Every Picture Tells A Story
We held a competition whereby we asked writers to submit a monologue or playlet that has been inspired by a painting by an Irish artist.
On March 7th 2018, the finalists and winners of our monologue and playlet competition came to the London Irish Centre in Camden to hear their work performed by actors.
The winners were:
Paul Ryan – All Ears. This piece was inspired by the painting “All Ears” by Jimmy Lawlor
Monologue_All Ears – Paul Ryan
A young boy in London listens to Belgium vs Ireland in the 1981 World Cup Qualifiers.
Paul Ryan was born to Irish parents in England in the year that England won the World Cup – starting years of cultural confusion. His short play ‘Me and Gregory Peck’ was performed as part of a new writing festival at the Questors Theatre in Ealing, London.
John P Murtagh – Wavering Martin(i). This piece was inspired by the painting “The Galtymore ” by Bernard Canavan.
Conor goes to visit Mam in the care home, where she recalls a night at the Galtymore, Irish Dancehall in London.
Playlet Wavering Martin(i) J P Murtagh
John P Murtagh – Roundstone Cowboys
This piece was inspired by the painting “Roundstone” by Cloe Cloherty.
Bridie and Kitty take shelter from the rain in an art gallery in well-to-do Hampstead. This painting captures their attention and interest.
Playlet_Roundstone Cowboys By J P Murtagh
Leaving It All Behind by Nick Maynard inspired by the painting of the same name by Jimmy Lawlor.
A young man leaves Northern Ireland for Scotland, having found love there, he can never return.
Paddy by Jules Garvey Welch inspired by the painting ‘A Firm Grasp on Reality” by Jimmy Lawlor.
It is a comedic monologue of a man in his 60’s who is struggling to find his place in the current world of technology and change.
Monologue_Paddy by Jules Garvey Welch
THE CAST
Kevin Bohan
Kevin arrived in London from Galway at the age of five and first performed on stage at nine. Since then he has had various roles in television and theatre. He played Mikey Carroll in Just above Dogs and Fleet Pete in Craic in the Crypt and ‘Mosely Must Fall’ (Green Curtain Theatre). Kevin is also a stilt walker, fire juggler and stand-up comic. More recently Kevin has featured in a number of commercials.
Nora Connolly
Nora Connolly trained at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. Her work includes being at the National Theatre, the Bristol Old Vic, the Liverpool Playhouse and the Royal Lyceum Edinburgh. She has appeared in many Irish plays from O’Casey and Synge to Brian Friel and Martin McDonagh. She has devised and performed in ‘Nora’s Bloomsday’ and taken her one woman poetry show ‘Going West’ to the Prague Fringe Festival. Most recently she appeared in ‘These Halcyon Days’ Gothenburg, Sweden.
John Glynn
Born of Irish parents and raised in London, John has been acting on stage and screen for many years. His film credits include (2010), Beat Heart (2013) and Breaking Britain (2015) and the stage play “ A Tragic Carmody” for Green Curtain.
Paul Lavers
An experienced stage, film and TV actor, Paul’s recent credits include roles in ‘Educating Rita’, ‘Les Blancs’ (National Theatre), ‘One Man Two Guv’nors’, ‘Deadly Nightcap’, and ‘Not Now Darling’ (Windsor and Stevenage) and ‘Bedroom Farce’ (Stevenage). You can currently see Pauls as Newscaster in ‘Network’ at the National Theatre. Paul’s TV work includes: The Onedin Line, Dickens of London, Doctor Who, Moll Flanders, Wings, When the Boat Come In, The Wilde Alliance,9/11 State of Emergency and Doctors.
Sharon Wymark
Sharon Wymark Sharon has recently returned to acting having originally trained at Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre. She is a founder member of Camden People’s Theatre. Sharon is second generation Irish and has roots in Mayo, Wicklow and Dublin. Sharon took part in “A Tragic Carmody” in this year’s play festival.