Exclusive Q&A by Brad Balfour
Show: “An Evening With Great Irish Writers”
Cast: Neil O’Shea
Date: October 15, 7 pm
Where: Theatre Row
410 West 42nd Street
As the world’s largest solo theater fest, The United Solo Theatre Festival presents a selection of local and international productions including storytelling, puppetry, dance, multimedia, improv, stand-up, magic, musical, and drama. Sometimes called the United Solo Festival or United Solo, it takes place in the Spring and Fall Seasons.
Since its inaugural year in 2010 — as a resident company of Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street) — United Solo has featured more than 1,700 productions from all over the world. In 2021, United Solo launched a new virtual platform (United Solo Screen) to present shows for its global audience and theater enthusiasts.
So thanks to this fest, Neil O’Shea’s “An Evening with Great Irish Writers” comes to NYC on October 15th. And it’s just that — extracts from some of the older, internationally well-known Irish writers of the past: Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats, J.M. Synge, James Joyce and more.
There is no particular message involved, just a celebration of fine writing from a small country which has produced some amazing writers (and continues to do so). The show is packed with humor and pathos.
For many years Dublin-based actor O’Shea did a lunch-time version of the show, “The Irish Writers Entertain,” at the Dublin Writers Museum, which led to many invites to perform in the USA. Quite a few years back he did a short residency at the University of Lincoln, Nebraska. He also did a 15 city tour with the Irish American Cultural Institute, which included a show in Omaha. In 2020 he was invited to do the show in-house at Netflix in Los Angeles.
In 2022, O’Shea performed “An Evening …” at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland as well. He performed another show called “The Tragic-Comedy of Things,” based on a short story he wrote. And in 2023, he returned to Edinburgh to perform a show about James Joyce and his brother called “Stanislaus and James.”
O’Shea has appeared in theatres in Ireland, including the National Theatre — the Abbey Theatre. He has toured many times with the Irish Actors Theatre Company in Europe and the USA and has, on his own, toured and done University Residencies in the US and elsewhere. He has performed his “An Evening with Great Irish Writers” throughout Ireland, in Germany, Sweden, London and at the Edinburgh Fringe Theatre as well as in the USA.
From his career in radio broadcasting presenting programs on RTE 1, the Irish National station, O’Shea went on to work as an announcer, researcher, writer and performer of late night humorous sketches on RTE Television.
Now he’s coming to Manhattan and has responded to questions from Irishexaminerusa.com…
Q: How did the United Solo Festival find you?
Neil O’Shea: I had heard of United Solo a few years ago. This year, having done two years at the Edinburgh Fringe with a number of one-person shows, I decided to apply and was accepted. I had never done this show on Great Irish Writers in New York City before, although I had done it elsewhere in the US on tour and a number of times in Los Angeles, including in-house at Netflix.
Q: How did you decide who to feature?
Neil O’Shea: I decided to use pieces by the older well- known Irish writers and wanted a good mix of humor and pathos. The writers are not the current ones, but they are some of the best script writers an actor could look for. The material is first class, and many of the writers are internationally famous.
Q: Is it intimidating to be the only one on stage?
Neil O’Shea: I am quite used to performing solo. Once I’m confident with the material –– know the text well –– I don’t have any issues with being alone on stage. I just let the characters and stories take over.
Q: What are the special qualities of Dublin that make for writers?
Neil O’Shea: Well, not just Dublin but the whole of Ireland. For one thing, there’s a tradition of storytelling in Ireland. Also in the Irish use of English in a special way. It’s hard to explain -– multiple things are in the air in Ireland.
Q: Do different audiences from different places respond differently to this show?
Neil O’Shea: Actually, not really. Although every audience can laugh at different things or respond in different ways. Some audiences applaud after every excerpt. I sometimes don’t expect an American audience to get the Irish humor. But to my surprise they totally get it.
Q: What did you learn from doing radio?
Neil O’Shea: Many things. Voice is important, and communicating with each listener using subtlety and range. And being concise.
Q: When did you realize that you were a performer?
Neil O’Shea: I think I realized when I was a child, influenced by weekly visits to the local cinema. Then in my secondary school years being chosen to perform extracts. And in my final years, getting main parts in full plays from Shakespeare to comedy. Although I had already shown a desire to be an actor before doing those plays.
Q: What were your first theatrical experiences?
Neil O’Shea: My parents used to take us to Summer reviews and Christmas pantomimes (with Maureen Potter, Jimmy O’Dea, Milo O’Shea) at Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre.
Q: How has your show changed and evolved?
Neil O’Shea: Much of the material was originally performed with other actors in a touring company. I adapted these pieces, sometimes involving two or three different characters, so I could perform the whole piece doing all the characters myself.
I also wanted the show to have a lot of humor in it, so I made sure to choose extracts which are genuinely funny and clever. Also most, but not all, of the writers are very well known –– like Oscar Wilde, G.B. Shaw, W.B. Yeats, and James Joyce. Others are less well known but are well worth bringing to the attention of a discerning audience.
Over time, I have dropped some pieces and introduced some different ones. But actually, there have been relatively few changes as the show has proven to work very well as it is.
Q: Who do you want to feature in the future?
Neil O’Shea: I think this show stands on its own. Perhaps I would put together another show featuring more recent writers like Brian Friel, Tom Murphy, John B Keane, Marina Carr, Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland, Roddy Doyle and Samuel Beckett to name but a few. Of course, they would require a lot of copyright clearances!
These are just a few of the many fine Irish writers who have made their mark since the days of Wilde and Shaw. I do have some other one-person shows including one on the theme of Love, and a show about James Joyce and his brother Stanislaus, written by John O’Byrne. Also an adaptation of a short story of my own called “The Tragedy-Comedy of Things.”
Q: Do you have plans for shows with other actors?
Neil O’Shea: Yes. I would be very keen to get some productions of a variety of plays ranging from Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe to Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller and Eugene O’Neill. The problem is financing such projects. I need to win the lottery! Some of these works have large casts. Also, if I want to do them in Dublin, there is a shortage of venues.
For more info or tickets, go to: www.unitedsolo.org and its streaming platform: www.unitedsolo.org/screen