Character Traits & Scripts

Character Outlines & Scripts & Notes =

These performative sketches try to tackle the Irish condition from different historical standpoints. It is satirical. It is vaudeville. While the sketches and characters take place at different points in history, a common theme throughout is media. This work speaks to the visual and verbal language of Irish media and colonial media.

I don’t know how big this work will be, perhaps it will grow into many characters and timelines. There must be a greater question at stake, an Irish question. One train of thought that I am interested in is the Irish narrative, the narrative that makes up the Irish identity. Our events, our landmarks, our blunders, our disgraces. There is a disparity between Irish governmental policy and Ireland’s constructed identity. Ireland is meant to be a freedom loving, friendly, funny and artistic island, and sure these elements may be somewhat true but our governments waver between centre right and slightly more to right of centre. Perhaps through this work I am trying to create a muddier interpretation, to besmirch our national heritage. Sure we all tell ourselves that we had a family member who fought in the rising but I doubt many ever wanted to or would want to die for Ireland. Ireland’s collective consciousness is formed by colonial oppression. Terms like anti-treaty and pro-treaty created an Irish civil war but this division was created by our coloniser.

De Mimsey

De MImsey is a mid ranking noble, he is assigned by the crown to counsel and advise Earls and Barons on the island of Ireland. De Mimsey is a self serving tool, he rarely brings good news, his solutions often are to the detriment to the serfdom. He is highly educated and warns the nobles of rebellion, cholera outbreaks and famine.

Takes place in a nobel’s hall.

Brother Eamon

Brother Eamon is a high ranking Monk in an early christian ireland monastery. He works mostly in the scriptorium, producing holy texts that fuse Irish mythology and paganism into a new hiberno-christian narrative. He is highly superstitious, concerned with omens and prophecies. He is a pseudo-scientist. A quack. He synthesises meaning and myth from the mundane. He creates monsters in the margins of his manuscripts. He devines the health of the land by picking at bog cotton, from smelling the autumnal mushrooms. Brother Eamon is worried about vikings or messengers from Rome and a brewing noise coming from the Normans in England. Brother Eamon dictates orders to an off screen monk (perhaps will be on screen) Brother Ignatious, a lower, younger monk. Ignatious fetches Eamon’s vellum, his spirits (whiskey) and listens to brother eamons complaints. Brother Eamon and Brother Ignatious sit together in a darkened room at the top of the round tower of their monastery. Vikings raid and pillage the monastery below. Eamon looks out the window on the violent scenes and describes them to ignatious who records them though Eamon’s meaning is lost in Ignatious’ interpretation.

E: We hid in the tower as soon as we noticed the birds flying, and the plumes of smoke rising from the direction of the estuary. They are violent, foaming at the mouth, blond-haired giants. And they are Horny

I: Horny, Brother?

E: Yes! Horny! Make sure you write that down, and illustrate it too, if you please Iggy

I: But Brother, em, I’m not quite sure what you…

E: I said write it down! You oaf! I should feed you to the norsemen, they would make a hearty stew from you, boy

E: Alright Brother

Scene ends with an illuminated manuscript with pictures of horned vikings

This will be shot in a room with one window. The window will be masked to look like the window of a round tower. The scene takes place in a round tower.

Mr. McGuire

Mr.McGuire is a servant employed by the aristocratic father of young william. McGuire has lost his children to poverty and famine and despite him having every reason to detest the little lord, McGuire cannot but love the innocent little toff. This plot will unfold from the perspective of William. He is awoken in the night be McGuire, the towns-folk have conspired against the landed gentry, they believe that they have poisoned the towns well with cholera. The town is half dead and half infected, they are making their way to william’s manor to seek vengeance.

This video is shot at night , in candle light, creepy atmosphere, gothic. The scene takes place in a country manor house or on a darkened country road.

References: Bram Stoker / The Heroes Quest

No Surrender Splendour

Craig is an amateur baker from belfast, he finds himself in the semi final of the Great British Bake Off. Craig makes a multi layered cake that resembles a belfast bonfire in July. It is made with ginger, marmalade and turmeric. To represent his orange tendencies. The cake is covered with miniature irish flags and loyalist slogans such as “Michelle O’ Neil : Catholic Slag”

The Time Traveling Revolutionary

Commandant Boyle, a low ranking member of an irish paramilitary during the Irish Civil finds himself at a shrine in the middle of nowhere. He has become separated from his flying column, he sees candle light coming from the shrine and he walks toward it hoping to gain some sense of direction. As he walks towards the shrine the light grows bigger and bigger and it envelops him. He is transported a hundred years into the future and across the irish sea. He awakens on a welsh country road. He stumbles down the road until he comes upon the Fron Goch Garden centre. A cute garden centre just miles from the infamous internment camp that imprisoned irish revolutionaries after easter rising.