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BILLY ROCHE (1949 - ) |
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Nationality: Irish Email: n/a Website: n/a |
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Literary Agent: The Agency (London) Ltd |
Billy's plays, performed at the Abbey Theatre, include On Such As We, The Cavalcaders and The Wexford Trilogy. He began his career as a singer/musician, forming The Roach Band in the late seventies. His first novel, Tumbling Down, was published by Wotfhound Press in 1986. His first stage play, A Handful of Stars was staged at the Bush Theatre in 1988. This was followed by Poor Beast in the Rain. Belfry completed this trilogy at the Bush Theatre. All three plays, directed by Robin LeFevre, became known as The Wexford Trilogy which was performed in its entirety at the Bush, the Peacock and the Theatre Royal, Wexford. His fourth play Amphibians was commissioned by the RSC and performed at the Barbican. Billy wrote the screenplay for Trojan Eddie which was directed by Gitties Mackinnon and starred Stephen Rea and Richard Harris. He has been Writer-in-Residence at the Bush and Writer-in-Association with Druid and the Abbey Theatre. His book of short stories, Tales from Rainwater Pond, was published by Pillar Press and his recently revised version of Tumbling Down is published by Tassel Publications. A screenplay based on his short story, Table Manners, is currently in production, directed by Conor McPherson. As an actor Billy has appeared on stage in The Cavalcaders (Abbey Theatre and Royal Court), A Handful of Stars (Bush Theatre), Poor Beast in the Rain (Andrews Lane Theatre), Aristocrats tHampstead Theatre), The Grapes of Wrath (Storytellers) and Amphibians (Tin Drum Theatre). His film work includes Strapless, Trojan Eddie, Saltwater and Man About Dog.
Plays by Billy Roche
Amphibians | ||
| 1st Produced: | 1992 | |||||
Company: | RSC | |||||
| 1st Published: | Warner Chappell Plays, London, 1992 | ISBN/ASIN: | 9781854594631 | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #29882 | |||
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: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 7 | Female | 3 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
| Old superstitions survive throughout the world, but nowhere as strongly as among the men who work the fishing boats in the Irish town of Wexford. The shoals of herring have long since left the local waters and the fisherman are now reduced to working in a local mussel packing factory - except one. Eagle remains a true independent, a lone individual clinging to the sea, struggling to keep the old traditions alive in a fast-changing world. Now in his forties, many of the local customs have died out with his generation and the younger men who have followed have become disaffected, having nothing of the spirit which once meant 'belonging'. The last of a dying breed, Eagle proudly holds on to his past despite knowing that he will also soon be forced to have the freedom of the sea for the factory floor. Before he does, however, he decides to revive an old local rite-of-passage ritual for his own son, Issac: a night spent alone on an uninhabited offshore island. It proves to be a gesture which awakens both envy and | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Belfry | ||
| 1st Produced: | 1991 | |||||
Company: | Bush Theatre | |||||
| 1st Published: | in "The Wexford Trilogy", Hern, London, 1992 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #29883 | |||
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: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 1 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Part of The Wexford Trilogy | |||||
Synopsis: | Artie is the sacristan in the local church. Caring for his elderly mother, he spends most of his time with Father Pat and Dominic the young alter-server - that is until Angela starts to help with the church flowers. The two begin a soaring affair, but when somebody tells Angela's husband, Archie is left to face life without her | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Cavalcaders,The | ||
| 1st Produced: | 1993 | |||||
Company: | Abbey Theatre | |||||
| 1st Published: | in The Cavalcaders & Amphibians, Nick Hern Books, London, 1995 | ISBN/ASIN: | 9781854594631 | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #29884 | |||
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: | Memory Play Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
| The Cavalcaders explores the lives and loves of four barbershop singers and shoe repairmen from small-town Ireland. They spend their days mending shoes and their nights as singers of local legend. Their musical harmonies, however, are not reflected in their private lives. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Haberdashery | ||
| 1st Produced: | - - - | - - - | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | Nick Hern Books, London, 1997 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #29885 | |||
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: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | In Southern Ireland, young love grown stale, ambition dulled and lives left only partly lived. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Handful Of Stars, A | ||
| 1st Produced: | 1988 | |||||
Company: | Bush Theatre | |||||
| 1st Published: | in "First Run", Hern, London, 1989 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #29886 | |||
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: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 6 | Female | 1 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Part of The Wexford Trilogy | |||||
Synopsis: | The pain and disillusionment following the break-up of a family form the backdrop to this drama set in a pool-hall. Jimmy and the other regulars waste hours with their cues until Jimmy has a bust up with his girlfriend and embarks on a spree of violence. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Johnny Nobody | ||
| 1st Produced: | Wexford | 1986 | ||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #29887 | |||
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: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | - | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: |
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Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Lay Me Down Softly | ||
| 1st Produced: | 2008 | |||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | ISBN/ASIN: | 9781848420304 | ||||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #92916 | |||
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: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
| Set in rural Ireland of the early 1960s, Lay Me Down Softly introduces the colourful if seedy burlesque that is Delaney's Travelling Roadshow and in particular its boxing hall, where prizefighter Dean takes on all comers on a nightly basis. That is, until a challenge from a professional fighter upsets the apple-cart. . . | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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On Such As We | ||
| 1st Produced: | 2001 | |||||
Company: | Abbey Theatre | |||||
| 1st Published: | Nick Hern Books, London, 2001 | ISBN/ASIN: | 9781854596710 | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #29888 | |||
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: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 5 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
| Oweney's barber shop and the rooms to let above it offer refuge to a host of lonely hearts: a recently laid-off hotel night porter, an angry young artist, an orphan girl, a wounded old widower, a likeable bruiser and the beautiful Maeve. All of them, in their various ways, fall under Oweney's loving spell. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Poor Beast In The Rain | ||
| 1st Produced: | 1989 | |||||
Company: | Bush Theatre | |||||
| 1st Published: | in "The Wexford Trilogy", Hern, London, 1992 | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #29889 | |||
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: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 4 | Female | 2 | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | Part of The Wexford Trilogy | |||||
Synopsis: | Eileen works in her father's betting shop. Molly, Steven and Joe manage to keep their regrets about the past safely locked away and young Georgie is ready to turn his back on the outside world and follow their example, until the return of the legendary Danger Doyle. Having turned his back on the cycle of missed opportunities and thwarted desires to run away to London with Eileen's mother, Danger Doyle now offers Eileen the possibility of escape. | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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Tales From Rainwater Pond | ||
| 1st Produced: | 02 Sep 2009 | |||||
Company: | n/a | |||||
| 1st Published: | I don't think it has been published. Try emailing Playwright or Agent where listed at top of page. | ISBN/ASIN: | - | |||
| Music: | - | doollee no | #103381 | |||
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: | Play/Drama | |||||
| Parts: | Male | 1 | Female | - | ||
Parts other: | - | |||||
Notes: | - | |||||
Synopsis: | In Ireland's strange, beautiful, and eerie small town of Rainwater Pond, tales of raw life and lost-and-found love unfold. Written and performed by leading Irish playwright Barry Roche, whose Rainwater Pond story 'Table Manner' was the basis for Conor McPherson's film Eclipse, which was screened at New York's Tribeca Film Festival | |||||
Further Reference: | - | |||||
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