My Play is in Rehearsal

Next week-end sees the Trim Swift Festival or the Swift Satire Festival or whatever it's called this year. Changing the name appears to be a clever touch of Swiftian satire. After all Gulliver's Travels isn't called Gulliver's Travels, if you know what I mean.

Anyway I entered their new five minute play competition, Five Fives: the flash drama competition, and got shortlisted. The five shortlisted plays have to be performed as part of the Bite of Satire event on Sunday afternoon in the Trim Castle Hotel.

These are the shortlisted plays:
A Swift Response, by the Bradford Literature Group
Inspector Gulliver Calls, by Vera Cait Walsh, Wicklow Town.
If Gulliver was on the Titanic, by Mark Burrow, Bradford
Gulliver at the Gate, by Gareth Mahony, Trim
Gulliver’s Travels: A modern 5-minute version, by Michael Farry, Trim.


The plays had to have no more than 3 characters, one of whom had to be called Gulliver. It does appear that each one included a Swift reference instead of just having a random Gulliver character. Actually my three characters are called Gulliver though this probably won't  get me any more marks.


I have been lucky to get three prominent members of Trim Drama Group to take the parts in my play and rehearsals have begun. I'm supposed to be the director as well as writer but these experts need little direction. It should be interesting to see how the writers have approached the task. Five minutes is a bit brief to develop characters so mine is designed as a bit of a romp and designed to get a few laughs.

The event, which starts at 1.30 on Sunday 8 July also includes a lunch and the annual Battle Of  The Books, "a verbal joust of satirical writing between the Boyne Writers’ Group (the holders of the trophy) and the Meath Writers’ Circle". I'll probably be involved in that as well though we still have to finalize our team.

All for only 20 euro!! (Well 21.95 actually - those booking fees are annoying aren't they!)
You can book on the Festival website.