Although Deirdre Purcell is a best-selling author with over 20 novels and five non-fiction books to her name, the Play Next Door challenge is a big one for her: she’s the only one of the three writers taking part in the series to never have written a play before. However, acting and theatre have been part of her life – her first career was as an actor with the Abbey Theatre. Deirdre went on to become Ireland’s first female anchor of the main evening news on RTE before moving to journalism and working for the Sunday Tribune.
In Play Next Door the writer has to go to a location, live there and write a television play set in the place. The production sent Deirdre to the seaside town of Bray last summer when the sun was shining. Her location was one of the oldest hotels on the promenade. The Bray Head Hotel originally built in the mid- 19th century and in its heyday was one of the swankiest hotels in the town.
Deirdre Purcell arrived with an idea for a character. The writer moved into the hotel for a month and allowed the unique location and the seaside town to influence the creation of a world for the character to live in.
John Martin’s documentary of Deirdre’s time in Bray is an intimate portrayal of Deirdre Purcell and how she approaches the challenge of writing her first television play.
‘Shine On’ is the television play that follows immediately after the Documentary stars Stella McCusker and is directed by Charlie Mc Carthy. Play Next Door is produced by Gary Flood.