opera cocktail productions & theatre mwldan...

INFORMATION PACK 2012

C O N T E N T S P A G E

Contact Details 3

About The Play 4

Press Quotes 5

Selling Points 5

Cast 6

Biographys 7 - 10

Company Background Information 11

GBL ProductionsTel: 02890 315337E: [email protected]

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C O N T A C T D E T A I L S

ProducerJoe ReaUnit 2 Northern Whig Building2-10 Bridge StreetBelfastBT1 1LU [email protected] 02890 315337

Executive ProducerMartin Lynch Unit 2 Northern Whig Building2-10 Bridge StreetBelfastBT1 [email protected] 02890 315337

ABOUT THE PLAY

GBL Productions are pleased to present Fly Me to the Moon – a rip-roaring black comedy from the pen of one of Northern Ireland’s best-loved playwrights.


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mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Written by Marie Jones, (Stones in His Pockets, Dancing Shoes – the George Best Story) this exciting play delighted both critics and audiences alike when it played to packed out houses in Belfast’s Grand Opera House, Waterfron Hall, Belfast and 59E59 Theatre, New York. Marie Jones returns to form in writing her most brilliant comedy since Stones In His Pockets.

Fly Me to the Moon is the timely tale of two women struggling in today’s tough economic climate and just how far they will go to make ends meet.

Frances is a hard-nosed cynic with a dry wit and a keen eye for ever scam like her wayward son Jason, while Loretta is a soft-hearted soul who is a complete innocent abroad. Together they care for Davy – a lonely old man whose greatest loves are Frank Sinatra and the races. When Davy dies on the day his horse finally comes in, his two carers are faced with a moral dilemma which threatens to tear their lives - and their friendship - apart.

Full of sly humour and poignant moments, Fly Me to the Moon shines a spotlight on the lives of some of society’s most underpaid and undervalued workers. It also explores the plight of today’s elderly in an increasingly segregated and uncaring world. With Marie’s zinger-filled script and stellar cast, this is a significant new work which tugs the heartstrings while simultaneously tickling your funny bone.

Length Act I 45 minutes Interval 20 muinutes Act II 40 minutes

AGE SUITABILITY

Due to strong language we recommend caution for younger people

Some suggestions of who is likely to be interested in attending this show?


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Anyone interested in Marie Jones work Womens Groups A level school groups People working in the Care sector Health Care Workers Theatre lovers students (drama)

NB THIS LIST IS NOT EXHAUSTABLE

P R E S S Q U O T E S 'TERRIFIC!' The New York Times

''MOON' SHINES - GREAT FUN WITH A WONDERFUL CAST! TERRIFIC!' New York Post

'TERRIFIC PERFORMANCES - DESPERATELY FUNNY!'New York Daily News

'HYSTERICAL - THOROUGHLY WINNING PERFORMANCES AND TERRIFIC CHEMISTRY!' TheaterMania

'FUNNY AND RICHLY DETAILED - JONES HAS A MARVELOUS EAR FOR DIALECT!'Time Out

'JUST PLAIN FUN - 107 MINUTES OF SMART, ENJOYABLE THEATER!' Backstage

'HILARIOUS - A SCREWBALL PLOT, TERRIFIC CAST AND PERFECT PACING COULD CAUSE WHIPLASH IF YOU DON'T HOLD ONTO YOUR ARMRESTS!' nytheatre.com

'A SOARING FARCE - TRIUMPHANTLY FUNNY! AN EDGY, HILARIOUS NEW COMEDY!'


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Associated Press

'NON-STOP ON-STAGE HILARITY - AN UNREMITTINGLY FUNNY MORALITY TALE!' Galo Magazine

“A return to form for Marie Jones…..” Grania McFadden, BBC Radio Ulster

“Incredible acting by Katie and Tara….” Marie-Louise Muire BBC Arts Extra

“A World Class Northern Irish production sees Marie Jones at the top of her game”Andrew Johnston, Culture NI

“Marie Jones script fizzes with comedic energy”Joanne Savage, News Letter

“An evening of entertainment, easy laughter and a crafty plotline... offset by two finely balanced performances”Jane Coyle, Irish Times

S E L L I N G P O I N T S / T A R G E T A U D I E N C E S

Please use the notes below to help guide you in marketing and promoting this event. Key selling points

A powerful and moving account of care workers A hilarious belly-busting night out! Terrific performances by 2 of Northern Irelands best actresses Marie Jones trademark humour Marie Jones directorial debut The show went on to complete a 3 week run at The Grand Opera House (Baby Grand) A Martin Lynch Production (sign of quality)

CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM


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Playwright/Directed by Marie Jones Produced by Joe Rea and Martin Lynch

Loretta Mackey Tara Lynne O’NeillFrances Shields Katie Tumelty

Set & Costume Designer Niall ReaLighting Designer Niall ReaProduction Manager Laura McCabeAdministrator Deirdre Ashe


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B I O G R A P H I E S

Tara Lynne O’NeillSome of Tara Lynne's film credits include :Disco Pigs, Wild About Harry , The Most Fertile Man In Ireland , Omagh, Nothing Personal , Kaos , Cycle of Violence, The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone, Bobbies Girl (HB0),Short films include: At Deaths Door (Fuji award winner) Last Christmas, Dinner Party, Full Circle (best actress award Cherburg) and many more.Noteable t.v credits include : At The Waters Edge (BBC) Touched By An Angel (CBS) Eastenders (BBC),Over The Wall (BBC) Saturday Disney (ITV)

Some theatre credits include: Everything Between Us / Clean Room (Tinderbox, True North project) Lay Up Your Ends (Green Shoot Productions) Somewhere Over The Balcony, The Liverpool Boat, A Midsummers Nights Dream , No Place Like Home, Translations, Of Mice And Men, The Hyperconraic and Jane Eyre (The Lyric) Cyrano de Bergerac (The Gate).

Katie TumeltyThe Billy Trilogy, Remembrance (Arts Theatre Belfast and Irish Tour). Blood, Sweat and Tears, School on the Green (Big Telly Theatre Company: Riverside Theatre and Irish Tour), Wedd’ins Wee’ins and Wakes, (Lyric Theatre and Millennium Forum), Christmas Eve Can Kill You (Lyric Theatre), The Liverpool Boat (Red Lead Productions: Belfast), Some Where Over the Balcony (Balcony Productions: Irish Tour), Lay up Your Ends ( GBL Productions; Grand Opera House Belfast).The Miser (Lyric Theatre Belfast and Irish Tour) Fly Me to the Moon (Oron Mor and Paines Plough Scottish, English and Southern Irish Tour) Belongings The Old MillTelevision and Film Credits:


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Events at Drimaleen (BBC NI), Out of the Deep Pan (BBC NI), Divorcing Jack (Scala Productions), So You think You’ve got Troubles! (BBC NI), Dead Lands (BBC NI), Eureka Street (BBC NI), Holy Cross (BBC NI), City of Ember (Pipe Works). Radio Credits: The Seduction and Demise of Joseph Loughran,The Journey, A State Macabre,(Pearse Elliot) Dividing Force, At the Base of the Pyramid,(Gary Mitchell), Dying for an Mother (Graham Reid) ,The Genius of Pleasure, Radio Fun (Various Playwrights), (Radio 4).

Marie JonesPlaywright/Director

Born in Belfast, Marie was writer-in-residence for Charabanc Theatre Company from 1983 to 1990.

Marie’s plays have toured extensively throughout the world, including the former Soviet Union, Germany, coast to coast in America, Canada, Britain and Ireland. Her plays include an adaptation of Gogol’s The Government Inspector, which toured in Britain and Ireland, A Night in November (London, Glasgow, New York and three tours of Ireland), Women on the Verge of HRT (Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow and London’s

Vaudeville Theatre) and Stones in His Pockets, which toured Ireland prior to the Dublin Theatre Festival and its West End and Broadway debut in 2000. It garnered many awards including the Lawrence Olivier Award, The Evening Standard Award and three Tony nominations for best new play.

Other drama includes Lay up Your Ends co-written with Martin Lynch, Somewhere over the Balcony, The Hamster Wheel, The Blind Fiddler, Wedding, Weens and Wakes; Christmas Eve

Can Kill You, Ethel Workman Is Innocent and Rock Doves, and most recently, Dancing Shoes - The George Best Story, saying it was quite possibly the most exciting project she had been involved with. Completing a UK/Irish Tour the production included standing ovations everywhere.

Marie’s new play Fly Me to the Moons Northern Irish premiere comes after a critically acclaimed tour of cities in Scotland and England by Paines Plough.

Marie’s drama work for BBC Radio Four includes The Hamster Wheel, Christmas Eve Can Kill You, Wedding, Weens and Wakes; and The Blind Fiddler. Her writing for BBC TV includes a three-part drama series Tribes and The Hamster Wheel and, for Channel Four, Wingnut and the Sprog.


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As an actress, Marie has performed in most of the major theatres of Ireland and the UK.Marie’s television acting credits include Life after Life, You, Me and Marley and Space Oddity. Her work in film includes Hush-a-Bye Baby, Middletown and the role of Sarah Conlon in ‘In The Name of the Father’. She has been awarded two honorary doctorates of literature and an OBE.

Niall ReaSet and Costume and LightingDesign

David Studied Fine Art at Bristol and Theatre design at Central School of Speech and Drama London. David has beendesigning for Theatre and Opera for the last 15 years and more recently Television and Films. His recent theatre designs have included, THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARTURO UI for Bruiser Theatre Company, SWEENY TODD for the Theatre At The Mill. .

Martin LynchProducer

Born and brought up in Belfast, Martin has combined his roles of producer and writer for 30 years. His plays have also been produced at theatres across Europe and the USA. A production of DOCKERS was recently nominated for a Los Angeles Drama Critics Award. His best-known stage plays include: THE INTERROGATION OF AMBROSE FOGARTY, RINTY, THE STONE CHAIR, HOLDING HANDS AT PASCHENDALE, DANCING SHOES – THE GEORGE BEST STORY (writeen with Marie Jones, JJ gilmour and Pat Gribben) and (with Grimes and McKee) THE HISTORY OF THE TROUBLES (ACCORDIN’ TO MY DA). Martin cowrote the screenplay for the Sam Goldwyn film A PRAYER FOR THE DYING, starring Mickey Rourke, Bob Hoskins and Liam Neeson (1987).

Martin’s role as a producer includes: Owen McCafferty’s debut play, WINNERS, LOSERS AND NON-RUNNERS (OMAC, Belfast); Graham Reid’s LENGTHENING SHADOWS (the Lyric Theatre, Belfast) and PLAYING FOR TIME by William Mitchell, a large-scale community play at the Paint Hall Studios, Belfast Shipyard. Martin has produced all Green Shoot Theatre productions to date: THE BELFAST CARMEN by Martin Lynch and Mark Dougherty,COOLE LADY by Sam McCready, HOLDING HANDS AT PASCHENDALE by Martin Lynch and NEW YORK STATE OF MIND by Sam McCready. In August 2007, Martin produced A NIGHT IN NOVEMBER, starring Patrick Kielty at the Grand Opera House, Belfast, Olympia Theatre, Dublin and the Trafalgar Theatre, London. In the same year he produced THE INTERROGATION OF AMBROSE FOGARTY for the Grand Opera House and Northern Ireland.


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Martin awarded the Ulster Tatler Arts Personality of the Year Award and most recently Belfast Ambassador

Joe ReaProducer

Joe joined Martin Lynch Productions in April 2010 as Director of Development after working for 16 years as an actor. Joe has been delighted to work on Stormont by Sean Crummey, Christams Eve Can Kill You by Marie Jones, Dancing Shoes – The George Best Story (2010 and 2011), A Night With George and Fly Me To The Moon.


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