The Meridian Theatre Company presents a double bill of Irish plays by emerging writers in the Roscommon Arts Centre on Wednesday 11 February, Love, Peace and Robbery and Thailand: What’s Love Got To Do With It?.
The latter has been described as “a savage satire on Irish sex tourism” and “explores the seedier side of a tropical holiday in South East Asia”.
It was a sell-out at the 2007 Cork Midsummer Festival and features a solo performance from actor and storyteller Mairtin de Cogain.
de Cogain, best known for his part in Ken Loach’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley is also co-writer, along with Brian Desmond.
To sum up the play, Mairtin says that basically, “It is an expose on what’s really going on out in Thailand, it’s about one of the dark issues of Ireland that people don’t want to talk about.
They don’t want to talk about the fact that the sons and brothers and fathers of Ireland could be so way inclined,” he explains, “that they use these women for pleasure”.
Thailand: What’s Love Got To Do With It? is told through the eyes of a young man named Declan.
He is a typical Irish guy, going out with the lads and singing rebel songs about the oppressed Irish.
Then the Celtic Tiger happens, everything changes, he gets a bit of money together and like so many others, goes on holiday to Thailand.
The play, written in the form of a modern short story, is a monologue, set after his return, in which he tells us about his exploits.
Although neither Desmond or de Cogain have visited Thailand themselves, while researching the play, Brian did speak to a lot of people who have been there.
Much of the play is based around these accounts.
Mairtin describes the innovative method in which Thailand: What’s Love Got To Do With It? was written.
“Brian would think of a situation and I’d put myself in it and improvise around it. He would then cut and edit these improvisations as he saw fit.”
The monologue form that the play takes is undoubtedly well-suited to de Cogain’s storytelling abilities.
In fact, his background is primarily in music and storytelling and it is through this that he first got into acting.
“My father was a great storyteller and he taught me all that I needed to know about it,” he says, “and I was always telling stories at parties.”
He began acting at school and college and “just fell into it as time went on”
Liam Heylin’s Love, Peace and Robbery is set in Cork and tells the story of two small-time criminals and their attempts to stay out of trouble.
Gary and Darren have recently been released from prison and we follow them on their adventures.
Described as “a funny, touching portrait of the human face of the underworld”, it is based on interviews with a group of men in this situation.
To book tickets for Thailand: What’s Love Got To Do With It? and Love, Peace and Robbery, contact the Roscommon Arts Centre box office at (090 ) 6625824.
