Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
Subscribe Today!
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
Derry woman's debut play to feature at Dublin Theatre Festival
"I am so grateful for the love and support the play has received. It is beyond my wildest dreams"
After an incredible opening weekend in Derry, Rosie's play will now be the only play from Derry to be featured at the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival in May this year
Reporter:
Nicole Lang
15 Mar 2023 5:33 PM
Derry woman, Rosie Patton, has always been creative but discovered her passion for writing four years ago.
She wrote her first ever play, 'I Didn't See That Coming,' which made its stage debut last October at Derry's Studio 2.
After an incredible opening weekend, co-directed with Brian Hasson, Rosie's play will now be the only play from Derry to be featured at the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival in May this year.
The festival, which will be celebrating its 20th Anniversary, is a celebration of love, diversity, and creativity that brings together some of the best LGBTQ+ theatre talents from around the world.
Set to take to the main stage, Rosie said she was not prepared to be selected but is so excited for the opportunity.
Rosie said it is not easy for playwrights starting out with a lack of funding to the arts but said people have been extremely generous and supportive, "Everyone has been so good to me and I am so grateful for the opportunities I have received to get this play to the stage.
"I am an independent and not eligible for any funding or grants. Ali Green has been phenomenal, he has given us rehearsal space, marketing and is allowing us to host a fundraising performance with all proceeds from the show going towards the play."
Rosie said she is eternally grateful to the support of not only Studio 2 but her family and partner whose support she says has been incredible and vital in getting the production to stage.
Rosie said that this festival is the next step in getting the play to new audiences and taking Derry's story and unique craic to an international stage.
"It will be nice for Derry to get a shout out and also the LGBTQ+ nature of the play and the festival, the exposure is so important to the community.
"To be invited to the festival stage is amazing, I couldn't believe it, my head is spinning trying to get everything organised."
Rosie's play, 'I Didn't See That Coming,' is set during the 90s at the tail end of the troubles just before the Good Friday Agreement. Although the play is not about the peace agreement, Rosie says it is a factor.
Rosie continued: "The play is based on a woman in her early to mid-20s and she is a school teacher and she is struggling to come to terms with her sexuality.
"It plays out how her family reacts to the whole revelation. It covers mixed religion relationships, age divide, acceptance, stereotyping and incorrect judgements.
"It also focuses on the perception of gay people in the 90s and how that perception is still somewhat alive today.
"In the play there are a number of time lapse scenes post the Good Friday Agreement showing the audience how far we have come and how far we have yet to go."
Rosie said she can't wait to head down to Dublin and have the play performed outside of Derry to new audiences.
"We are all so excited, it will be such a good weekend. I am so grateful for the love and support the play has received. It is beyond my wildest dreams."
The festival is from May 1 to May 14 with Rosie's play featured from May 11 to May 13. The cast are set to perform four shows across the dates.
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOW
4
To continue reading this article, please subscribe and support local journalism!
Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.
Subscribe
To continue reading this article for FREE, please kindly register and/or log in.
Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy a paper
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
