Photo by Anthony Wood
|
Haughey | GregoryBy Colin Murphy
Fishamble’s Haughey|Gregory by Colin Murphy, directed by Conall Morrison, follows the deal between Tony Gregory and Charles Haughey in 1982, when Gregory takes a surprise Dáil seat - and suddenly finds himself holding the balance of power. Can Gregory use his vote to achieve something for his constituents? To do so, he will have to face off against the dominant personality of Irish politics - Charles J Haughey. Following a short, sold out tour of Haughey|Gregory in 2018 to the Abbey Theatre, Mountjoy Prison, Dáil Éireann and Croke Park, Fishamble tours the production nationally in 2019. 'extremely entertaining… wonderful… smashing ensemble… a rare political delight.' ★★★★★ Mail on Sunday 'sharply written docudrama, which combines history and humour to superb effect' ★★★★ Sunday Times ' funny and fascinating slice of recent political history' Irish Independent
|
Created By |
Cast |
|
Written by Colin Murphy
Directed by Conall Morrison Costume Design by Joan O’Clery Sound Design by Ivan Birthistle and Vincent Doherty Hair and Makeup by Val Sherlock Dramaturgy by Gavin Kostick Stage Manager Clare Howe Assistant Stage Manager Sara Gannon Assistant Director Alison Dennan Marketing by Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan Production Coordinator Ronan Carey Associate Producers Des Gunning & Jason Grogan Produced by Eva Scanlan |
Ruairi Heading
Morgan C. Jones Janet Moran Michael Glenn Murphy Jonathan White All playing multiple roles, including Ruairi Heading as Gregory and Morgan Jones as Haughey. |
2019 Dates
|
23 April
|
SIAMSA TÍRE, Tralee
|
|
|
25 - 27 April
|
PAVILION THEATRE, Dún Laoghaire
|
|
|
30 April
|
DUNAMAISE ARTS CENTRE, Laois
|
|
|
1 May
|
GLÓR, Ennis
|
|
|
3 May
|
BACKSTAGE, Longford
|
|
|
4 May
|
DRAÍOCHT, Blanchardstown
|
|
7 May
|
AN GRIANAN, Letterkenny
|
|
|
9 May
|
TOWN HALL THEATRE, Galway
|
|
|
10 May
|
LIME TREE THEATRE, Limerick
|
|
Previous Dates
2018:
6 Feb: MOUNTJOY PRISON, working with Mountjoy Prison Education Department
6 Feb: DÁIL ÉIREANN, sponsored by Maureen O'Sullivan TD
8 - 10 Feb: PEACOCK THEATRE, The Abbey Theatre
13 Feb: CROKE PARK, special performance for the Croke Park Community
6 Feb: MOUNTJOY PRISON, working with Mountjoy Prison Education Department
6 Feb: DÁIL ÉIREANN, sponsored by Maureen O'Sullivan TD
8 - 10 Feb: PEACOCK THEATRE, The Abbey Theatre
13 Feb: CROKE PARK, special performance for the Croke Park Community
Production Shots
Photographs by Anthony Wood
Reviews |
Audience reviews |
|
'extremely entertaining… wonderful… smashing ensemble… a rare political delight.'
★★★★★ Mail on Sunday '... the funniest you will see on stage this year… sharply written docudrama, which combines history and humour to superb effect… engrossing… first-class multi-rolling cast.' ★★★★ Sunday Times ‘Irresistible… a fitting tribute… a deeply informative history lesson couched in so much humour it becomes irresistible…Thoughtful and thoroughly enjoyable, Haughey|Gregory is a tale worth telling, and one most certainly worth hearing. ★★★★ The Arts Review 'The actors create a lot of magic... funny and fascinating slice of recent political history' Irish Independent ‘incredible actors…it delights the audience. The wit is razor-sharp... brilliant’ Politics.ie ‘That rough and ready aesthetic seems appropriate for the clash of personalities involved, as Gregory, a tenacious outsider, takes on the Prince of Power.’ Irish Times |
‘Nothing has changed in 35 years…I hope when you do the play in the Dáil, that you say those lines looking straight into those politicians’ eyes.’
Prisoner in Mountjoy ‘The best piece of theatre I’ve seen in years…it’s brilliant…it should be seen by everyone in the country.’ Senator David Norris 'An exceptional piece of theatre...great insight and thoroughly enjoyable as well' Paschal Donohoe TD 'one of the best ways of making history accessible' Martin Mansergh 'I thought the play was brilliant... it because it means so much to my area' Chloe, student at Larkin Community College 'I think the play does put into perspective the drug and housing problems' Georgia, student at Larkin Community College 'I think it's important to have plays like this, stories that come from the community itself' Elma, student at Larkin Community College ‘Tony was a very special person to me…I’ve known him all my life and his life…it was nice to remember all the little bits you forgot. It’s kind of emotional for me to see it… it was very true, very factual. A brilliant piece, and the actors were brilliant. Croke Park audience member |
Historical background toHaughey|Gregory, by Colin Murphy
In the early 1980s, there were three general elections within 18 months in Ireland. The country was in pieces: the economy ruined, most of the young talent emigrating, modern infrastructure barely existent, the North at war. Politics was dominated by Charles Haughey, leading a deeply-divided Fianna Fáil, and his nemesis, Garret FitzGerald, leading Fine Gael. Dublin’s inner city was almost destroyed by unemployment, heroin and urban planning, and entirely forgotten by the rest of Irish society and ignored by politics and the media. Fighting against this, community activists were struggling to assert another vision of society and politics.
At their head was Tony Gregory, a young teacher turned city councillor, born in Ballybough, whose father had worked in the Docks. In the second of those three elections, in February 1982, Tony took a surprise Dáil seat - and suddenly found himself holding the balance of power.
He was courted by both FitzGerald and Haughey. FitzGerald was a liberal, a man of modest disposition, and committed to a policy known as ‘the Just Society’; Gregory’s team liked his politics. And they disliked Haughey’s republicanism (Haughey had lost office a decade earlier for his involvement in a notorious scheme to illegally run guns to the IRA) and the whiff of corruption and ostentation that he courted.
But Haughey was a northsider: he knew how to deal with people, and how to get things done. While FitzGerald remained aloof and remote, Haughey came to Gregory’s run-down office and drank with his team in the local pub. He impressed them with his knowledge of the area and his willingness to meet their demands. Over a series of three meetings, he seduced them, and they, in turn, succeeded in winning him over to perhaps the most radical anti-poverty scheme in Irish history.
That became known as the Gregory Deal. Gregory voted for Haughey and he duly became Taoiseach - the deal was denounced by the establishment as flagrant vote-buying; its radical, progressive content was largely overlooked.
Before much could be implemented, Haughey’s government collapsed, in November 1982, after a bizarre series of scandals. Some of the deal’s measures were adopted by the new government; others fell by the wayside. Thirty five years later, Dublin’s inner city is again the focus of national political attention and promises of investment; but such attention has proved fleeting in the past, and the promises insubstantial.
Thank you in particular to Noel Gregory, Mick Rafferty, Fergus McCabe, Pauline Kane and Maureen O'Sullivan, to all the others who generously gave me their time, and to Des Gunning for research help. I relied on the following for inspiration, facts and quotes: Tony Gregory, by Robbie Gilligan; Reminiscences and Musings of a Forgotten Age, and other essays, by Noel Gregory; Dublin, The Heart of the City, by Ronan Sheehan & Brendan Walsh; The Boss, by Joe Joyce & Peter Murtagh; Haughey's Millions, by Colm Keena; The Lost Revolution, by Brian Hanley & Scott Millar; The Power Game, Fianna Fáil since Lemass, by Stephen Collins; The Trial of the Generals, by Colm Tóibín; The Destruction of Dublin, by Frank McDonald; the photographs of Derek Speirs; journalism by Jason O’Toole, Gene Kerrigan, Fintan O’Toole, Mary Raftery, Seán Kilfeather, Vincent Browne & others, published variously in Hot Press, Magill, In Dublin & the Irish Times.
At their head was Tony Gregory, a young teacher turned city councillor, born in Ballybough, whose father had worked in the Docks. In the second of those three elections, in February 1982, Tony took a surprise Dáil seat - and suddenly found himself holding the balance of power.
He was courted by both FitzGerald and Haughey. FitzGerald was a liberal, a man of modest disposition, and committed to a policy known as ‘the Just Society’; Gregory’s team liked his politics. And they disliked Haughey’s republicanism (Haughey had lost office a decade earlier for his involvement in a notorious scheme to illegally run guns to the IRA) and the whiff of corruption and ostentation that he courted.
But Haughey was a northsider: he knew how to deal with people, and how to get things done. While FitzGerald remained aloof and remote, Haughey came to Gregory’s run-down office and drank with his team in the local pub. He impressed them with his knowledge of the area and his willingness to meet their demands. Over a series of three meetings, he seduced them, and they, in turn, succeeded in winning him over to perhaps the most radical anti-poverty scheme in Irish history.
That became known as the Gregory Deal. Gregory voted for Haughey and he duly became Taoiseach - the deal was denounced by the establishment as flagrant vote-buying; its radical, progressive content was largely overlooked.
Before much could be implemented, Haughey’s government collapsed, in November 1982, after a bizarre series of scandals. Some of the deal’s measures were adopted by the new government; others fell by the wayside. Thirty five years later, Dublin’s inner city is again the focus of national political attention and promises of investment; but such attention has proved fleeting in the past, and the promises insubstantial.
Thank you in particular to Noel Gregory, Mick Rafferty, Fergus McCabe, Pauline Kane and Maureen O'Sullivan, to all the others who generously gave me their time, and to Des Gunning for research help. I relied on the following for inspiration, facts and quotes: Tony Gregory, by Robbie Gilligan; Reminiscences and Musings of a Forgotten Age, and other essays, by Noel Gregory; Dublin, The Heart of the City, by Ronan Sheehan & Brendan Walsh; The Boss, by Joe Joyce & Peter Murtagh; Haughey's Millions, by Colm Keena; The Lost Revolution, by Brian Hanley & Scott Millar; The Power Game, Fianna Fáil since Lemass, by Stephen Collins; The Trial of the Generals, by Colm Tóibín; The Destruction of Dublin, by Frank McDonald; the photographs of Derek Speirs; journalism by Jason O’Toole, Gene Kerrigan, Fintan O’Toole, Mary Raftery, Seán Kilfeather, Vincent Browne & others, published variously in Hot Press, Magill, In Dublin & the Irish Times.
Meet the Team
Colin Murphy
Writer |
Colin Murphy is a playwright, screenwriter and journalist. Plays include Guaranteed!, on the bank guarantee of 2008, nominated for an Irish Theatre Award; Bailed Out!, on the subsequent economic and political crisis; and Inside the GPO, staged in the GPO, Dublin, for the centenary of the Easter Rising, all produced by Fishamble. He collaborated with Charlie Bird to bring the story of marriage equality in Ireland to the stage in A Day in May, produced by Pat Moylan. Screen credits include The Guarantee, nominated for an Irish Film and Television Academy award, and The Bailout, both adapted from his plays and produced by John Kelleher Media, and the short film Leave to Remain, produced by Treasure Entertainment for RTÉ Storyland and nominated for a Celtic Media Award. Documentaries include Angola After the War for RTÉ Television and Roger Casement's Apocalypse Now for RTÉ Radio One. He adapted Haughey/Gregory for radio for RTÉ.
|
Conall Morrison
Director |
Conall Morrison is a director and writer. He has directed over twenty shows for the Abbey and Peacock theatres. He has directed for the Lyric Theatre, RSC, RNT, the Globe, the Happy Days Festival, English National Opera, Cameron Mackintosh. His production of Woyzeck in Winter (Landmark/GIAF) played in Galway's Black Box, the Gaiety, Dublin, and at the Barbican. For Fishamble he directed Colin Murphy's plays Guaranteed!, Bailed Out!, and Haughey|Gregory.
For TV3/John Kelleher Media he co-directed, with John Comiskey, The Bailout - the TV version of Colin's play. His own plays and adaptations have had many productions. |
Cast
Ruairí Heading
|
Theatre Credits include: Buridan's Ass (Bewley's), A Christmas Carol (Viking Theatre), Borstal Boy (Verdant Productions), Cornerstones (Runcible Spoon), Way to Heaven (Rough Magic), The Birthday Man (The Gonzo Theatre), The Eulogist (Theatre Upstairs), Apples (The New Theatre), The Lark (Fast Intent).
Film/TV Credits: Black 47 (Fastnet Films), Leave to Remain (RTÉ), The Flag (Treasure Entertainment), Ripper Street (Tiger Aspect), Game of Thrones (HBO), The Lost City of Z (Plan B Entertainment), Rebellion (RTÉ), Spacer (Independent), Get Up and Go (Fastnet Films). Training: Ruairí is a graduate from The Factory Screen Acting Programme and Bull Alley Theatre Training Company. |
Morgan C Jones
|
Morgan C Jones first came to notice in 1989 as a stand up comedian, then as a script writer and performer of satirical sketches on Nighthawks (Network 2). Since then he has established himself as a actor on stage (Borstal Boy, The Stuff of Myth), television (Legends of Cambria, Nowhere Fast, Game of Thrones, Vikings) and in cinema (The Fox, Out of Innocence, Without Name). He also has a large body of audio work under his belt in the fields of radio drama, commercials, narration and animation. Morgan is delighted to be performing with Fishamble Theatre for the first time, and to be working again with writer Colin Murphy having played Sean Fitzpatrick in the 2014 movie The Guarantee, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the 2018 tv mini series The Bailout (TV3
|
Janet Moran
|
Janet Moran is an actor and playwright based in Dublin. Selected Theatre work includes Ulysses, The Plough & The Stars, Juno and the Paycock (National Theatre, London/Abbey Theatre coproduction),Shibari, Translations, No Romance, The Recruiting Officer, The Cherry orchard, She Stoops to Conquer, Communion, The Barbaric Comedies, The Well of the Saints and The Hostage all at the Abbey Theatre, Car Show, Dublin by Lamplight, Everyday, Freefall and Desire under The Elms for Corn Exchange Theatre co. Other theatre includes The Weir, Pineapple, Xaviers, Royal Supreme, Her Big Chance, Unravelling the Ribbon, Dancing at Lughnasa, Playing from the Heart, Guess Who’s Coming for the Dinner, All’s well that ends well. Film and television work includes Trivia, Love/Hate, Love is the Drug, T (RTE),Dublin Oldschool, The Bailout tv3 The Butcher Boy, Breakfast on Pluto, Milo, Minim Rest, Bono and My Ex, Moll Flanders, Nothing Personal, Volkswagen Joe and Quirke (BBC)
|
Michael Glenn Murphy
|
Michael’s theatre credits include Anu: Loc (Dublin Theatre Festival), Futureproof (The Everyman), Hamlet (Second Age Theatre Company & Verdant Productions), The Auld Fella (Tiger Dublin Fringe 2015) Faith (Guna Nua) Druid/Murphy(Druid theatre company) Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth (Second Age Theatre Company) Bookworms, Government Inspector, Arragh Na Pogue( Abbey Theatre) The End of the Road (Fishamble: The New Play Company) Slattery's Sago Saga(Performance Corporation) The Colleen Bawn (Project Arts Centre) The Walworth Farce(Druid Theatre company) The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Project Arts Centre) Other Theatre includes: Shining City (Rapture Theatre company) The Lonesome west (Hull Truck Theatre) Molly Sweeney (National Theatre Scotland) The Shadow of a gunman,Molly Sweeney and A Whistle in the dark (Glasgow Citizens Theatre) Playing the victim(The Royal Court/Told by an Idiot) The Firework makers daughter (Told by an idiot) Of Mice and Men (Bolton Octagon and Theatre Royal York) A Midsummers Nights Dream(Theatre Royal York) Svejk (Gate theatre, Notting Hill) Woyzeck (Compass theatre company). TV and FILM: Finky (Due for release later this year), The Alienist (Showtime), Acceptable Risk (RTE), Klondike TG4 The Bill, Taggart, Swansong, Silent Witness, Dinner of Herbs, Colour Blind, Rough Treatment, Big Bad World. Radio: Smokes and Daggers, Forgetting Curve.
|
Jonathan White
|
Jonathan was born in Dublin, grew up in New York and began acting while still a student at Trinity College, Dublin. His 40-year career spans stage, TV, film and radio. Recent theatre includes the title role in King Lear (C Company), Richard II (Ouroboros), Anglo: The Musical (BGET and Olympia) and No Escape (Abbey). To Hell in a Handbag: The Secret Lives of Canon Chasuble & Miss Prism (Show in a Bag) which he co-wrote and performed with Helen Norton, premiered at the 2016 Dublin Fringe and enjoyed a very successful Irish tour last autumn as well as a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe. Recent screen work includes Can’t Cope Won’t Cope, The Secret Market and the TV version of Bailed Out by Colin Murphy which will be screened shortly on TV3.
|
Peter Coonan
(2018 tour only) |
Peter most recently filmed the lead role of Doggy Mannion in the screen adaptation of Kevin Barry’s short story DARK LIES THE ISLAND, directed by Ian Fitzgibbon. Other (most recent) screen credits include the feature films WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE directed by Stacie Passon, the lead role in Tom Collins’ feature AITHRÍ, and THE BELLY OF THE WHALE directed by Morgan Bushe. On stage Peter most recently played the Drum Major in Landmark Productions’ WOYZECK IN WINTER, directed by Conall Morrison at the Barbican London, and at the Galway International Arts Festival. In 2014 Peter won an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Fran in the critically acclaimed RTÉ drama LOVE/HATE.
|
