In interesting times
Confrontation is centre stage, writes Dionne Christian
Equal parts fascinated and intrigued by celebrity, David Ireland, an Irish Protestant born and raised in Belfast, grew up wanting to see his name in lights — but roles weren’t exactly plentiful so the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama graduate turned to writing plays.
“Of course, the intention was to write roles I could play,” Ireland, 42, says from his home in Glasgow, “but then auditions would be held and no one would cast me in my own plays . . . even I realised there were better people than me.”
He could have quit all together but he stuck with writing, remaining behind the scenes, and is now famous — or infamous, depending on who you ask — thanks to a succession of satirical, highly political plays that tap into the chaotic spirit of the age we’re living through.
“I’d like to think that one day I’ll write a musical comedy to go on the West End but I just don’t think I have the talent.”
The dark humour in his plays is often too much for some — Ireland’s plays are noted for their walk-outs — and they tend to end violently.
“I think it’s something about growing up in Northern Ireland, which was a very violent society, so violence comes easily,” he acknowledges, in a peaceable Irish accent that, as a writer, you can’t help mentioning and, as a participant in a conversation, you hear yourself slipping into.
“I never know whether to turn on the news because it becomes a bit overwhelming,” he continues. “We do indeed live in very interesting times but it’s a great time to be a playwright.” And also a dangerous time.
Consider Ireland’s most recent work, Ulster American, which comes to town for the Auckland Arts Festival, buoyed by a string of largely positive reviews and the coveted Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award in 2018.
Oscar-winning actor Jay (Darrell D’Silva) arrives at the home of British theatre director Leigh (Robert Jack) to meet Northern Irish playwright Ruth (Lucianne McEvoy). She’s late; the two men get to talking and when Ruth arrives, she wants to know what they’ve been saying.
Cue confrontational points of view, razor-sharp dialogue and some pointed observations about the silencing of female voices and the treatment of women at the hands of men. In the #metoo era, a male playwright is likely to find himself in boiling oil if he gets it wrong.
But Ireland says the characters and ideas in Ulster American came to him four or five years ago so it was written before the movement against sexual harassment and assault made headlines. “I felt really strongly that the character, Ruth, needed to be a woman. She’s based on my sisters and mother, who are pretty ferocious, funny and brilliant women and in Northern Ireland, you still don’t see many women like that on stage or screen.”
He also acknowledges the characters are ciphers for a bigger discussion about power, conflict and identity. “Jay, for example, is American and he might think he’s all liberal and like Obama but when push comes to shove, he’s more like a progressive version of Trump. He thinks he’s a feminist but when his own career is threatened, he’ll do whatever it takes to stay successful.
“The female character came first but there were these two men who would not stop talking long enough to listen and hear.”
Ultimately, however, it’s grounded it his own experience, starting with his thoughts about the nature of fame. His wildly successful 2016 play Cypress Avenue has brought him into contact with a growing number of the known and noted.
“And I meet them and I become a different person. I was sort of getting bowled over by them and I wondered what would happen if I did a play involving a movie star who says something terrible that puts me in a compromising position. How would I react?”