Jody O’Neill was one of the nominees when the awards were handed out for the 2008 Dublin Fringe Festival.

The Fishamble New Writing Award is to a new or emerging Irish (or Irish-based) playwright premiered during the Fringe. The prize includes a playwriting course, dramaturgical support and €1,000 towards the writer’s next play. The winner was Elaine Murphy ( Little Gem ). Other nominees: Phillip McMahon and Belinda McKeon ( Love 2.0 ); Jody O’Neill ( They Never Froze Walt Disney ); Lawrie Pendlebury ( Thicker Than Water ).

O’Neill’s play, They Never Froze Walt Disney, had a successful run in the Festival and this nomination proves what I said back in December 2007.

The title says it all really. The theme tune for the new James Bond movie Quantum of Solace has hit the net and you can hear it here.

I’m not a huge fan of Bond songs in general. Live And Let Die was great, Goldeneye was good, I loved You Know My Name from Casino Royale as soon as I heard it and it worked really well in that opeing. This one didn’t do it for me. Sounds like it’s trying to be You Know My Name in places and never really got going.

What do you all think?

They Never Froze Walt Disney
Players Theatre
8 - 13 Sep, 6.15pm

‘I don’t want to be a burden’ is a repeated phrase spoken by Marie, a recently widowed old eccentric played by Jody O’Neil who also penned this powerful dark comedy that takes loneliness as its subject. Remarkably, O’Neil manages to squeeze comedy from this condition without taking from its horror.

The play presents the strained unrequited love of two oddballs, Paudie (Gavin Logue) and Marie (O’Neil), juxtaposing their promising young encounters in the 1960s with their anxious, forlorn reunion in the present. A palpable sense of loss and regret haunts the stage but is kept at bay by the wonderful comic turns of the character’s dialogue.

Jack Healy’s direction is wisely unfussy, almost static, conscious not to distract from the actors’ masterfully timed deadpan delivery. The minimalist set (also designed by Healy) is functional but amateurish in its construction. This isn’t helped by the harsh brightness of Sarah Jane Shiels lighting design, robbing the small Players Theatre space of an intimacy that would have better complimented the script.

However, such poor production values are easily forgiven, when strong writing and assured acting build this evocative piece to a chilling climax.

- Ian R. Walsh
Irish Theatre Magazine Fringe Reviews

Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire have signed up for Spider-Man 4! It’s still slated for release in May 2011, but that may yet change.

Having initially been reluctant to do any more Spidey films, the pair have now signed up for 4 and maybe 5. Sony are considering doing 4 & 5 back to back because it would be cheaper and they had so much trouble getting people back for 4. There’s also a rumour that Jamie Vanderbilt, who recently penned Zodiac, has written a story arc that carries over from 4 to 5.

There’s no contract for Kirsten Dunst yet as she is currently getting treatment for depression. The Villain looks likely to be The Lizard as his human self, Dr. Curt Connors, has already appeared in the series, played by Dylan Baker.