RTÉ and Northern Ireland Screen today launched six brand new 20 minute dramas from Storyland on RTÉ Player. The six dramas are now available to view as RTÉ Player originals on the RTÉ Player.
Currently in its eight season, Storyland 2018 brings original stories to a national and a global audience, showcasing a great breadth of Ireland’s creative talent across writing, acting, producing and directing.
Storyland serves as an important springboard for emerging talent across the island of Ireland. This year our acting talent included Clare Monnelly (Moone Boy, Nowhere Fast), Gavin Drea (Love/Hate), Sophie Robinson (Rebellion) and Bronagh Waugh (The Fall). New directors included BAFTA winner Dez McCarthy, twice MTV VMA nominated director Brendan Canty, Michael Lavelle, cinematographer from Cardboard Gangsters, Can’t Cope Won’t Cope, and Janna Kamperman, who is currently on a Fair City director’s training course.
Previous Storyland commissions have gone on to be commissioned for RTÉ comedy and drama series, developed in a feature film and have won numerous international awards as well as generating additional opportunities, both within and outside RTÉ for the writers, directors, producers and actors. Cry Rosa, from Afro Mic Productions, was this year nominated for an RTS award in the best drama category alongside Dave Allen At Peace and Come Home.
The six production companies awarded the commissions are Parallel Films, The Indie Movie Company, Revolution Films, Ignition Films, Malaprop Theatre Company, Ka-Boom TV.
This year Storyland is bringing four original Irish dramas to audiences in Ireland and around the world. As well as introducing great new stories from new voices to the audience, Storyland is a significant part of RTE’s commitment to developing creative talent on the island of Ireland.
David Crean, Executive Producer – RTÉ Television
We are delighted to be working in partnership with RTÉ once again to develop local storytelling skills through Storyland. This is a fantastic initiative, which allows us to create opportunities for, and invest in, a new generation of creative talent.
Richard Williams, Chief Executive – Northern Ireland Screen
The dramas commissioned for this series of Storyland are:
A rap opera about two people who are romantically involved as they flesh out their differences in a series of face offs. Written by Gavin Ryan (Fair City), produced by Tim Palmer (Bachelor’s Walk) for Ignition Films. Directed and photographed by Michael Lavelle (Cardboard Gangsters, Can’t Cope Won’t Cope, The Truth Commissioner)
Starring Elayne Harrington (MissElaynous) and Paul Alwright (Lethal Dialect)
Sexually abused as a child, a homeless woman in the throes of addiction confronts her geriatric abuser, only to find he now suffers from dementia.
Written by Mary Fox and Marty Thornton, produced by Claire Gormley for Parallel Films, directed by Brendan Canty.
Starring Gavin Drea (Love/Hate, Resistance, What Richard Did) Clare Monnelly (Moone Boy, Nowhere Fast), Shane Connaughton (Maybury, Ghostwood)
How do we know that our memory of the past is real or truthful? Three actors rehearsing or the part of Rasputin in a music video use his life as a backdrop for how we engage with political figures from. Adapted from the stage play of the same name and produced by the Malaprop Theatre Company this is an innovative, unconventional drama with a point to make about history.
Written by Dylan Coburn Gray and Malaprop. Produced by Dara O Cairbre and Claire O Reilly for Malaprop Theatre. Directed by Janna Kemperman.
Starring Maeve O Mahony, Breffni Holohan, Amy Conroy, Barry John O Connor
An emotionally broken woman fears her husband’s blossoming relationship with a student will cause talk and bring trouble. She must find the courage to stand up for herself, and him.
Written by Janine Cobain, produced by Chris Martin for Indie Movie Company, directed by Rebekah Davies.
Starring Bronagh Waugh (The Fall, Unforgotten) Alan Gildea (Game Of Thrones, Good Vibrations)
The Good Christian Women’s Writing Group
The Good Christian Women’s Writing Group follows three working-class Belfast women who ‘accidentally’ join a Christian writing group and find their lives changed in unexpected ways. Far from pious or cosy, this drama is bawdy and laugh-out-loud funny as it explores the complexities of rage and violence, and their opposites, kindness and compassion.
The Good Christian Women’s Writing Group was written by Tara West, produced by Andrew Wilson for Ka-Boom TV and directed by Emmy-nominated and BAFTA-winning Dez McCarthy.
Starring Sophie Robinson, Julie Laamberton, Kerri Quinn, Antoinette Morelli
Smother is the story of a young man from a small Tipperary town who feels trapped by his home situation. Desperate to escape his small town life, he makes a terrible decision with far reaching consequences.
Smother is written by Matt Roche, directed by Steve Kenny, and produced by Hazel Cullen for Revolution Films.
Starring Conor Dunne, Elaine Fox, David Fleming