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Frank Mcguinness, Playwright

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Frank Mcguinness, Playwright Tonyaward-winning playruright FrankMcGuinness talks to Deirdre Mulrooneyabout his literary journey fromBuncrana to Booterstown lhhknown T WAS not that happy an experienceat secondary school. but university was a ,l tremendousliberation and an insightinto the pleasureof learning,"divulges an energised ProfessorFrank McGuinness, coming out of his postgraduateseminar on Dancingat Lughnasa and Lady Windermere'sFan for the MA in Anglo-lrishStudies. At the sametime ashis seminar, just acrossthe corridorin UCD's Schoolof English& Drama,Professor Tony Roche was examining one of McGuinness own playswith the other half of the class. Theparadoxical nature of a creativewriter placinghimself in a supposedden of criticsis not lost on McGuinness.But, then again,for this Tonyaward-winning playwright, it wasthis very Schoolof English& Drama,along with UCDDramsoc and a fortuitous 1980meeting with PatrickMason that nurtured his innerartist in the first place. McGuinness'swas a childhoodwithout books"in a working- classestate" in Buncrana."10 milesfrom the bordei and 14 milesfrom Derry",on Donegal'sInishowen Peninsula. "l've been making up for it ever since,"he jokes,gesturing around his book-clutteredoffice. "The first book I read was Prideand Prejudice- a schoolbook.I absolutelyadored it. Then, quite seriously,the secondbook was The Castleof Adventureby Enid Blyton.I loved it! 5o l'm the bastardchild of JaneAusten and EnidBlyton!" Howeve[ the 55year old isall rightwith that. "l PAGETHIRTY UCDCONNECTIONS LITERATURE 'l didn't feel particularlydeprived for not havingbooks actually." grewup in quitea Curiously,he saysthe mainconsequence is that it meanshe has reallyno knowledgeor appreciationof children'sliterature. The eldest of four children,he was "spoilt rotten" by his complexsociety where mother,who worked in the localshirt factory,and his father, who was a breadman (amonghis earliestplays are TheFactory thenuance was Girls(1982), set in a shirtfactory and lhe BreadMan (1991). "[Playwriting]wouldn't have entered my family's,and my extendedfamily's consciousness actually," he shares."The big extraordinarily opportunity was the scholarshipthat came in after Donagh O'Malleybrought in free education.lwas about 14.lt let me get powerful.And I grew educated at secondaryschool, college, and let me do a postgraduatedegree in medieval studies. I was absolutely in housewith determinedthat if that was up for grabs,I wasgoing to take it. up a a It wasthe first time anyonein my family had everreally gone to college.We were aspiringto the professions,there was no reallyclever womoh, questionabout that. Our parentspushed us in that direction- to makethe mostof your own ability- and to makethe most whosemain intellectual of what few thingspoor peoplehad at the time." Theymay not havehad books,but they did have"newspapers and television,which is the great subverter,a wonderful, weaponwas words' wonderfulsource of enlightenmentat the time", he says."From the word go we were taught there was a world beyondthis island.That may havedone damageto my Celticstanding," he Thejourney towards hisTony award (for lbsent A Doll'sHouse jokes,"but all the morestanding for that." in 1997,with JanetMcAteer as an unlikely,but brilliant,Nora), Hecontinues: "l grew up in quite a complexsociety where the and his current standing as one of lreland'sgreatest living nuancewas extraordinarilypowerful. And I grew up in a house playwrightswas a steady,if unpredictable,one. "When I came with a really cleverwomanr whose main intellectualweapon to Dublin first, I did go to the Abbey and the Gate. Then, was words." His playsand modernversions of the classicsare towards the end of university,I got involved in Dramsoc.That litteredwith strongfemale characters. "From an earlyage I was was the first-ever,big, active engagementwith it." His "big attunedto the barbarity- how to wound through language, inspiration", ProfessorTerence Dolan (author ol A Didionary of andhow to charmand lull through language. I drank that in like Hiberno-English),fostered a "very deep love of Chaucer"."The motherbmilk. I think a lot of lrishpeople have that capacityby medievalinfluence is in the writing, without drawingtoo much reasonof the way lrish women operate.They have been so attention to it." lt's no surpriseto hear that McGuinness deprived of formal power. Their great outlet was speech,song specialisedin linguistics,given the extraordinary linguistic and laughter." sensitivitythat informs trls writing. His versionof Strindberg's Offeringan exampleof the lrish-English,{nglish-English and Miss Julie, which enjoyed a successfulrun at the Project Arts American-Engfishthat co-existin his play Someone Who'll Centrein Februaryis a primeexample. WatchOver Me, McGuinnessattributes his hyper-sensitivityfor McGuinnesshas developedinto a very rare combination:a languageto "that socialtraining I had in Donegal.Everything practicalman of the theatre, who is widely respectedby actors goesback to Donegal,everything. There's no doubt aboutthat". for the usefulnotes he canoffer to help unlocka characterand The 1971transition from the little town of Buncranato the a performancefor them, and an inspirationalteache[ who can big metropolisof Dublin was unforgettablytraumatic for the put his studentsthrough a rigoroustraining and interrogation budding writer. "lt was absolutelyheart-wrenching. I knew I of the texts he placesso strategicallyon his courses."l try to wantedto comehere, but I wasgrief-stricken and physicallysick teachthe playsthat I do versionsof. That time spentwith the for the first year.I understandthe meaningof homesick.lt took innardsand the skeletonof the text, things suddenlystart to me a year to adjust,or to get somekind of bearings.Then, in revealthemselves and patternsstart to emerge." One expertise secondyear, I madefriends, and was doing Englishand Medieval informsthe other. "You can never losesight of the fact that, English,and I loved it. But the uprootingwas so savagethat I when you are readinga play,your readingis about a physical could never do that again of my own free will. I have been activity.Your readingis about action,.aboutthings happening offereda load of thingsin the U5,but I just couldn'tgo." on a stage.I try to emphasisethat an awful lot in the rehearsal UCD CONNECTIONS PAGETHIRTY ONE room,as in the classroom." Revisitingthe classicsalso refines McGuinness's craft. "lt's like a painter,you needto go and look at paintings.Bacon drained Velasquezdry for his own art. lt's a wonderful example.This is what artistsdo. They go andthey find out how thingswork." However,he shiesaway from definingcreativity. "l don't know what creativityis, or where it comesfrom, and I don't want to know.lthink youcannot possibly make anybody a writer.You can makethem a reader.Good reading can lead to goodwriting," he offers."There are things, I think,that it isvery dangerous to have too logical,or too pat an answerto. I do believein the tangential. I believethat things can come at you from the most unlikely sources.I like embracing the unknown." Outsideof academia,McGuinness is collaboratingwith writers,actors and directors."We are all collaborators,and one of the greatreasons for doingthese versions is to collaborate- with authorsin the past."His "big project"this year is Oedipus at London'sRoyal NationalTheatre. McGuinness describes Oedipusas "this phenomenal,terrifying, heartbreaking play", whichis set to starRalph Fiennes as the tragichero and will be directedby Jonathan Kent. "My God,Sophocles - the demands he makesof you," McGuinnessconfides. "He putsyou through giganticchallenges." Puttinghimself through challenges is clearlysomething that McGuinness.whose output is prolific. is fond of. Hedeclares an actor'saversion to "resting"."l'm a firm believerin work.I don't like slackingand I don't like holidays.lt's not my way. My definitionof hellis a beachholiday." The sea,howeve4 is somethinghe is drawn to. Livingin Booterstown,he is neverfar from it, and it makesperfect sense that lhe Lady from the Seais also on his desk.He is doing a versionof the lbsenplay for his frequent collaboratoractress. Lia Wifliams, this year. The Stronger,the short lbsen-inspired film McGuinnesswrote for Williamsto direct,was recently nominatedfor a Baftaaward. McGuinnessrelishes working in lreland,and dismissesthe ideathat it is any differentto how it hasever been. "l don't think there is a new lreland.I just think it'sthe sameold kip, wearinga new dress."Even the notionof creditdoesn't strike him as new."Well, there was always hire-purchase. There was alwaysdebt." Lookingforward to sinkinghis teeth into a new playfor the AbbeyTheatre in 2009,McGuinness certainly won't haveto lookfar for inspiration:"l think we arestill the same,barbaric. rather cruel,rather wonderful,shockingly generous, strange paradoxof a place.I wouldn't live anywhereelse. As I say,I embracethe unpredictable.That's why I livehere." Deirdre Mulrooney (BA '90, MA '91, PhD '98) is a freelance iournalistand author who contributesto publicationsincluding The lrish Timesand the SundayTribung and edits the Arts page in lmagemagazine. PAGETHIRTY TWO UCD CONNECTIONS.
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