It was sometime in May..early in May I made the phone call to Una Dalton(The Producer of ‘One For The Road’) about doing a play. She was the first person I rang for two main reason’s…1.I knew she would take it on board and secondly I knew she would be perfect for the job….and she was. Una and meself have been friends for years and she did an amazing job. If someone had told me this time last year that me and her would be working on a play together..well I wouldn’t have believed it.
At the time I don’t think she realized what she was in for..I did..but decided not to tell her. With Una on board all we needed now was a script..and we had ideas..an adaptation would be cool but in the end we decided to write our own and so began the script for ‘One For The Road’.
‘One For The Road’ will always remind me of late nights in my room with just the glow of the computer screen lighting my bedroom as I tried to come up with ideas or dialogue..sometimes it wasn’t even whole scenes that kept me up but that one right line that could sum up everything. It was important for me that the story would be realistic and also funny. And we achieved that.
We wanted to do our own story because we wanted something that could really relate to people our age,especially students..when rehearsals began I often explained to Una that I wasn’t expecting people to walk out saying I was a brilliant writer or anything like that..but I was more hopeful that when students did show up…with can’s in their hands, ready as usual..for a bit of theatre..that they did relate to the story or could even point out someone like that they knew in the story. And if they laughed, applauded and by the end touched by the storyline then I would be really happy..and I was.
With the script ready in June,then began one of the more tougher tasks, finding the actors. By this stage we also had our amazing photographer Shauna O’Neill. So we decided to have a day of auditions but in through student style a lot of them didn’t show up..in fact only one did….Julie Ralph. I must say the day Julie turned up she impressed me, a lot. To be honest I didn’t see it coming no offence Julie but you knocked it out of the park. We had our ‘Katy’ and what a Katy she would prove to be.
With our ‘Katy’ cast all we needed was the rest…and funnily enough I never thought that the girl who played ‘Chloe’ would actually become part of our cast. I had met Catriona Kilbride years ago..the last time we actually spoke was at a somewhat infamous house party in Cork about three years ago. Anyway I knew she was in to theatre and asked on facebook whether she knew anyone that would be interested??Before I knew she was doing an audition just a few days after an operation. But Catriona was always ‘Chloe’ she just had ‘that something about her’ look that Chloe needed. a girl who was cool, someone that your friends would love…a girl who wore hats.
It was then thanks to Catriona that we found our ‘James’ and ‘Thomas’. I won’t go in to much detail about the phone calls but let’s just say they were quite the way to break the ice. What can I say about Ollie Kelly and James O’Connor…..there man whores!Ah no, what I liked about James was how much he got in to the character although he was the biggest geek of everyone he still played him with pride. And Ollie..well Ollie pretty much played himself for the first half. But I liked how much Ollie enjoyed getting to play this somewhat of a dickhead character but not a dickhead..more someone who doesn’t want to face up to his responsibilities.
When I began writing the script one of the most important things was, for me, to show how much a person can change in one year. And I wanted to put that across in the characters. With ‘Robin’ it’s how she doesn’t really panic about how she may pregnant. And especially between ‘Daniel’ and ‘Chloe’.
I think Daniel and Chloe are one of those couples you will see in college and know they will be married in a couple of years. But it’s not because they look good together or even just that they fancy each other but maybe because really there best friends and respect each other. They know how they really feel..so there’s no need to stay constantly reminding each other.
There was only a few places left to fill and that was the barman, and our three drunk girls. It was James and Ollie who recommended him to me and it was also them who got him on bored. And I must admit it the first time I saw him..I thought to myself he was perfect. He just had that look ‘Jamie’ needed. A guy you could believe did a degree in law but decided to stay working in a bar serving the patrons of ‘Tully’s’.
Ironically the first two drunk got the parts when they had asked if they could do it, whilst we were all out one Sunday night. I gave one quick look at them together and I knew we had our drunk girls. And it must be said they played them with relish..well I suppose I would too if I got to throw a drink over someone and got lines such as the classic ‘And to think I was going to ride the bollox off him’…one of me personal faves.
Finally there was only one position left to fill Drunk girl 3/Rebecca.
We had actually had two people to audition for this part..one of them didn’t show up and the other was just unable to do it. With two weeks left to go to the opening..we needed a Rebecca and fast. And who better than Aine Ryan..it was a big favour to ask but she did it..and what a performance she gave. Someone with no acting experience what-so-ever blew everyone away with the way she played the drunk bitch Rebecca. And I have to say I loved everything about the way she played the character.
With the cast intact the last two weeks would be filled with long and intense rehearsals. Long days turning in to long nights and maybe followed by a drink or two if deserved..in most cases it was.
I went through a lot of feelings during this production..mixed emotions. At times being excited and other times being severely worried. Worried not about the actors but more so the quality of the script and how much of a good story line we had. But luckily I had Una Dalton and Rob Muldoon there to comfort me in those times of need. It was around six weeks of rehearsals we had for the show not much time maybe? But I thought it was just right enough time to get it right put also maybe keep everyone on edge so the show didn’t become over rehearsed.
You spend those weeks eagerly waiting for the opening of the show and then on the last night wishing you could go back to the beginning because your going to miss it so much. And I did miss it..a lot. I was delighted to do one more night as part of the town of books and have everyone back together for one last time. But once again I will miss everyone.
What can I say about everyone?They were great, simple as that. Both cast and crew. The actors impressed me a lot and there was also this great sense of knowing how all of us worked in a short period of time which opened up great opportunities to add in some fucking amazing ad-lib.
Everyone got on with everyone it was also great to see all the cast and crew behind the show and pushing it as much as they could. We also can”t forget those who worked behind the scenes put didn’t get the applause at the end but definitely deserved it. Una Dalton our producer, Rob Muldoon worked the lights, Shauna O’Neill our photographer and our favorite sweetheart Donna Doyle who greeted everyone at the door. We can’t forget also Blaine Doyle and Kelly Ann Whelan who helped out on this production. Once again thanks everyone it was sincerely appreciated.
And what have I learned from this production…I love it. I honestly do every little thing about it. I am very proud of this and everyone I worked with.
With this in mind there’s now an eagerness to get out there and do more, but as with anything in life you can’t rush it. As everyone from ‘One For The Road’ now heads there separate ways, all I can do is wish them all the best. I look forward to maybe someday working with the same cast and crew again someday hopefully on a new production..but then again ‘Ya Never Know…..Anything Could Happen’
Well done Adrian! Sorry I couldn’t make it, but I’m so happy it went well for you and your cast. Keep up the good work!
Oh, and how do you like the music I recommended? Any good?
Eleanor Roscuro