 years to the date of his broadcast. We're doing it radio program style initially but we're branching out to include more elements from the book and try and utilise our modern setting as best we can. Myself and fellow Devious Theatre compadre Kevin Mooney have spent the past month secretely battering out the script for our version. Like a lot of previous adaptations, we've tried to allegorise it a little with references to global warning, Sellafield, immigration and even a little bit of recession. We're trying to keep as close to the novel as possible and not be hokey about it. Martians have such a B-movie cheesy image at times. But not these rampaging fuckers. We've been working on the recording and everything has been a lot of fun so far. And hey, if all goes well a radio play could end up being a permanent yearly fixture for Devious Theatre. So we're going to cross a few fingers on that one.

It's a great opportunity for us to branch out into a different style of theatre. Myself, Kev, Ken and Ross have been giddily excited about it for the past couple of weeks. Like kids in a big radio theatre store, getting to play in the sci-fi classics section. It's also a great opportunity to work on a project outside the summer months too. We were getting a bit of a 'summer company' rep so it's nice to break the cycle we've established since 2006. Break it with some evil red weed, heat rays and killer black smoke.

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS will be broadcast on KCLR 96FM on October 30th 2008 at 9pm. It can also be listened to live on KCLR96FM.com. And do make sure to check out the bubbles and sparks at www.devioustheatre.com too. It's fancy.

This is no doubt exactly how we'll look whilst recording. Exactly like that.

Meet Jack Street and Sarah Black

2008-09-29T08:05:00.001-07:00

We've got more updates on the VULTURES front. Little by little and bit by bit,we're updating the website and this usually means getting through the backlog of material we've built up over the past year or so.

After introducing the new characters for Episode 3, we're now re-introducing the characters from the first two episodes. So, from Episode 1 'The Kris Kringle Konundrum'....

JACK STREET (ROSS COSTIGAN)

The spiky, snitchy street informant cum pimp wants nothing more than to be legit but it's just his nature to be the dodgiest scumbag ever to open an advent calendar. His profile and pics have been added to the website so check him out at http://www.vulturespi.com/Episode_1.html

SARAH BLACK (NIAMH MORONEY)

Jim Vultour's ex is a downtrodden, usually mild mannered tour guide with a fine line in oversized jumpers and oversized glasses. So at least she had something in common with Vultour. You can also read more about her at http://www.vulturespi.com/Episode_1.html

Episode 2 'The Scarlet Lady Vanishes' had a screening at Podcamp Ireland (http://www.podcampireland.com/) on Saturday. It seemed to go pretty well but Christ, I really hate public speaking. It's a completely different situation than having to pre-learn lines... I'm totally fucked if I ever need to make a wedding speech.

The Smitten Blogs

2008-09-29T04:59:00.000-07:00

Smitten was the last play I wrote and it was performed Augst 20th - 23rd in The Barn, Church Lane, Kilkenny. I was happy with how it went but undoubtedly an absolute bag of angsty nerves. It was a weird process in terms of the writing and development of the play but in the end, the crowd seemed to enjoy it so I guess that's what counts. I didn't blog as heavy on this one as I did on Trainspotting (Possibly because I was up to my eyeballs). But anyways, here are my before and after blogs from the week of the show, along with some choice pictures from the production.

BEFORE: Smitten - A Play From Kilkenny

It’s a little bit weird being at this stage of any kind of creative endeavour. The stage where you’ve really worked so long on something and it’s just about to be presented to people and you’re not really sure if its ready or indeed, if it’s much cop. Well, I’m at that stage now with Smitten. I could probably spend years working on it and we would probably love another few weeks of rehearsals but that’s always the way and really, beside the point. It’s opening this week and it’s going to be seen and I hope people like it and it’s all very much out of my hands.

Smitten is a story (or stories) that I’ve had, quite aimlessly, in my head for years and years. Initially, I just wanted to set something specifically in Kilkenny. It’s my hometown and I’ve lived with the place for so long that I just had this desire to put something to paper about the place because I’d love to read stuff set in Kilkenny myself. So, I had all these little stories and they were all random, often interlinked but mostly self contained. And they were all set in Kilkenny. Odd stuff like a story about a lovelorn waitress who had a heart she couldn’t keep in her chest and used to have to chase it all around the place. Or this character who used to turn to ice at the most awkward moments and break into tiny pieces. And there was a guy who could literally read peoples faces and a comedy story set at a funeral and there was a really awkward drug deal that went horribly wrong and all these other bits and pieces of assorted story bric-a-brac. And a lot of the stuff that found its way into the play was there too like angels and sock puppets and the grand romantic gestures. And thematically, really, it was all about being in your 20’s and the preoccupations you have at that time of your life. And of course, these were preoccupations that I had myself so I really wanted to express them in a story. I’d heard this phrase ‘Your teens are your body’s puberty but your twenties are your minds’ and it really summed up what I wanted to jot down. At first it was a novel but at this stage I’m a little too undisciplined to write a novel so I began working on this 90 minute screenplay. Not that I thought it would be a particularly good film but rather because I just wanted to get the fucking thing down on paper and try and batter out some sort of shape to it.

Then after Heart Shaped Vinyl (my first play, churned out in a month and thrown onstage before the umbilical cord could be cut) I had a bit more confidence about what went into writing a play. There was no pressure on me to write another and there was no particular need for me to do so but Smitten just jumped to mind. I had a fear that I’d have this story about the choices you face in your 20’s and that by the time I got around to executing it in any form I’d suddenly be in my 30’s. And as books and films are infinitely more ambitious ventures, I figured I’d try and adapt Smitten into a play. And that’s what I’ve spent the past year doing.

I tried to mould it into some decent structure and then tried to implement all the various surreal elements I wanted to put into it. In its story and script form I had a disparate selection of dream sequences and dance sequences and singing sequences and heavy doses of magic realism all this other shit I could indulge in because I was just writing for myself, right? But with an audience in mind I felt I had to jettison a lot of the outlandish elements of the stories and really focus on telling a few stories well. So that’s what I’ve tried to do and I hope it works out. It’s been a long process and a tough process and really, I’d love more time with it but yup, out of my hands. I’ve spent countless times annoying the actors and Colm with changes throughout the rehearsal process but I think I could just stay tinkering at something for fucking ages. Even up to the first week of our rehearsal period there was one story about this suicidal girl who hovered above the Canal Walk and I really liked elements of it but it was an awkward fit so I cut it. I think the reason I liked it was because it wasn’t intertwined into the story of a relationship. I guess that’s the one thing I don’t like about Smitten, that it’s too couple heavy. So instead of being about an assortment of 20 something’s, it becomes about an assortment of 20 something couples. But those couple stories do seem to commentate on choices you have to make in your 20’s so yeah, all the lovey dovey stuff might just have a point.

Despite constant nervousness and worry, I’ve really enjoyed the rehearsal period on this one and after our initial casting difficulties, it’s been really fun. It really is an awesome cast, they’re fucking brilliant, every one of them. Toppers they are. The words really flow out like rain onto a Kilkenny street and they make it sound a lot better than I could have hoped for. Our committee and crew have really worked hard on this one. Initially, after how well Trainspotting went we were worried that we wouldn’t be able to muster the energy for another play and that we’d end up fucking up our momentum by burning ourselves out. Well, if burn out is in the post, it hasn’t arrived yet. I think it’s that nervousness about topping Trainspotting and also having to live up to the plaudits we got for it that’s made us up our A game considerably. So myself, Niamh, Ken, Kevin, Ross, Paddy and Colm have spent ample time sitting in The Field drinking stupid amounts of tea and deliberating over every minute detail of this production. I’m very proud of the work we do and if this play bombs and goes up in a big heap of smoke, I’m happy choking on it in the knowledge that we’ve tried our best.

Also, we wouldn’t have been able to do this play without Barnstorm Theatre Company’s assistance. They’ve supported it all the way and given us their time, space and professionalism, all for the love of local theatre. And for that, they must be commended. We’d be at nothing without support and with them we’ve had it in bucket loads. If you haven’t had the pleasure of being in The Barn before, oh you wait and see. Plus Eddie has some killer set design plans in place. It’s going to be something else. And David Sheenan, aka Supernova Scotia, has contributed a fucking awesome score for the play which makes it seem really unique. So yeah, it’s gonna look and sound great at least!

I also have to state that Colm Sheenan, our director, has been fantastic. He’s really busted his ass on the play and has never given up on it. He’s always brimful of direction, suggestions and chair movements. And he’s always good enough to step back when the actors want to try something out or when I invariably fret and worry about a scene and keep thinking of changing stuff. I really hope the finished product does his work justice.

And it’s that finished work that goes onstage this Wednesday. Is it finished? Well, for now it is. But I always think I might go back to that book or that film script again. And for no other reason in my mind than there’s a lot of stories in Kilkenny and they’re well worth telling. It’s a hell of a place. Despite all the rain.

Smitten opens August 20th in The Barn, Church Lane, Kilkenny. It runs until Saturday August 23rd and tickets are 10EURO in Rollercoaster Records, Kieran Street.

AFTER: Struck As With Harsh Blow - Smitten Closes

After a 4 night sell out run we’re all a little shell shocked. Struck as with hard blow for absolute sure. We weren’t expecting the demand for our production of Smitten to be as it was. But it certainly was. The entire run had been pretty much booked out by Thursday afternoon. Any remaining awry comps were contested and SOLD OUT signs (as below) were quickly drawn up by a big red marker. All the while we stood by quite amazed. This show was a bit of a leap of faith for us. We termed it an experiment certainly. For a fledgling company to do a brand new untested play 6 weeks after a massive large scale production in a space that most people hadn’t heard of or struggled to find with a severely depleted roster of actors and resources was an ask. But it was worth every second. I was so proud of everyones hard work and what was achieved. The fact that 4 nights of a sell out produced consistent laughs and smiling faces was enough for me. Relief too! I could see where the play worked and where it didn’t but with an audience it breathed, and I’m glad it came to life. It went a bit too long and a few tech glitches hiccuped us but mostly it was a production that showed the hard slog that had been put into it. With all my initial worries and nerves calmed, I’ll now happily go back to the lab and tinker away.

So, solid props to the director Colm Sheenan for his tireless work on the project. To our awesome set, prop and lighting designers Eddie Brennan, Thom Dowling and Gerry Taylor. To everyone at Barnstorm Theatre Company for letting us into their home and stealing their milk for the week. To the hard grafting committee of Devious Theatre, Ken, Paddy, Niamh, Ross and Kev.

And finally to the amazing cast who really gave it socks and gave the audiences some fine performances. They were a joy in every single way and to revive the show just to work with them again would be worth it alone. They were Stephen Colfer, Ross Costigan, Amy Dunne, Ken McGuire, Kevin Mooney, Lynsey Moran, Niamh Moroney, Maria Murray, Suzanne O’Brien, Jack O’Leary, Annette O’Shea and Geoff Warner Clayton.And that’s that. Us Devious bods must rest ourselves before the next production begins. Until October…

John Morton

Writer

Smitten

The Incident Of The Wrapped Episode

2008-09-22T08:57:00.000-07:00

And that's a wrap.

Well, it's really more of a 3 down and 3 to go type scenario but hey, it's an accomplishment nonetheless...and I'm tired so I'll take what I can get.

Vultures Episode 3 wrapped today after a very early start (I was awake and eating Bran Flakes at 4am) so we all finished with a nice sleep in Alan's car and now I feel a bit fresher since Jim Vultour's hair, beard and manky smoky smell have been removed from me.

This was definitely the most pleasurable episode of Vultures to shoot so far. I think everyone's enthusiasm, comfort and talent really hit a peak on this one and I'm hopeful it's going to show. 3 episodes in and things are just gelling better and everybody's got a better idea of what the project is about and what it's needs are. This has certainly been an easier shoot for myself and Alan anyway because of the extended crew who chipped in. So major props to Ross, Laurent and Colm for giving themeselves over to Vultures. Myself and Alan were able to focus on other areas a lot more (less waving our arses in front of carlights to achieve that squad car look this time) and no doubt the show is going to be better because of it.

I also have to give a massive thanks to the cast who continue to bowl me over with their enthusiasm, passion for the project and willingness to have stupid haircuts, weird beards and get up at ridiculous hours. And on this one they have been Sean Hackett, David Thompson, Ross Costigan, Gus McDonagh, Peter McGann, John Doran, Liadain Kaminska, Stephen Colfer, Paul Young, Niamh Moroney, Eddie Brennan, Tommy Ruane and that old granny who walked by during the opening scene. You bring tears to a brother's eyes.

So it's off to the editing laboratory with myself Alan and Paddy for the next few weeks and we hope to emerge by the end of October with a tight little story called 'The Mystery Of The Night Time Refuse.'

We'll also be making an announcement in regards to Episode 4 in the next couple of weeks so expect something interesting. Well, a title anyway. It might be of interest.

All photos are taken by Ross Costigan. He's got big hair and a big camera and a big website called www.oss237.com

Vulturespotting: Start Magazine write us up.

2008-09-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

Start Magazine, the Arts magazine for the South East did some nice coverage of Devious Theatre and Mycrofilms in their Autumn issue. First up is an interview with Paddy Dunne, co- writer of Vukltures on the gestation of the sitcom and our intentions. And secondly is a published review of Devious Theatre's recent production of Trainspotting. It's a real pretty looking magazine.

INTERVIEW WITH PADDY DUNNE

It seems that more and more of the general public are rejecting television for its lack of interesting and creative programming, and are turning on to the World Wide Web. There are specific websites that are able to cater to people in society that do not wish to be versed in Fair City or Coronation Street. Folks looking for intelligent and dexterous entertainment seem to get there fill from the internet, and this is where the clever work of three Kilkenny locals exhibit their talents, with the web-based sitcom ‘Vultures’.

‘Vultures’ is the flagship programme for Mycrofilms, a production and editing company focused on creating new short films, music videos, animation and features.

Conceived by John Morton and Alan Slattery the company launched in late 2006, and it was soon after in that same year that Morton and friend Paddy Dunne planted the seed for ‘Vultures’, which they spent the next nine months exploring, scrutinizing and story boarding. The filming for the first of six episodes ‘The Kris Kringle Konundrum’, eventually began in Winter 2007.

Collectively written and directed by Dunne and Morton, the series tells the tale of three private detectives who run a minor league private investigation agency in small town Ireland. The moderately successful business is called Vulture Private Investigations and specialises in dealing with small-scale cases like missing pets. The pair work well together. Sharing the duties of directing and writing may cause tensions, however it seems like the Coen brothers it benefits Paddy and John rather than hinder; “because we’re good friends, we are on the same wave length and able to bounce ideas off each other; we share the same vision” ‘Columbo’, ‘Tin Tin’, and ‘Sherlock Holmes’ are among the many fictional detectives that Morton and Dunne drew inspiration from when creating the characters; each persona has distinct qualities that make for fascinating and compulsive entertainment.

The detail in which the pair has gone to in shaping these characters is supported by the acting talents of those involved. Instantly noted upon viewing the two filmed episodes is the standard to which this project is produced. Everything from the script, costume, location and acting is a surprising calibre. Give the small budget. The first episode was produced on the rigorous quota of four hundred euro. It is with a grant from the Kilkenny Arts Office that the team is now able to invest in a bigger scale with the filming of the upcoming episodes.

The chosen medium of internet exposure seemed to be fitting to the direction in which the team behind ‘Vultures’ wishes to pursue; “The web gives us an instant audience while it also showcases our work to prospective investors or television producers.” It would seem that ‘Vultures’ is aiming for a larger market and those involved hope to someday gain exposure on national television.

Filming for the third episode began this summer, but Paddy is insistent on having no strict deadline for the online launch; “it’s better to take your time and produce a higher level of work, rather than pushing for something without it being polished. Because sometimes, just sometimes, Irish films don’t need to be about men chasing cows around fields to fiddle music.” With this as a slogan you can see that not only do these gentleman have a sense of humour they also have something to prove to the Irish production world.

(IM)

Contact: To view the Vultures episodes log on to

www.VulturesPI.com or visit www.Mycrofilms.com

TRAINSPOTTING REVIEW

The following review was first published in the autumn 2008 edition of Start Magazine, the arts magazine for the South East of Ireland. Written by Ita Morrissey, the review can be found in the magazine available here as a free download.

For folks that are unacquainted with 'Trainspotting' performed by Devious Theatre (Watergate, Kilkenny, June), it's the tale of a dark and dirty Edinburgh told through the lives of five down and out drug riddled friends.

The risky aspect in taking on a production such as 'Trainspotting' is the subject matter it confronts; take the infamous toilet scene when Renton retrieves his pills, Alison's re-enactment of spoiling food when she worked as a waitress and then there is all the business with needles.

It was apparent that this troupe of actors had worked hard to achieve a naturalistic Scottish accent; the dialogue was delivered in a superior manner by many of the cast. Ross Costigan, who played Renton, was able to juggle the accent with volume to a perfect level, but at times Begbie, played by Niall Sheehy, went beyond what could be deciphered. And occasionally the vocal abilities of the one or two of female actors were testing on the audience. That only being a minor note compared to the standard reached by all the others.

The first half ran at a great pace, as Renton was used to marvellous effect guiding the audience along his life of drugs and hard times. Costigan's skill at portraying this down beaten but lovable character was magnificent; he lived and breathed him.

It was slightly disappointing then, not have the same connection with him in the second half. That being said, there were some beautiful moves throughout the play, especially in two specific scenes where Sick Boy (John Morton) tangoed with Mother Superior (Paul Young) in a junkie frenzy and where Spud reveals his dirty sheets across the breakfast table.

This type of blocking from directors Niamh Moroney and John Morton only contributed to the professional standard of this production.

Here's a picture of Ross, Niamh and myself looking all happy because people are saying nice things about our play.

Vultures Episode 3 is go go go!

2008-09-18T02:33:00.000-07:00

We've been filming the latest episode of our web sitcom VULTURES, in and around Kilkenny City the past cupla weeks and we're due to wind it all down this weekend.

All that's left is the office exterior scenes and we've procured a lovely interior at No. 42 Parliament Street, Kilkenny, thank you very much indeed. Kilkenny has many lovely old school building fronts and we've long had our beady little detectiving eyes on one of the Parliament Street or Patrick Street ones so we've come up trumps, yes siree!

I'm very much looking forward to sitting down in the office with Mr. Alan Slattery and getting stuck into the edit of Episode 3. We're quietly confident that every episode is getting better and better so we're hoping this one is going to make the first 2 real embarrassed and start crying.

www.vulturespi.com has been extensively updated so please do check it out for all the episodes and trailers and assorted bits and pieces from so far in the project.

One of my favourite things every episode is introducing new characters. We try and make them as heightened and stylised as is possible. It really helps to expand the world of the show and we're confident that we've got 2 cracking new characters that people are going to love. Please meet them:

NED SAVAGE (JOHN DORAN)

Savage is the trash talking, cigar chomping litter warden intent on cleaning the scum off the streets. Check out his character profile and more pics at http://www.vulturespi.com/Episode_3.html

MATT MCLOUGHLIN (PETER MCGANN)

McLoughlin is a hen night loving rogue. He spends all his money on fat frogs and middle aged women. He's also supposed to be V.P.I's lawyer. Check out his character profile and more pics at http://www.vulturespi.com/Episode_3.html

VULTURES EPISODE 3: 'The Mystery Of The Night Time Refuse' is scheduled to premiere online in October. Keep a private eye on www.vulturespi.com.

All photos here were taking by a delightful fellow called Ross Costigan. Check out his website at www.oss237.com