doollee banner

Last Updated: 12 Jun 11

contact doollee


Google
web doollee.com


Click on a Play title below for more information

Billy Roche

BILLY ROCHE   (1949 - )

Nationality:   Irish    Email:   n/a   Website:   n/a

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

BILLY ROCHE

Amphibians

1st Produced:

The Pit, Barbican, London >>>

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

 

abebooks.com
abebooks.co.uk

stageplays.com

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

Genre:

Play/Drama

Parts:

Male

7

Female

3

Parts other:

-

Notes:

-

Amphibians

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:

-


Top of Page Top of Page


BILLY ROCHE

Belfry

1st Produced:

Bush Theatre, London >>>

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

 

abebooks.com
abebooks.co.uk

stageplays.com

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

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:

-


Top of Page Top of Page


BILLY ROCHE

Cavalcaders,The

1st Produced:

Abbey Theatre, Peacock Stage, Dublin >>>

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

 

abebooks.com
abebooks.co.uk

stageplays.com

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

Genre:

Memory Play Play/Drama

Parts:

Male

4

Female

2

Parts other:

-

Notes:

-

Cavalcaders,The

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:

-


Top of Page Top of Page


BILLY ROCHE

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

 

abebooks.com
abebooks.co.uk

stageplays.com

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

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:

-


Top of Page Top of Page


BILLY ROCHE

Handful Of Stars, A

1st Produced:

Bush Theatre, London >>>

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

 

abebooks.com
abebooks.co.uk

stageplays.com

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

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:

-


Top of Page Top of Page


BILLY ROCHE

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

 

abebooks.com
abebooks.co.uk

stageplays.com

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

Genre:

Play/Drama

Parts:

Male

-

Female

-

Parts other:

-

Notes:

-

Synopsis:

Further Reference:

-


Top of Page Top of Page


BILLY ROCHE

Lay Me Down Softly

1st Produced:

Dublin: Abbey Theatre Peacock, Ireland, EUR >>>

2008

Company:

n/a

1st Published:

Nick Hern Books, London (2008) >>>

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

 

abebooks.com
abebooks.co.uk

stageplays.com

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

Genre:

Play/Drama

Parts:

Male

4

Female

2

Parts other:

-

Notes:

-

Lay Me Down Softly

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:

-


Top of Page Top of Page


BILLY ROCHE

On Such As We

1st Produced:

Abbey Theatre, Peacock Stage, Dublin >>>

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

 

abebooks.com
abebooks.co.uk

stageplays.com

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

Genre:

Play/Drama

Parts:

Male

5

Female

2

Parts other:

-

Notes:

-

On Such As We

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:

-


Top of Page Top of Page


BILLY ROCHE

Poor Beast In The Rain

1st Produced:

Bush Theatre, London >>>

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

 

abebooks.com
abebooks.co.uk

stageplays.com

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

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:

-


Top of Page Top of Page


BILLY ROCHE

Tales From Rainwater Pond

1st Produced:

Irish Repertory Theatre, NY, USA >>>

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

 

abebooks.com
abebooks.co.uk

stageplays.com

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

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
- press release

Further Reference:

-


Top of Page Top of Page


Buy Plays with Doollee

Each page of doollee.com has links to play/book outlets, either directly to the Publisher, through Stageplays.com and Amazon to the second hand and 1st editions of AbeBooks. These links will automatically take you to the relevant area obviating the need for further search.




We add submitted information to the site daily and all contributions we receive help make this the most meaningful and definitive guide to modern playwrights in the world. So whether you are a Playwright who wishes to make their entry definitive, an unlisted Playwright or a User with a tale to tell - we want to hear from you.