A DUBLIN teacher is in line for a £10,000 windfall after his tale of Irish life in Britain was shortlisted in the country's second biggest playwriting competition.
London-based Liverpool football fan Richard Molloy says he was inspired to take part in the Liverpool Hope Playwriting Prize after his team’s 2014 season performance.
“I entered the competition in honour of my beloved Liverpool FC,” the 35-year-old joked. “And the glorious football they played on the way to their operatic, fall-at-the-final-hurdle failure to win the league.”
His work, O Do Not Love Too Long, is one of 10 in contention for the inaugural prize which will be announced on April 1 at Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus.
Molloy’s play is set in contemporary London on the front porch of a small apartment where two aging Irish immigrants are searching for purpose in a city that has long cut them adrift.
The play was one of 200 submitted to a heavy-weight judging panel including actress Kathy Burke, writer Frank Cottrell Boyce and playwright John Godber.
“Whilst the range of settings and characters chosen by our writers was vast, it shows exactly why comedy is important – it crosses boundaries of age and time, and is a way for people to connect,” said Dr John Bennett, Principal Lecturer in Drama at Liverpool Hope and another of the judges.
Second only to the Bruntwood prize, the Liverpool Hope prize will see the winner walk away £10,000 richer and also up for consideration for production by the Royal Court Liverpool (RCL).
“All of these writers should be proud because we started with 200 scripts, so to get to the last 10 is a big achievement in itself,” added RCL’s Iain Christie.
Molloy, who is currently working on a new play The Good Shepherd about Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries, grew up in Dublin but has lived and worked in countries including Germany, Sweden, and the US.
After two years as librarian and admissions officer at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he began to teach English and write plays.
The Separation – his first production - premiered at Project Arts Centre in Dublin in 2014, transferring to Theatre503 in January of this year where it picked up a Best New Play Offie award nomination.
Meet the competition…the other nine shortlisted writers
Milo Bell: Baggage
Baggage, a play inspired by Bell's own experience of working as a porter in Manchester, is a story about four hotel workers - each from different generations and with varying aspirations - who spend the night shift awaiting the arrival of a big shot TV producer.
Chris Bennion: Calvary
Denbighshire-born writer Chris Bennion’s play Calvary brings to life the Denbighshirefolk legend John Jones - otherwise known as Coch Bach y Bala.
Domenico Farelli: House Sitting for Ronnie Walker
In House Sitting for Ronnie Walker a fresh-faced trainee accountant agrees to house-sit for the infamous Ronnie Walker in the hopes of getting the prestigious Martin Michaels Internship for Accounting Excellence.
Rob Hitchmough: One Step Ahead
Written by Liverpool-born Rob Hitchmough One Step Ahead centres around a bank robbery that develops into a hostage situation. As the story unfolds, the police become more and more frustrated as they are continually outwitted by the gang’s leader.
William Lee - Terry’s Wake
In Terry’s Wake, Terry's widow Teresa and her friend and neighbour Anne gather for one last night to give Terry a sendoff. Writer William Lee, 47, was born in Liverpool and now lives in South East London, where he runs his own market stall.
Katie Mulgrew: Omnibus
Omnibus is a farce which centres around four housemates who are enjoying a reality TV marathon until an unexpected visitor takes the same masochistic approach as reality TV itself, to give them an episode to remember. Writer Katie Mulgrew has previously written and starred in two Edinburgh Fringe stand up shows.
Mike Packer: The Come Back
In The Come Back, an incident between two families impacts on a comedian’s plans for a comeback after time spent in the comedy wilderness. A full time writer, Mike Packer is from Brighton.
Michael Ross: Happy to Help
In Happy to Help, Tony Manning, a managing director of a British multinational supermarket chain, decides to work undercover for a week at one of his stores to see what life is really like on the shop floor. The play's writer is London-based Michael Ross, a bookseller at the National Theatre Bookshop.
Ian Salmon: The Comeback Special
The Comeback Specialis a about an ‘almost normal’ Liverpool lad with a gift he doesn’t really want. Given the choice, Robbie would rather not talk to the dead - and definitely not to this guy who claims he’s the ghost of Elvis. Writer Ian Salmon, 51, was born in Bootle and lives in Netherton.
