CloudNine

I’ve just come back from Portland, Oregon, having spent some time with theatre director Gemma Whelan and her fantastic Corrib Theatre Company. The company is currently staging my play Belfast Girls. It opened on November 17 th and closes on December 10 th . I really enjoyed my time in Portland. It’s a small city, easy to navigate (I mostly walked) and full of interesting bookshops, cafes, bars and shops. It seemed to me to be a blend of Vancouver to the North and San Francisco to the South – though it very much has its own identity; “Keep Portland weird” is a mantra of this Pacific Northwest metropolis. It feels very “East Coast” and while I was there autumn was still in full swing, substantiating the claim that unlike other West Coast cities Portland has four seasons (the summers can be very hot). The tree-lined streets in the South East district were particularly beautiful; here red maples abound and houses and trees seem to live harmoniously side by side. (W...

I'm just home from a fantastic ten day period in Canada! The run of BELFAST GIRLS there was really remarkable and I've compiled (see below) a Review Round-up of the wonderful press the play received in both White Rock and Vancouver where it ran for just under three weeks. On opening night in White Rock, Hollywood actress Julia Stiles was in attendance and by all accounts she really loved the show. The play was sold-out for all of its run and on March 16th there was a wonderful 'talkback' session with the audience. Here is a link to a short film about the play: http://www.peninsulaproductions.org/production/belfast-girls-by-jaki-mccarrick/ REVIEW ROUND-UP FOR BELFAST GIRLS IN VANCOUVER, MARCH 2017 BELFAST GIRLS at The Cultch Theatre Vancouver and at the Coast Capital Playhouse Whiterock was a sold-out show with waiting lists. It was the must-see event from both The Daily Hive and The Georgia Straight, and was one of five must-sees from The Vancouve...

 A few days from now my play BELFAST GIRLS makes its debut in Canada. Peninsula Productions will stage the play at the Coast Capital Playhouse in White Rock from March 1 to 11 th from where it will then travel to Vancouver and run at the Cultch Theatre from March 15 th to 18 th . These later shows are part of the Vancouver Celtic Festival. This is the third international production of the play (and I hope to announce a fourth soon – also in the USA, proposed for later this year, a production that will hopefully also tour to Sydney). I am so delighted that Peninsula Productions’ Artistic Director Wendy Bollard has decided to stage the play. She is a wonderful director and has assembled a cracking cast and production team. BELFAST GIRLS was developed at the National Theatre Studio (London) in 2012 and while on the surface it is a feminist ‘Irish Famine’ story, it is also part allegory for the Irish banking crisis and how the Irish government handled this (by mainly en...