Reading in The Attic

Last night I had the reading at The Attic Studio of my feature script Ghoster, it was a thrill to be quite honest. I really enjoyed and it was supremely useful, in two hours I got more answers to my own questions then I could have possibly got in six months of mulling over drafts! 

It was very well cast, and thanks to Camille Donegan for helping me with that, organising the actors and arranging my visit. 

I found it to be a very welcoming and warm environment. I felt safe. My ideas felt safe. I knew going in that the script was far from perfect and needed a lot of work, but of course, that was the point of the exercise. Still, didn't stop me from being nervous or worrying what people might think. I now know what it must feel like for a parent to go to their child first school play and have to watch them perform. So full of hope and fear! But my fears were soon lost.

The reading was a nerve wracking. I was watching the audience as much as I was the actors, so I was somewhat distracted. But the rehearsal the night before was an absolute joy. Made me wish it was the real thing and all these actors were my cast and it was first night of rehearsals for the actual film. Some day perhaps.

Instantly I saw my characters come to life, and in ways I never imagined. Some of the cast embodied the characters perfectly and it was as if the character had walked off the page. Some brought something completely different that was equally as exciting, it gave something fresh and new to the piece. It opened up new avenues for me and started a whole new thought process and provided me with the energy to see it through to the end. So here's hoping we get to shoot this thing!

My thanks to everyone at The Attic, thanks to those who have created such a safe and essential place for actor, writers and directors to try new things. Thanks to all the actors who took part in the reading and to those who braved the cold to watch and fill in questionnaires, all of which I found very useful and will continually refer to... well, maybe I'll burn on or two! You know who you are! ;)

I would highly recommend doing this. Gather together a group of actors from your local theatre group, or where ever and have them read your script. It will bring to light so many things, everything that's working and everything that is not. It is an invaluable tool to help the development of a script. Do it.

Here's a list of the cast members. 

Narrator: Joe McKinney
Fred: John Burke
Kevin: Steve Gunn
Connor: Keith Ward
Marco: Padraig Murray
Captain: Ken Fletcher
Caper: Ciaran O'Grady
Maz: Dafydd O'Sea
Alco: Rory Mullen
Banjo: Declan Gillick
Alex: Camille Donegan
Meehan: Gerry Shanahan
Skinner: Brian Fortune
Cathy: Elaine Reddy

My Thanks