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Posted Thursday, September 20, 2007
Just about to go on in Dublin. I'm working at the Olympia Theatre again -this was the first Irish gig that I ever did. The place has really changed in the last 10 years , i say -lots of Eastern European workers , Nigerians , Russians , all sorts are coming over to graft-a really cosmopolitan influx of emigrants. A woman cab driver from Nigeria told me she came to Ireland because it was a 'boom time' and things 'were not good' for her family back home. A Slovakian waitress told me she came to Ireland to learn English and to work -the money she was being paid was very adequate for her needs. Roddy Doyle has written a new book which is a collection of short stories about this New Ireland. It's called The Deportees and I read it very quickly - some of stories have been printed before in Dave Eggar's story collections ...( the one about the wierd Eastern European nanny, and the one about Declan in New York) but I'd never seen the others before. I think the stories were written in 800 word chapters for a Community outreach type magazine -to promote awareness and tolerance. The stories are sensitively written , funny and at times , very moving. Although it has an unsatisfyingconclusion there is a very welcome return for Jimmy Rabbitte , ex manager of the Commitments in the title story 'The Deportees' , and the opening story 'Guess who's coming to the dinner' made me laugh a lot. Being on the road in Ireland with Jon Canter helping to cut and tighten the script has been fantastic. It's amazing how you can still edit even when the show is going well. The night we got a standing ovation ( I think someone had set the seats on fire or something , still, it was lovely) we did 40 minutes of work on the script of the show afterwards, changing emphases, cutting odd words, losing odd jokes. Jon is hardcore and no mistake. Being here for two days is a relief after the one nighter madness of the rest of the tour - you get a chance to wash your pants, buy comics , read a book, sit quietly at lunch ...all that good stuff. I miss home a lot and call several times a day - the wife's away filming Lark rise and soon Jam and Jerusalem -so when I go home for the next three weeks , I'll be on school run duty with the daughter or 'Hell no I won't go!' as she's been rechristened by her school. Any road up -better go -- three weeks heel cooling now. Peace Len
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