Marie Jones
Hometown: Belfast
Current town: Belfast
Q: Tell me about Fly Me to the Moon
A: Fly Me to the Moon is a play about two community care workers. The two women travel around the community caring for old people who need assistance. They arrive one day to do their usual routine of care of David Magee who is 84. Only this day will not be like any other day. Davy will breathe his last and they are faced with a dilemma. Do they inform the authorities or take advantage of the situation. Their actions spiral out of control and leave them in a desperate situation.
Q: What else are you working on now?
A: I am working on the Film Script of ‘Stones In His Pockets’ This was a play that has been performed all over the world including Broadway and the West End.
Q: Tell me about your experience at Charabanc Theatre Company.
A: Charabanc was a life changing and empowering situation. Five women started a company to create better roles for women. I never knew that I would end up as the Playwright. It was not by design it was a need.
Q: Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a writer or as a person.
A: When I was a child I used to go with my Mother when she visited her many sisters. I would sit and listen to them tell stories and laugh and wish and dream and cry. They were all natural story tellers. That is what playwrighting is, being able to tell a good story that people can relate to
Q: If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?
A: I cant think that there would be any thing I would change about the theatre…it is an ongoing changing thing…its live .
Q: Who are or were your theatrical heroes?
A: My theatrical heroes are the men and women who are totally passionate about it. Especially the people who live in small rural towns in Ireland and have devoted their lives to bringing theatre to their communities and inspiring and encouraging young people who might not ever had the opportunity to see it as a career.
Q: What kind of theater excites you?
A: Good theatre excites me…no particular style. If I can sit for two hours and not think about what I have to do in the morning or what I have to get in the shop on the way home then it works for me.
Q: What advice do you have for playwrights just starting out?
A: My advice would be, only do it if you have a story you want everybody to hear and you can hear it in your head…word for word.
Q: Plugs, please!
A: Fly Me to the Moon runs at 59E59 Theaters from September 5 – September 30. It’s part of 1st Irish.
1 comment:
YESYESYESYESYES!!!!
Thank you so much for interviewing Marie Jones! And, Marie Jones, thank you so much for your amazing plays!!
It was such a treat to discover this interview waiting in my inbox today. Marie's work is absolutely phenomenal and should be known far and wide!
STONES IN HIS POCKETS, of course, is a terrific play-- not the least of which for it's jaw-droppingly brilliant form-- but let us not forget WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF HRT; NOW YOU'RE TALKIN'; THE GIRLS IN THE BIG PICTURE; SOMEWHERE OVER THE BALCONY; etc. etc.
I was lucky enough to find my way to Marie Jones's work when I created an independent study in Northern Irish drama during my grad school years at Smith College, and my life (and my plays!) have been much improved by having her as a wonderful influence! I am elated to learn of FLY ME TO THE MOON and I will now race-- if one can race in cyberspace-- to get my ticket!
All the best on the run, Marie, and thank you, Adam, for your amazing collection of interviews.
Jeff
P.S. If anyone is looking for additional great playwrights from Northern Ireland (and there are numerous!) take a look at the work of Anne Devlin (especially OURSELVES ALONE), Christina Reid, Stewart Parker, Gary Mitchell, Frank McGuinness, and Patrick Galvin. Patrick, sadly, died this past Spring, but his satire WE DO IT FOR LOVE is particularly terrific, as are his memoirs and poems.
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