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his work.”
Those seeds of initial interest in writing have well and truly grown in Mick’s mind and the man from Castlegregory has since on to write a number of plays including the hugely popular ‘Beyond the Brooklyn Sky’ which opened at the Garter Lane Theatre in Waterford in September 2012 and subsequently went onto tour the Pavilion, Axis, Civic and Draoícht Theatres as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival in the same year.
‘Beyond the Brooklyn Sky’ went on to tour in 14 different venues nationwide in 2013.
“I grew up in Castlgregory and so obviously the scenery and the sea, they’d have all had a big influence on my writing style, I feel. Fishing villages and small towns and the sea - theyse are three near constants in a lot of my stories.”
“Writing to me, I feel it’s like a disease. Something of yours could get rejected or told it was no good and you could just say to yourself, ‘I’m giving this up, I’m no good, I’m giving it all up’. I must have said this myself about a thousand times over the years but as I’ve found out, there’s no giving up, it just doesn’t seem to happen.”
“I think that if there’s a story to be told and its gnawing away at you at the back of your mind, it’s going to find its way to the surface somehow and you’ll find yourself bursting at the seams until you tell it.”
“Right now, I am writing a new short story that I feel could be made into a stage production – it’s different to anything else that I’ve done before as its something a little more personal and closer to the bone. It’s a short memoir, it’s autobiographical and it’s called ‘ A Year with Gypsy Bill’.”
“It’s about a family that move from London to West Kerry in the 70’s – it’s a short story but it is something that I think could be adapted to a performance piece and hopefully something will come of that next year. I’ll give it a few people to read and we’ll see what happens with it.”
One man that Mick credits with making him into the man, actor and writer that he is today, is the recently deceased famous theatre director, Barry Kassan.
“He was a famous theatre director that we got down from Dublin for a production and he was a major influence on me; back then in the early 90’s, he was a giant to all of us, we used to kind of be in awe of him.”
“He showed us the huge difference between amateur drama, which we had mainly been doing up to now and professional theatre, I mean this was a man who had originally directed all of the John B Keane plays in the Gaiety Theatre.”
“When you worked for someone like him, you just took a leap forward and you could never o back afterwards I felt – he showed us that acting was almost like a vocation. He instilled in us a great sense of discipline, you’d never have been late for this man, you’d have been terrified,” he laughed.
“He took notice of everything, physically and mentally, I mean if he saw you moving or twitching on stage, he’d be onto you. He was pure technical with his knowledge, he was fantastic to work it, I had never come across anything like him before.”
On his latest work entitled ‘After Sarah Miles’,
“It’s scheduled for one date in July at the Castlegregory Summer Festival’ and I will probably be back again to perform it in August.”
“It’s a one man story about a fisherman who starts his working life as an extra in ‘Ryan’s Daughter’ and it goes on from here and it follows 30 years of his life. It goes from about the late 60’s to the early noughties.”
“In it, there are a series of events that happen in his life and at the centre of a play, there is a love story aswell; it’s a one man play performed by myself - it’s a 75 minute monologue, I like to joke.”
Mick will be performing this show in the Castlegregory Club Room ay 9pm on Sunday July 9 and Mick is encouraging as many people as possible to come down.
1. KILLARNEY’S 4TH OF JULY CELEBRATIONS
IRELAND’SIR only 4th of July celebrations will take place in Killarney next Tuesday, with a whole host ofo American style entertainment linedli up.
It will start its celebration of IndependenceIn Day with a Morning in Reveille in front of the Town Hall on Main Street followed by great activities such as a American ic style BBQ, brass streen bands and entertainment, a fantasticfa fireworks display and of course, the BIG parade through th the town at 8pm.
Make sure you come along on the day and see Killarney celebrate all things American.
2. MEETING FOR ‘OPEN ARMS KERRY’ IN TRALEE
A public meeting will take place fofor The Open Arms Kerry Suicide & Mental Health Awareness Centre on June 29th in The Rose Hotel, Tralee.
On the night, there will be vvarious speakers who have first hand experience in coping, empathising, and understanding thms societythe various today. topics surrounding mental health and suicide in our
This free event will run from 77:30 to 8:30pm.
3. ENJOY A SUNRISE MOUNTAINM HIKE ON CARRAUNTOOHILL
‘WWILD Goat Adventures’ are inviting in anyone interested join them in a sunrise hike on Carrauntoohill hikeh this coming July 1.
This package, which costs
€ 75 per person, includes a packed lunch, hot drinks at th the summit, fluorescent safety e equipment and a hot breakfast o on returning.
For all interested, please contact Chris (0872210930) or Katie (0876508888) to book a place.
4. IT’S TIME FOR THE RING OF KERRY CYCLE
THE Ring of Kerry cycle will take place on Saturday July 1, with thousands of cyclists expected to cycle the 180k route on the day.
The route will travel from Killarney all around the Ring, taking in areas such as Killorglin, Glenbeigh, Caherciveen, Waterville, Sneem and Kenmare before finishing back in Killarney later that evening.
Come out to any of those areas on the day and show your support - all information can be found at www.ringofkerrycycle.ie
5. CLASH OF TITANS IN KILLARNEY MUNSTER FINAL
KERRY are getting ready to take on Cork this Sunday in what is sure to be a hotly contested Munster Final between the two old rivals.
The game is set for a 2pm kick off in Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney so if you’re lucky enoigh to get tickets, make sure you come out and support our boys in green and gold.
6. FIRST AID FOR CHILDREN WORKSHOP
A FIRST aid workshop for parents given by a fully qualified first aid instructor from the Irish Red Cross will be held in Haven Pharmacy Kennelly’s in Tralee, today Wednesday June 28.
This free admission event will run from 6:30pm to 8:30pm and will look to teach the basics of life saving skills to parents.
Haven’s Pharmacy Kennelly’s is located at 6 Castle Street Tralee.
7. MIKE THE PIES TO HOST THE BAND ‘SCULLION’
‘MIKE the Pies’ in Listowel are getting set this weekend to welcome the band ‘Scullion’ to their bar tomorow night, Thursday June 29 for a night that promises to keep everyone entertained throughout the night.
Formed back in the mid 1970’s, Scullion have released several LP’s and two CD’s and have continued to perform live shows fhe psast 40 years.
Tickets for the show are set to cost €20 and can be bought on the door on the night.
8. LOAFING HEROES PERFORM IN WATERVILLE
THE eclectic and musical talents of the international band, ‘The Loafing Heroes’ are set to perform for the very first time in the Tech Amergin Arts Centre this coming Saturday night, July 1.
They will be performing in the Tech Amergin Arts Centre at 8pm with tickets set to cost €12/€10; they can be bought on the night or by contacting the box office at 066 9478956.
9. GET EXERCISING THIS SATURDAY MORNING
JUNE is here so why not try to head down to the Tralee Town Park this coming Saturday morning and take part in the weekly park run?
The 5km run/walk is free of charge and is a great way to start your weekend. The morning starts at 9:30am sharp every Saturday.
Those looking to take part in the run for the first time can register at parkrun.ie where they can also print their necessary barcode.
10. GET DANCING IN AID OF CHARITY IN TRALEE
Writing to me, I feel like it’s a disease. I think that if there’s a story to be told and its gnawing away at the back of your mind, it’ll find a way to the surface somehow
THE Chernobyl Children’s Fund in Tralee will host their weekly social dance nights in the Grand Hotel this month.
The dances start at 9pm every Wednesday night the cost of entry for each night is set at €8.
The lineup for the month of June is as follows: June 28 - ‘Shay O’ Callaghan’.