The Devious Theatre Company are very proud to announce that; we will be broadcasting a brand new hour long radio version of HG Wells’ sci-fi classic The War Of The Worlds, in conjunction with KCLR 96FM, 70 years to the date of the famous Orson Welles broadcast on C.B.S., October 30th 1938.

The Welles version was performed live on CBS with a fictional radio show being interrupted by news of a Martian invasion of earth. Convinced that what they were hearing was real, listeners fled their homes, frantically called loved ones and prepared themselves for the Martian attacks. The countrywide case of mass hysteria caused by the broadcast gave a chilling insight into how America would react if subjected to such an attack. A subsequent Mexican version of Welles radio adaptation led to 6 deaths and caused the radio station to be burnt down by outraged listeners.

Tune in on October 30th to hear our Kilkenny and Carlow located version of the classic tale. With a variety of different narrative devices and accounts of the invasion, we are able to piece together a chilling perspective on the attacks by the fearsome Martian tripods and their destruction of earth’s populace over the course of a 3 week period.

We are delighted to be working on this project with KCLR and we’re hoping that the audiences in Carlow and Kilkenny won’t take this one too seriously.

Check out the newly relaunched www.devioustheatre.com for more details on the project along with a whole host of goodies from all our previous productions.

The Devious Theatre Company’s performance of The War of the Worlds will be broadcast exclusively on KCLR on Thursday, October 30th at 9pm. It can also be listened to live on KCLR96FM.com. 

One final review for Devious Theatre’s production of ‘Trainspotting’ came through this morning. Published in the autumn 2008 edition of Start Magazine, the arts magazine for the South East of Ireland. Written by Ita Morrissey, the review can be found in the magazine available here as a free download;

“For folks that are unacquainted with ‘Trainspotting’ performed by Devious Theatre (Watergate, Kilkenny, June), it’s the tale of a dark and dirty Edinburgh told through the lives of five down and out drug riddled friends.

The risky aspect in taking on a production such as ‘Trainspotting’ is the subject matter it confronts; take the infamous toilet scene when Renton retrieves his pills, Alison’s re-enactment of spoiling food when she worked as a waitress and then there is all the business with needles.

It was apparent that this troupe of actors had worked hard to achieve a naturalistic Scottish accent; the dialogue was delivered in a superior manner by many of the cast. Ross Costigan, who played Renton, was able to juggle the accent with volume to a perfect level, but at times Begbie, played by Niall Sheehy, went beyond what could be deciphered. And occasionally the vocal abilities of the one or two of female actors were testing on the audience. That only being a minor note compared to the standard reached by all the others.

The first half ran at a great pace, as Renton was used to marvellous effect guiding the audience along his life of drugs and hard times. Costigan’s skill at portraying this down beaten but lovable character was magnificent; he lived and breathed him.

It was slightly disappointing then, not have the same connection with him in the second half. That being said, there were some beautiful moves throughout the play, especially in two specific scenes where Sick Boy (John Morton) tangoed with Mother Superior (Paul Young) in a junkie frenzy and where Spud reveals his dirty sheets across the breakfast table.

This type of blocking from directors Niamh Moroney and John Morton only contributed to the professional standard of this production.”

You can download a free copy of this months START Magazine HERE, in this months issue where you’ll also find an awesome full-page interview with ‘Vultures’ co-writer Paddy Dunne.

It’s well into September, I thought following the crazy summer; things would have slowed down by now and that I would be able to get back to more regular blogging!? It’s still taking a little getting use to the fact that I’m not going back to college but I’ve had plenty to keep me distracted from the “September blues”, here’s an update on what I’m doing;

Firstly, my two newest posts “Meet Matt McLoughlin” and “Meet Ned Savage” bring me up to a total of 237 posts here on Oss237.com just as the statcounter turns over on 80,000 hits. The new shots are also the beginning of a long series of character portraits I’ll be doing for the Mycrofilms web-based sitcom ‘Vultures’. As I’ve said in my previous post, we’re currently in the middle of shooting the third episode in the series, ‘The Mystery Of The Night Time Refuse‘.

These new character portraits are just the beginning of a whole host of extra’s we’re working on, in the run up to the release of episode 3. The idea is to provide a series of portraits that give a little insight into each of the characters in the show and you can also read their character bios here on VulturesPI.com. You can also check out a whole collection of my behind-the-scenes shots from the set of ‘Vultures’ here on my new flickr account.

With KilkennyMusic.com reaching three years old; the website is going to get a bit of a new look, bringing in some new features and as a part of this I’m moving all my shots from the KilkennyMusic Galleries (1508 shots in total) to the new KilkennyMusic Flickr. We’ve also just been long-listed for ‘Best Music’ in the 2008 Irish Web Awards.

The Hype Entertainment Battle of the Bands 2008 is in the final stages, the finalists have been announced and myself, Ken and Andrew McGuinness will sit behind the judges table one last time this coming Sunday as the remaining bands battle it out. You can see all my photos from the competition so far here. And myself and Ken are back with the weekly Sound System Podcast show, which is still free to download.

The Devious Theatre website is about to be relaunched with a new look and a whole archive of promo material from past productions and our upcoming epic. I’m about to begin transferring all my shots from the last four productions into the new Devious Theatre flickr account. And we’re already in pre-production for our next show, it’s all very hush-hush at the moment, all I’m saying is “30.10.08“. (More on this soon)

In the run up to the launch of their debut CD, ‘Strands’, I’ve been doing a lot of work with progressive-grunge experiment, The Lions Mane. In particular, getting back into music video production. I’m currently working on a video featuring The Lions Mane recording ‘Smegma’ in the Mill Studios. I’ll blog more about the video at a later stage but I’ve begun posting behind-the-scenes video clips on youtube with plenty more to come.

You’ll also find a whole host of new videos on my youtube account, short little video clips from all of my above mentioned adventures and projects. With little time to blog about things, I’ve quickly become addicted to capturing video clips behind-the-scenes on everything I’m doing at the moment.

On the P.R side of things, well I’ve pretty much being doing all sorts of P.R activities I can, with all of the above mentioned projects. Every week for the last two months, I’ve been firing out press-releases and photos to all the local media and I’m happy to say that every week the local papers publish everything and give credit where it’s due (They must have got my message) and at this stage myself and Ken should have our own radio show; at least one of us is being interviewed for something every week.

So, September may be here and the weather surely sucks, but at moment the “post-college blues” are nowhere to be found. Now, if only somebody would give me a job!!!

As of yesterday filming has begun on Vultures episode 3: ‘The Mystery Of The Night Time Refuse’ and as of last night the BRAND NEW VULTURES TRAILER went online over at www.VulturesPI.com.

Vultour, Tennyson and McGrain, the three hapless detectives of VPI are back with a brand new mystery. After moving into a new office the trio are accused of dumping rubbish outside the new premises, and threatened with eviction. With time running out, they must get to the bottom of… lots of bin bags.

Are they being framed? Is someone trying to get them kicked out of office after office? Why are their belongings in this new rubbish? And does Eddie Hobbs actually write his own books?

All will be revealed in Vultures Eps 3: ‘The Mystery Of The Night Time Refuse’. The new trailer acts as a bridging point between Episode 2 and the forthcoming episode; with the evicted detectives forced to set up shop in a very familiar looking public park.The third installment in the series will see the return of Noah Hennessy, Sarah Black, Inspector Leeson, Fred Bass, Isabelle Vultour, Tom Moriarty and I’ll be returning as “urban preacher” Jack Street. There’ll also be a few new characters including intense rubbish-hating Litter Warden Ned Savage and Matt McLoughlin the hard-partying, hen night loving V.P.I lawyer.

I’ll also be working as 1st A.D on the production and providing behind-the-scenes shots along with some P.R services so plenty more to come…

For now WATCH THE TRAILER for Vultures Eps3: The Mystery Of The Night Time Refuse’.

I’ve been flat out the past two weeks, working on several different projects, PR work, shooting several gigs including the Hype Entertainment Battle of the Bands (I’m an official sponsor and also a judge) and of course with Devious Theatre’s 4th production ‘Smitten‘.

Only weeks after our highly successful production of Irvine Welsh’s ‘Trainspotting‘, people thought we had gone a bit mad deciding to put on another play this soon. And I have to admit at some points we thought they might be right, with very little pre-production time and early casting difficulties, we hoped we weren’t going to “drop the ball” with this one.

This time around we also wouldn’t have the big name selling power behind the show, ‘Smitten’ is a brand new play, written by our very own John Morton (who also wrote Heart Shaped Vinyl), you can read more about the play here. We were hoping that at this stage, we had established Devious Theatre as a reliable source of entertainment in Kilkenny. If of course people could actually find the little known location of Church Lane!?

In the weeks towards the show, Devious Theatre once again kicked it up a notch and began our onslaught. Rehearsals were hectic but hilarious, the local media were bombarded with press releases, photos and promo material, the set was designed and built. Window displays, signs and maps to the venue went up around the town and people were on the radio talking about the show. Once again I had the pleasure of working on some photo-shoots with Paddy Dunne, who once again produced an awesome series of posters. Props, rostrums, sets, seating, costumes, lights etc were all assembled in the Barn and Wednesday the 20th (opening night) approached.

As I walked up Church Lane that day I was kind of disappointed, despite Devious Theatre’s best efforts, there seemed to be little interest in the show, tickets sales were poor, it looked like it was going to be a quiet week. Would it have all been worth it, everyone had worked so hard!? I walked into the Barn just as the phone call from Rollercoaster Records (our ticket-seller) came through… it was around about that moment that the week took off like a rollercoaster and Devious Theatre are still a little shellshocked (once again). The phonecall was brief, the message spread throughout the cast and every time it was met with the same open-mouthed, wide-eyed face; “am?…we’re sold out tonight!?”.

The lights came up on the first ever performance of Devious Theatre’s ‘Smitten’ by John Morton, with a full house staring at us (yet another Devious moment I will never forget), and I can easily say that the entire cast appreciated this moment and in return gave it everything they had. Afterwards, everyone was slightly stunned by the reaction we received. Rumour had it, it was going to be a quiet one, but the official word is “we went to Morrissons!”.

I walked into the Barn on Thursday, around about the same time that the next phonecall from Rollercoaster Records came through… the call to tell us that the entire run of Smitten was now sold out. People loved it, they laughed at the funny bits and tears welled up at the sad bits, John Morton had written an awesome show and the Devious Theatre Company did what they did best, entertain. Crowds varied from teenage metallers to 92 year old grandmothers. Some people had gotten in early enough to get tickets so they could come every night. And John said it best with “All the while we stood by quite amazed.”

To be honest, it still hasn’t really sunk in yet, but two things I’m certain about is that it was more than worth it (and Devious throw awesome after-parties!). I’d really love to go into more detail about the show, it really deserves it but between shooting Vultures Episode 3, the Battle of the Bands, several gig shoots to sort and other projects, I’m backlogged with work. You can check out all my behind-the-scenes shots from Smitten rehearsals and live shots of the show here on the Devious Theatre Bebo Page.

All that’s left for me to say is a long list of thank you’s; firstly to director Colm “No Notes” Sheehan and John “Apollo Creed” Morton for your awesome work. To the amazing and friendly people at Barnstorm for allowing us to move into the Barn and endlessly helping us throughout our stay. To my fellow Devious Committee members, once again you’ve made me so proud of what we can achieve (I hope we do that photo-shoot with the monacles). To Paddy Dunne, for once again using my photos in your awesome work. To Eddie Brennan for another awesome set, and to all those who helped him. To Gerry Taylor for the lights.

A really important thank you to my fellow cast; Stephen Colfer, Amy Dunne, Ken McGuire, Kevin Mooney, Lynsey Moran, Niamh Moroney, Maria Murray, Suzanne O’Brien, Jack O’Leary, Annette O’Shea and Geoff Warner Clayton. It was awesome to spend time with all of you and I look forward to working together again.

Finally, thanks to all of you who came to see the show, for showing your encouragement and support for something that we simply love doing. Keep an eye on DeviousTheatre.com over the next few weeks for announcements on our next production (no, we’re not mad, we’re taking a break first!).

Roll on the reviews…

Well before Trainspotting had begun, I ordered myself an AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D lens. Having had the pleasure of shooting on one several times over the past few months, once again thanks to KenMc, I had to have one.

So I ordered one and after waiting several frustrating weeks of delays and postage mix-ups, it finally arrived yesterday morning. It was worth the wait. Last night was my first chance to use the lens, as we were shooting more promotional material and posters for the upcoming Devious Theatre production; ‘Smitten’. Once again I have the pleasure of collaboration with Mr Paddy Dunne, he’ll be working his photoshop magic on the shots and Devious Theatre should begin releasing posters for the show this coming weekend.

Today was my first proper chance to test the new lens, a promo-shoot with progressive grunge rocker’s The Lions Mane. I’ll be working with the lads in the coming months as they begin to make a dent in the local music scene with a string of gigs, videos, E.P releases and of course more promo-shoots. I’ve shot most members of the band before, as they either are or were members of various bands throughout the Kilkenny Music scene, so they were all more than used to me sticking a lens in their face.

With no real concept, other than print media promo-shots for the band’s debut performance in Kilkenny, we chose to keep it simple. I chose the Boreen in Kilkenny because of the great selection of simple locations for posed-group shots; lots of stone walls, winding lanes and quiet locations to set up shots. Using the new lens’ limited depth-of-field to my advantage by positioning band members, playing around with in-camera colour temperatures and levels. Keeping in mind the style the lads were going for, in-line with their long-list of progressive and grunge influences and indeed their promo-shots. I’m more than happy with the outcome and the new lens. The lads will release more promo-shots from today’s shoot in the coming weeks.

The Lions Mane will play their debut full-band performance in Cleeres Theatre on August 16th in association with KilkennyMusic.com. A night of melodic, riff-heavy songs with ambient guitars, layered vocals and highly percussive-independent rhythms. Support on the night comes from Dublin-based progressive metallers Hero In Error, also playing their long-awaited Kilkenny debut and I’ve also being waiting a long time to shoot these guys live. This is going to be one of the gigs of the summer, an example to certain bands in Kilkenny that “progressive” music is exactly what the title suggests, it’s meant to be progressive, or let’s say go somewhere. It’s not about the tattoos, the right t-shirts or haircuts, it’s music for the sake of music, and it’s awesome.

Last week myself and Ken were on the road, quite simply travelling in the company of legends. Over the past few weeks we had been flat out organising the PR for the 2008 Clive Barnes & Jeff Lang tour. Sending out countless press releases to national and regional media, sending out albums to radio stations, talking to journalists, organising interviews and in-studio performances, all under the banner of the newly formed MyMusicPR.

The tour itself was a great success, taking in 8 national venues across Dublin, Kilkenny, Galway, Wexford, Sligo, Limerick and more. Having already had the pleasure of seeing Clive Barnes (legend!) several times before and working with him earlier this year for promo-shots (which were used for the tour), I was really looking forward to getting another chance to shoot him live.

Clive Barnes is a familiar face on the roots music circuit and has been steadily gaining himself a worldwide reputation as one of the finest lap slide/regular acoustic guitarists on today’s scene. He has four critically acclaimed albums released to date, with ‘Welcome to Farewell’ winning Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s (USA) ‘Album of the Year Award 2002’. He’s also one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, his countless stories and live performances are nothing short of pure entertainment.

I’ve been listening to Australian based musician Jeff Lang’s ‘Whatever makes you happy’ album (just 1 of 13 studio albums) repeatedly for weeks now, and I was really looking forward to meeting him, seeing him live and having the opportunity to shoot another legend on stage. (Having done all that, I’m now looking forward to catching up on his huge back-catalogue of albums.)

Jeff Lang has earned international acclaim as a virtuosic guitarist, a dynamic songwriter and a “startlingly unique” live performer, playing at major festivals and venues internationally for the past decade. Blending rock, roots, folk, blues, ballads, instrumentals, improvisations and a devastatingly high level of musicality. Long acclaimed as a superbly gifted guitarist, he is now gaining recognition as a master songwriter. Much to my delight, he’s also filled with hilarious stories from adventures on the road (told in an awesome Australian accent), and his live performances are also nothing short of pure entertainment.

Jeff was joined on the tour by renowned Melbourne-based bassist Grant Cummerford. Another legend in my opinion. And having the pleasure of listening to Clive, Jeff and Grant off-stage was an experience itself, I don’t think myself and Ken have ever laughed so much, whilst picking up Aussie terms like “trough-lollies” and “slurp roads”.

My latest series of shots captures Clive Barnes’ performances in Cleere’s Theatre, Kilkenny and Barry’s in Grange, County Sligo. Unfortunately, due to the lights creating a buzz through the P.A in Cleeres, I was reduced to shooting under a single spot-light, meaning I didn’t get to shoot Jeff because of his position on the stage. I made up for this in Barry’s.

Shooting Clive through a doorway at the side of the stage, with lights behind him giving nice flares and colour. I shot Jeff & Grant from the front of the stage, with Jeff on the left side directly under a horrible red-light (I hate them) and Grant fading into the dark-side of the stage, I initially struggled but eventually found a good setting to capture his awesome performance. Then I had the opportunity to shoot all of them together, as Clive joined Jeff and Grant on-stage for a few songs at the end.

I have to say the highlight of my adventures had to be sitting around with Ken, Clive, Jeff and Grant in Barry’s after the gig that night, once the crowd had left. Instruments were passed around for several hours, as the lads jammed together, swapping guitars and stories between songs. I can safely say I have never witnessed such unbelievable musical talent. I left my camera in it’s bag and sat in pure awe into the early hours of the morning, as I’ve said before quite simply in the company of legends.

You can check out all of my shots from the Clive Barnes & Jeff Lang 2008 Tour here in the KilkennyMusic Galleries, until the MyMusicPR website gets an overhaul for the official launch (more on that very soon).

Before the previously posted reviews of ‘Trainspotting’ began to flood in, before the devious junkie’s even had a chance to go through “post-show-blues” and “cold turkey”, Devious Theatre had already announced our next production; ‘Smitten’.

Here’s the official Devious word on the show;

“Smitten depicts a tragicomic series of loosely interlinked vignettes set in Kilkenny City over a succession of rainy summer nights. The play takes its cues from the short stories of Raymond Carver and the films of Woody Allen (the early funny ones that is). The characters at the core of Smitten are trying to get their bearings in life, each stuck in their own limbo. The realities of adult life are dealing a harsh blow to the best laid plans, in a way that leaves them totally smitten… in all the meanings of the word.

Alcoholism. Pregnancy. Testicular Cancer. Apathy. Doomed Relationships.
Sock Puppets. Those elusive mystery girls. How to dance to Bruce Springsteen. And rain. Lots of rain. Smitten functions as a theatrical collage, with intertwining narratives and varying forms of narrative giving life to the comic and often tragic stories that litter the rainy streets of Kilkenny City.” Read More…

Here’s my two words; “It’s Awesome!”.

We’re already knee-deep in rehearsals as well as preparing promotional material for the show, with just five-weeks until the opening night. Thankfully, I’ll have a lot more time to be snapping behind-the-scenes on this production and will hopefully get to blog through-out as well. I’ll also get another opportunity to work with Paddy “the photoshop wizard” Dunne on some promo material. Awesome!

This series of slow-shutter shots was more of an experiment for shots to come, I’m hoping to do individual character promo shots closer to the show. Taken at rehearsals, camera on a tripod, 50mm lens (cheers Ken, I ordered my own over 4 weeks ago!), trying different speeds between 10″ to 30″, using the remote with flash-bursts as the shutter opened and closed, also using the natural light beams coming in through the windows as the sun went down. Quite simply it creates nice trails, different saturation levels and levels of movement as people move around the room. Just a test but more to come. You can check out more of my behind-the-scenes snaps from ‘Smitten’ rehearsals here on the Devious Theatre Bebo.

Tickets for Smitten are being sold in Rollercoaster Records, Kieran Street from 21st of July and they are 10EURO. The show runs August 20 – 23 and starts 8pm nightly. For more information and updates, check out www.devioustheatre.com

Another one from the long list of reviews, this one thanks to Aisling Hurley in the Kilkenny Voice;

“A brilliant night of Trainspotting”

A BRAVE and edgy production of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting by Kilkenny’s Devious Theatre Company finished an almost sell-out run at Kilkenny’s Watergate Theatre on Saturday.

Based on the novel that also inspired the 1996 hit film of the same name, the play centred on the lives of a group of young heroin users living in Edinburgh, Scotland, during the 1980s. The fantastically gritty posters depicting characters in a variety of disturbing situations and the warning that the show contained scenes of a graphic nature suggested that the show would be one that Kilkenny theatre-goers would remember for some time.

It did not disappoint.

Ross Costigan delivered a strong performance as lead character and narrator Mark Renton. His portrayal of the unscrupulous but likeable anti-hero was a deviation from some of the more confrontational roles he has recently played and proved that the Kilkenny actor has an extremely bright future. Other performances of note were those by Maria Murray in the role of Alison and Stephen Colfer who played Danny ‘Spud’ Murphy. Both young actors impressed the audience with their delivery of almost seamless monologues containing difficult subject matter relating to bodily functions.

The sensitive direction by Niamh Moroney and John Morton allowed the audience to wrestle between sympathy for the characters and complete despair that they would allow themselves end up in such a situation. Full marks are also due to the cast for deciding to include the humiliating and sometimes difficult scenes where Spud soils the bed sheets in a friend’s house, where Renton searches through an overflowing toilet for opium suppositories and where Tommy (played by Ken McGuire) shoots heroin into his genitals.

With this production, The Devious Theatre Company achieved everything that they set out to – to offer Kilkenny audiences theatre that is fresh, exciting and a little bit deviant. Other cast members included Niall Sheehy as Begbie, Paul Young as Johnny ‘Mother Superior’ Swan, John Morton as Sick Boy, Suzanne O’Brien as Dianne, Simone Kelly as Lizzie, Mairead Kiernan as June and Michael Murphy as a variety of characters. The theatre group’s next show ‘Smitten’ will run in Cleere’s Theatre, Parliament Street in August. The play, written by John Morton, is set in Kilkenny and is a tragicomic series of vignettes set over a depressingly rainy summer.

You can read my extremely long re-cap of ‘Trainspotting’ here in a previous post.

Another review of ‘Trainspotting‘, this time thanks to Liam Murphy of the Munster Express;

The Devious Theatre Company returned in punk and grotesque glory to The Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny with a high-octane production of Trainspotting by Shock Jock, Irvine Welsh. Following on from last year’s weird musical, Cannibal - the Musical, this young and exciting theatre company went full-tilt into-your-face with the theatrical version of the 1993 hit novel that brought a Tarantino-style fame to Leith-born writer, Welsh. Welsh means to shock and be disgusting and further books like Filth Porno and Glue added to the reputation to compel and repulse in often equal measure.

The Litmus test or acid test of companies who take on this play is the famous toilet scene where Renton retrieves his heroin suppositories from a stinking toilet bowl or the waitress/tampon/tomato soup scene. And Devious Theatre Company caught that visceral mood of revulsion and attraction so well. A young adult audience gasped at the unflinching depiction and at the same time were gagging for it and gagging from it.

John Morton and Niamh Moroney’s direction caught the mood so well without in any way over glamorising the despair of the characters lost in a toxic fog of hopes and shite. Eddie Brennan’s set design was grim and grimy. Gerry Taylor’s lighting was stark and edgy as required. Alan Dawson’s sound design was a punk paradise of hard tunes for hard times. A song There Is A Light That Never Goes Out was new to me but it underlined the sliver of hope in such an unredemptive play.

The ensemble cast were excellent and never flinched from the awfulness of the context and never sank into cheap laughter-seeking. Ross Costigan as Renton dominated the production with a powerful physical performance that was very impressive. Maria Murray as Alison was equally powerful and she chilled me to the bone with biting realism. Ken McGuire was a convincing Tommy and his descent into degradation was powerful. Suzanne O’Brien was a significant Dianne as was Mairead Kiernan in a series of cameos. Michael Murphy played about ten parts and he was spot-on at all times. Simone Kelly looked great as Lizzie and caught the caring and uncaring female very well.

Niall Sheehy was the edgy psychopath, Begbie who would stab his father and shag his ma but he tended to rush the accent. John Morton was a fine Sick Boy. Phil Young excelled as Mother Superior and Stephen Colfer evoked sympathy for the bewildered Spud. The ending of the play is a little bit of a cop-out but Devious gave it a theatrical value as the cast repeatedly changed The Lord’s Prayer. This was a production that led us into temptation and also delivered us from evil.

You can read my extremely long re-cap of ‘Trainspotting’ here in a previous post.