April 28 2010:
Moynihan reflects the rainbow in her new play, Slaughterhouse Swan:
First timers Éala Productions in association with Focus Theatre stage brand NEW IRISH WRITING at its best but examining a taboo a gay theme. Written & directed by Elizabeth Moynihan who last year had great success with Walnuts Remind Me Of My Mother at the ABSOLUT Gay Theatre festival, Moynihan returns to the Irish stage with her fourth play - a heart punching piece of theatre, Slaughterhouse Swan, which runs as part of the festival, this May.
Slaughterhouse Swan is the third play in a trilogy that includes the 2009 ABSOLUT Gay Theatre Festival play ’Walnuts Remind Me Of My Mother’ & 'The Cider Queens' which is a 2009 Zebbie Award Winner at the 2009 Irish Playwrights and Screen-Writers Guild of Ireland for Best New Radio play. Moynihan, an exciting and emerging new Irish playwright because she has used and developed her experienced stage acting skills, lifelong love for literature and now creating her own theatre works over the last few years, in a time when arts funding is in crisis. However, through such adversity she is exploring new ways to write and produce her work - Slaughterhouse Swan explores how through love we can sometimes damage our sanity and safety as it deals with an underage gay relationship with a minor:
Bartie is the only butcher in Swan town. His son Canais arrives home unannounced from Australia after an absence of ten years while Canais’ twin sister, Cepta, has had a career change after spending a spell in prison for unlawful sex with Rose, one of her students and a minor. It's the eve of Mammy's birthday and she’s missing after her pilgrimage to Lough Derg. Cue hilarious family dysfunction that the Irish do best which then sky-rockets through cake and celebrations to climax in a stew of long-held recriminations, accusations and resentments.
The cast features Fiona Condon (Cepta) with stage credits from Rough Magic’s ‘Seeds’, Corn Exchange’s ‘Car Show’, including film & TV roles in ‘The Daisy Chain’ (Subotica), ‘Damage’ (Subotica/RTE), ‘Fair City’ (RTE) & ‘Feng Shui & My TV’ (BBC) / Sonya O’Donoghue (Rose) with film credits for the Irish premiere of Roulette (Douglas Hill) & A Portrait of a Zombie (Bing Bailey) / Paschal Scott (Barty) who has worked on productions from ‘12 Angry Men’ to ‘Killinascully’, ‘Omagh’ & ‘Intermission’ / Frank Mackey (Canais) - his TV work includes ‘Fair City’, ‘The Clinic’ and ‘The Tudors’. His film work spans productions from ‘Rebel Heart’, ‘Damage’, ‘The Dawning’ & ‘Stardust’ to name a few.
Slaughterhouse Swan borne out from Moynihan’s on-going interest in the subject of sexuality, particularly the idea that sexuality is not necessarily clearly defined by the term GAY or STRAIGHT. The rainbow logo of the festival reflects this so perfectly.
NOTES ON THE PLAY:
This is the first time Elizabeth Moynihan has directed her own work. It has been her dream to surround herself with a creative team which she has worked with from the beginning of her career in theatre, which also drew from her Stanislavski training at Focus Theatre over last 15 years. The idea of a ‘Company’ [Éala Productions – Éala meaning swan from the Irish language] was a dream since her early days at Focus. Through the support of her producers Éala Productions and the list of people throughout her theatre career, most are friends and a huge source of inspiration. The core cast Elizabeth has worked with, lived with, and cried with on many occasions and not just over the impossibly short rehearsal period for the play.
The serious subject of underage sex is a dilemma Elizabeth has chosen to step into as a writer, endeavouring to show but not comment on in the narrative in the play. Given that the necessary severe laws and sentencing governing underage sex which are naturally there to protect the innocent and vulnerable, Elizabeth was interested in representing the innocent sometimes gathered in the wake of the law - Like a trawler sweeping the floor of an ocean.
Slaughterhouse Swan at the ABSOLUT Gay Theatre Festival Dublin runs from Monday May 10 until Saturday May 15, 2010
BOOKING & LISTINGS INFORMATION
The New Theatre, 43 East Essex Street, Temple Bar, Dublin
Runs Monday May 10 – Saturday May 15, 2010 | 6.45pm | €10 / €13 / €15
Matinee Saturday May 15, 2010 | 1.00pm
Box Office – 01 677 8511 / online
