2009, Mushrooms, David Hare and Yale 2010

As you might have noticed I have been away. Nowhere too salubrious – mostly my bed - and occasionally my study. Why? Because I’ve had a dreadful flu – probably the porcine variety – and man, it laid me up. If there is a good thing about being ill it’s that it gives you time to think, to get new pictures in your head. (I always remember Brendan Kennelly telling us creative writing students at Trinity that ‘daydreaming’ is vitally important to writers.)  I managed to get a lot of play ideas straightened out in my thoughts, and changed my mind about the direction I thought I was going in (as regards plays). I had a few ideas for some serious political dramas – but in the last week of my flu I decided on a whole new direction (I won’t say what). So now I see the rather odd benefits of the past three weeks of sniffling, coughing my guts up - and all that thinking/daydreaming.


Was it a good year for you? I began my 2009 trudging through the snow and ice of New York looking for the Astor on the Park hotel on the Upper East Side. Here I based myself as I attended rehearsals for The Mushroom Pickers in the Noho district. I went to New York first for rehearsals in January, and then later in February for the show itself. It was a great way to kick off the year. The show was sold out for the whole of its three week run and got excellent reviews. This team (Alloy Theatre Company) had a great set - and some lovely work was done in 'the forest scene':

The Irish Voice said:



Picking Apart Irish Life Realities
The Mushroom Pickers Gene Frankel Theatre, New York Review by Arts Editor, Cahir O'Doherty

"There's a great deal to admire in new Irish playwright Jacqueline McCarrick's debut work "The Mushroom Pickers,"…a compellingly dark and difficult play…steeped in the dialect and lore of Co. Monaghan...one of the play's major strengths is its strong sense of place - the local landscape is presented throughout as both beguiling and dangerous - and McCarrick knows how to sift drama from the tensions and realities of everyday border county life…McCarrick's play is unique in that it presents a part of Ireland rarely seen on Irish stages, and the playwright presents the realities of that region with courage and rare honesty…(the company) is also to be thanked for bringing this challenging new production to the New York stage for the first time."


Very different from the London production of the same play (2006) which was also fantastic:

                    John Kirk and Catherine Cusack in The Mushroom Pickers, London 2006

EVENING STANDARD – 4 STARS

…a great chemistry between John Kirk and Catherine Cusack as Frank and Laura; Michael Culkin and Caroline John are similarly excellent as their comic counterfoils, Philip and Nancy.

The mushroom, an endlessly recurring rot - as deadly as it is hardy - stands for Frank's attachment to his land and the grudges it bears.


Later in 2009 my newest play, Leopoldville, got shortlisted for two awards – the 2009 Adrienne Benham and the 2009 Kings Cross Award – not that these things really matter. I genuinely believe that awards, while very nice, are really not important. As one of the kids in  ‘School of Rock’ says, ‘the Sex Pistols never won anything’…but sometimes a good validation on a piece of writing – especially these days – can make all the difference in terms of someone publishing or taking on your work. So I really only look on awards and competition wins etc as a means to promote the work. I never take them too seriously. I am one of those people for whom the ‘commerce’ of writing is a real chore – and also quite difficult – so wins and awards just help those tasks along somewhat.


I’ve also spent much of the year working on my first collection of stories (amongst other things). I hope to have more info about this forthcoming collection and will post it here when I do.

My year also ends rather nicely: the very brilliant David Hare has selected Leopoldville as a finalist in the 2010 Yale Drama Series Playwriting Competition. It seems I begin and end this year on an American note (as it were). I will know the outcome of this in spring. Now, back to this new play ‘direction' (meanwhile - have a fantastic NEW YEAR!!)...