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David Ireland

DAVID IRELAND

  
Nationality:    Northern Irish
email:    Click here to contact     Website:    n/a

Literary Agent:    n/a

David Ireland is the former Playwright-in-Residence at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast and has also recently been announced the winner of the BBC Radio Drama Award and the prestigious Meyer Whitworth Award. Born in Belfast, David trained as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. He has worked as an actor with many Theatre companies across the UK including the Royal Shakespeare Company, Manchester Royal exchange, Glasgow Citizens Theatre and the Traverse Theatre, edinburgh. David's first play WHAT the ANIMALS SAY was produced at Oran Mor in Glasgow in May 2009 and transferred to the Belfast Festival. This was followed by ARGUMeNTS FOR TeRRORISM (Oran Mor), eVeRYTHING BeTWeeN US (Tinderbox Theatre Company/Solas Nua), the eND OF HOPe the eND OF DeSIRe (Oran Mor), HALF A GLASS OF WATeR (Abbey Theatre) and YeS, SO I SAID YeS (Ransom Productions). He has also taken part in Paines Plough's COMe TO WHeRe I'M FROM. For radio, he has adapted his play eVeRYTHING BeTWeeN US (BBC Radio 3 the Wire) and written an original work TROUBLe AND SHAMe (BBC Radio Scotland). David is currently working on new plays for the National Theatre of Scotland, Tinderbox Theatre Company, the Abbey Theatre, Dublin ,Lyric Theatre, Belfast and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is adapting his play WHAT the ANIMALS SAY into a television series for the BBC.

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below is a list of David Ireland's plays - click on a Play Title for more information

         Arguments For Terrorism         Blood Wedding         Can't Forget About You         Come to Where I am From         Cyprus Avenue         Dream Plays (Scenes From A Play I'Ll Never Write): Most Favoured         End Of Hope, The End Of Desire, The         Everything Between Us         Gordon Brown: A Life In theatre         Half A Glass Of Water         Hen Night, The         I Promise You Sex and Violence         Most Favoured         Place We All Know Well, A         Sadie's Story         Sleeping Betty         Trouble And Shame         Ulster American         Welcome To the Hotel Caledonia         What the Animals Say         Yes, So I Said Yes
Arguments For Terrorism

Synopsis:
George Dubya has just won the election and moved into the White House with his lover, cook, maid and confidant - Tony Blair. Tony invites Simon Cowell over for advice on a career change to pop singer. The Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar camps it up. Dubya descends into a haze of alcohol

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ransom Productions In Belfast     2009

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

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Genre:
Gay satire full length

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
https://twitter.com/decadenttheatre

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Blood Wedding

Synopsis:
In this day and age, anybody can love anybody. Or are there still taboos? David Ireland's radical new take on Lorca's play re-fuels this classic story with a contemporary twist. In an exciting new co-production between Dundee Rep Ensemble, Graeae and Derby Theatre, Jenny Sealey and David Ireland push this tale of searing lust, love and rebellion to its limits. When young lovers are overrun with passion, infatuation and defiance - the consequences are explosive.

Notes:
Original Playwright - Federico Garcia Lorca

1st Produced:

Organisations:
Dundee Rep Ensemble, Graeae and Derby Theatre

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

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Genre:
adaptation

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume 35/2015  236

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Can't Forget About You

Can't Forget About You
Twenty-five year-old east Belfast man Stevie meets forty-nine year-old Glaswegian widow Martha while recovering from a painful breakup with his ex-girlfriend. Stevie and Martha are immediately attracted to each other. Although their relationship is based entirely upon sexual attraction, they find themselves falling in love. This challenges the expectations of Stevie's conservative Christian mother and his ultra-Unionist, Ulster-Scots-speaking sister who work hard to break the pair up. Stevie and Martha must decide if their relationship has a real future and if they can both overcome the pain of their heartbroken pasts. While primarily a hilarious comedy, Can't Forget About You touches on deeper themes such as grief, loss, sexual mores, cultural identity, sectarianism, generation, and the question of how Northern Ireland moves on from the politics of the past and faces the future.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  4            Other:  -

Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume 35/2015  728

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Come to Where I am From

Synopsis:
Sixty one playwrights from across the UK return to their home towns to write plays about the places that shaped them. At 14 theatres from Bristol to Belfast, Cardiff to Coventry and Nottingham to Newcastle, these plays will be performed by the playwrights themselves, coming home to tell their tale. Come To Where I'm From is a theatrical tapestry of the UK, woven by writers asking if home is really where the heart is.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Ransom Productions At The Island Arts Centre, Lisburn, Antrim     26 Jun 2010

Organisations:
Paines Plough

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
short play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Cyprus Avenue

Cyprus Avenue
Gerry Adams has disguised himself as a new-born baby and successfully infiltrated my family home. Eric Miller is a Belfast Loyalist. He believes his five-week old granddaughter is Gerry Adams. His family keep telling him to stop living in the past and fighting old battles that nobody cares about anymore but his cultural heritage is under siege. He must act. The story of one man struggling with the past and terrified of the future. "Without prejudice we're nothing! If we don't discriminate, we don't survive!"

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Bloomsbury Methuen Drama 2016   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume 36/2016  376    39/2019

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Dream Plays (Scenes From A Play I'Ll Never Write): Most Favoured

Synopsis:
a fantasy that has deep theological roots. It starts humorously in a proprietary, low budget Edinburgh hotel (if there is such a thing during the Festival) after a one night stand. Gabriel Quigley is Glaswegian Mary, pushing 40 and cant stop talking about the sex, while Jordan McCurrachs younger Michael from Indiana is in raptures about the proprietary, low budget fried chicken that he is enjoying for breakfast. the story develops when Mary explains that she had lied about contraception and is desperate to become a mother. Michael comfortably trumps this, leaving viewers to decide whether he is an escaped madman or an angel.

Notes:
Curated And Directed by Traverse Artistic Director, Orla O'Loughlin And Associate Artist, David Greig. theatre At breakfast is back on the menu At the Traverse. Grab A breakfast roll And A coffee, And dive into the dream world of some of the UK's most gifted writers. Writers including Janice Galloway, Sue Glover, Andrew Greig, David Ireland, Douglas Maxwell, Nicola McCartney, Johnny McKnight, Lynda Radley, Gerda Stevenson And Alan Wilkins open up their imaginations in A series of specially commissioned short new works. staged script in hand, first thing in the morning. Read About Sabrina Mahfouz, our latest Dream Plays writer, here. It's your chance to discover something completely new, so in the spirit of this, we will only Announce the next day's writer At the end of each Dream Plays performance, on our twitter feed And the news section of this website. expect the unexpected.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
short script in hand reading

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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End Of Hope, The End Of Desire, The

Synopsis:
Two strangers meet over the internet for an evening of casual sex in Belfast. Alan is a student and Janet works at Tesco. Politically and culturally opposites, they've nothing in common except their desire for love and fear of intimacy. So how will they get through the night?

Notes:
part of A Play, A Pie And A Pint

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
short play

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume 37/2017  1075

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Everything Between Us

Everything Between Us
a taut and fast paced two-woman showdown, everything Between Us is set in Stormont's Parliament Buildings on the first day of a newly formed Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Northern Ireland. Sandra Richardson is preparing to take her seat on the Commission when her long lost sister Teeni explodes into the chamber and assaults the South African chairwoman, Dikeledi Mashiane. To find out if this is a terrorist plot or just her sister's way of announcing her return to Belfast, Sandra bundles Teeni into a disused room hidden along the corridors of power. With the world's media waiting to invade, Sandra and Teeni must learn very quickly how to talk to each other.

Notes:
part of True North

1st Produced:
Washington Dc     01 Mar 2010

Organisations:
DC based Irish Arts organisation, Solas Nua and tinderbox

1st Published:
Methuen Drama 2017   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
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Booksellers:

Genre:
dark comedy

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume XXXI (2011) Issue 11 Page 605

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Gordon Brown: A Life In theatre

Synopsis:
It's the night before the election and Gordon Brown can't sleep. Tomorrow he will go before the public to finally claim victory or accept defeat. In a fitful night of dreams and memories he casts his mind across a political career that spans two decades at the top. Does he deserve to win? What's at stake if he loses? But most important, what is there left to say? Gordon Brown: a Life in theatre will be a "freewheeling exploration of contemporary politics from inside the fractured mind of a Prime Minister on verge of an electoral breakdown." the script will be written during election week to capture the immediacy and excitement of the election and the unfolding events of the week. the play will then be performed as staged readings on 6 May itself. eight Scottish playwrights will work together to produce the finished play which will be directed by one of the playwrights, David Greig. Joining Greig will be Rona Munro, Peter arnot, Vicki Liddelle, Gabriel Quigley, andy Duffy, Alan Wilkins and David Ireland. Speaking about the project, Traverse theatre artistic Director Dominic Hill, said, "Scottish theatre has a tradition of responding through theatre to events in the political world. Gordon Brown himself was a Board member of the famous political theatre company 7:84 which created, amongst others, the masterpiece the Cheviot, the Stag and the Black Black Oil. I've always wanted the Traverse to sit within the immediate cultural and political life of the nation. all theatre is political in that it is about and affects us, the way we live our lives, our position in society and the world." the performances will take place at the Traverse at lunchtime on election day, and again on election night, where the Traverse Bar Cafe will screen the election results throughout.
- British theatre Guide

Notes:
written by David Greig, Rona Munro, Peter Arnot, Vicki Liddelle, Gabriel Quigley, Andy Duffy, Alan Wilkins And David Ireland.

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
guerilla theatre

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Half A Glass Of Water

Synopsis:
Eli a middle aged paedophile is in hospital dying of cancer. He is visited by an agitated young man - Whitney. Whitney tells Eli that he loves him. Whitney was a former victim of Eli. Whitney's parents started abusing him both physically and sexually from when he was five. They later hired him out to other paedophiles

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Gay drama one act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Hen Night, The

Synopsis:
Helen doesn't want a hen night. She doesn't want to get drunk. And she definitely doesn't want a stripper. But her chief bridesmaid Melissa isn't good at organising things, while all her other friends are insane, neurotic, and alcoholic. And somebody's booked a stripper from a celebrity-lookalike website. It could be the best and the worst night she's ever going to have.

Notes:
part of MA Classical and Contemporary Text New Works Showcase, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

1st Produced:
Royal Conservatoire Of Scotland, Glasgow     28 Aug 2013

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
comedy

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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I Promise You Sex and Violence

Synopsis:
A new play about objectification, gratification and fornication, when you don't know how to behave. Flatmates a young woman and her gay friend both fancy the same boy

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Gay full length

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Most Favoured

Synopsis:
A young American tourist and a thirty something Glasgow woman wake up in a hotel room after a one night stand in edinburgh. Mary really needs to talk about what they did last night. Mike can't believe how good the fried chicken is in Scotland. But why does he seem to know so much about her? A comedy about love, sex and miracles.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
a Play, a Pie and a Pint

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
short play

Parts:
Male:  1            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume 33/2013  172

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Place We All Know Well, A

Synopsis:
-

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Play/Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sadie's Story

Synopsis:
Sadie Sullivan has had a horrific life. She's been violently abused and has, in turn, violently abused others. She wants to make a new start. Despite all the evidence, she believes that she is capable of love. She needs to face her demons. She needs to go back to Donegal.

Notes:
part of TalkFest at the Tron 2015

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
play 90 min

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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Sleeping Betty

Synopsis:
Take a perennially tired princess Betty and her flatulent hamster pal, their battle to outwit an evil fairy determined to ruin her 16th birthday party AND her chance to impress Handsome Dan, the fanciest dancer in all the land and you have all the ingredients for another of the Tron's inimitable festive shows! With original music by Ross Brown and a set that will sparkle and glisten with Kenny Miller's usual fabulousness, Sleeping Betty is guaranteed to fill even the tired-est of souls with festive joy!

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
pantomime 120 min

Parts:
Male:  3            Female:  3            Other:  -

Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume 35/2015  1305

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Trouble And Shame

Synopsis:
Hunter's a Glaswegian with big plans for Northern Ireland. The First Minister and the Deputy First Minister are from opposite ends of the political spectrum and they're not getting on, but Hunter thinks he knows how to help. The answer is to kidnap them.

Notes:
-

1st Produced:

Organisations:
A Play, A Pie and A Pint

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
45 min comedy drama

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume 33/2013  186

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Ulster American

Ulster American
An American actor with Irish roots comes to Ulster to appear in a play. The playwright explains the difference between the North and South - something he was not aware of. The actor has a conversation with the director on which woman they would rape if they had to

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
Edinburgh Fringe Festival     2018

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
Bloomsbury 2018   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
Drama

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume 38/2018  770

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Welcome To the Hotel Caledonia

Synopsis:
It's election night in the Hotel Caledonia, not that anybody cares. there are two weddings on and one's descending into a fistfight. the bar's littered with exhausted politicians who can't bring themselves to watch the count, the groom's trying to decide which bridesmaid to chat up on the principle of the single transferable vote, and Mr and Mrs Scotland's attempt at a dirty weekend is descending into divorce. at the centre of it all, Svetlana - the Lithuanian receptionist - is trying to decide whether she should stay or go. Can Gavin - the assistant manager with a crush on her the size of a small Baltic Republic - persuade her that Scotlands got a future? Welcome to the Hotel Caledonia will be written in the two days prior to May 5th to capture the immediacy and excitement of the election and the unfolding events of the week. It will be performed script in hand on the day of the election itself. Some of Scotland's most exciting writers will conjure up a cast of dreamers, ranters, visionaries and street preachers all trying to make sense of a country which just can't seem to make up its mind what it wants. expect comedy, satire and probably a fair degree of bitterness and rage.

Notes:
written by Peter Arnott, Alan Bissett, David Greig, David Ireland, Rona Munro, Morna Pearson, Alan Wilkins

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
election specia

Parts:
Male:  2            Female:  1            Other:  -

Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume XXXI (2011) Issue 09 Page 485

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What the Animals Say

Synopsis:
Two old schoolfriends bump into each other in the waiting lounge of the Stranraer to Belfast ferry. Jimmy is a professional actor, unemployed and broke. Eddie is a professional footballer and a star player at Celtic. Both men are from Belfast, both now live in Glasgow and both are Protestant. they have a lot more in common, and they're about to find out

Notes:
part of Oran Mor's groundbreaking lunchtime theatre programme, A Play, A Pie And A Pint

1st Produced:

Organisations:
-

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
Theatre Record Volume 39/2019 

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Yes, So I Said Yes

Synopsis:
A man is kept awake at night by a neighbour's barking dog

Notes:
-

1st Produced:
-    

Organisations:
Ransom Theatre Company

1st Published:
-   

Music:
-

To Buy This Play:
If Publisher (above) is underlined then the play may be purchased by direct click from the Publisher, otherwise (below) are AbeBooks for secondhand, signed & 1st eds and other Booksellers for new copies

Booksellers:

Genre:
One act

Parts:
Male:  -            Female:  -            Other:  -

Further Reference:
-

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