Coming to Dublin, I honestly had no idea what to expect. But upon my arrival in Dublin, I instantly fell in love. We started off our day with a rapid fire history lesson on Dublin led by an awesome tour guide. We then got a spectacular tour of the Abbey Theatre and its backstage area. […]

Well, we have officially spent a day in Dublin and I am in love. It is such a busy, bustling, winding city that it never seems to sit still, and yet it has this incredible and rich history behind it. A few stolen moments in the garden of Dublin Castle, in Sweny’s Chemist (an establishment […]

British troops were garrisoned on the hill just beyond the greensward Mall in Armagh as early as the 1740s. Around 1820, soldiers of this permanent encampment decided to build their own Anglican church, since the cathedral on the opposite hill was too crowded – and perhaps a little too high-church and snooty for these rough […]

I think this image of a quaint Irish village with an over cast sky is a great representation of the mood I’m trying to set for my play. The idea of conflicting signals has always fascinated me. Being somewhere that looks safe, but feel dangerous. That feeling in your gut that says “run, now”. Ignoring […]

What struck me the most about the Armagh County Museum was the incredible detail in both the artwork and the artifacts that the museum held. It’s clear that people who thoroughly understood the city and its history created the artwork, and the artifacts and clothing displayed showed an immense amount of detail and precision. The […]

Upon visiting the Armagh County Museum, I was pleased to find their collection of preserved dresses and clothes from the days of long ago. I have always had a particular passion and fondness for fashion and clothing, as I find it is one of the simplest and clearest forms of expression human society exercises. The […]

Hi everyone I’ve been enjoying putting together a short talk on Brian Friel before we go see his play Aristocrats at the Abbey on Saturday night. I came across this terrific radio documentary on him – it’s only 30 minutes so you might want to listen to it before coming up to Dublin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZrsFhOqLXs Looking […]

I have been trying for days to get in touch with some high-profile BBC correspondents in Belfast. I understand they’re busy with the crackling controversies gathering heat around the impending July 12 Orangemen marches. This traditional celebration of King William III’s victory over the Irish (read: Catholic) rebels at the Battle of the Boyne in […]

I am struggling through writing a script for the time being and have found this image relavent to my thought process. What was once (and still is) a very sacred site for centuries, the graves at St. Patricks Protestant Cathedral, has been left behind by the world outside the walls. The graves grow over with […]

These images are related to my emotional response involved in the play that I am currently developing here in Armagh. A key word that aided me in my search was “mask” because I think it describes the story arch so far in this play as well as the conflicted identity of the main character.