Award- winning playwright David Ireland spoke to David Hennessy ahead of his one act play Most Favoured opening at Soho Theatre this week.
Most Favoured by David Ireland is playing at Soho Theatre.
David Ireland is known for his award-winning plays such as Cyprus Avenue and Ulster American.
His plays often look at themes such as identity.
It has already been a big year for David Ireland plays in London with Martin Freeman and Jack Lowden were lauded for bringing The Fifth Step to Soho Place.
Back in 2023 David Ireland’s Ulster American had its London premiere at Riverside Studios with the genuine Hollywood A lister Woody Harrelson, recognisable from his decades long career that started as a barman in Cheers and includes titles such as White Men Can’t Jump, Indecent Proposal, Natural Born Killers, The Thin Red Line and more recently The Hunger Games films and TV’s True Detective. He was also nominated for an Oscar for his work in Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outrside Ebbing, Missouri. This was his second time in McDonagh’s work after first featuring in Seven Psychopaths.
More recently David Ireland has written Coldwater, a tense psychological thriller starring Andrew Lincoln and Ewen Bremner, which aired on ITV.
The last time The Irish World spoke to David Ireland it was about the London premiere of his play Yes So I Said Yes featuring Darragh O’Malley at Finborough Theatre in 2021.
However since then we also spoke to the director Max Elton and members of the cast for Ireland’s short play Not Now which had its London premiere at the same venue in 2022.
Max Elton, associate director of Soho Theatre, again directs the cast for Most Favoured.
Most Favoured is a one act play that centre around Mary, a Glaswegian woman and Mike, an American tourist, who share a one night stand in a hotel room during the Edinburgh Festival.
The play delves into their contrasting experiences and expectations following their encounter with Mary expressing her elation over the night while Mike is preoccupied with a bucket of KFC.
The play tackles themes of modern relationships and the absurdities of human connection, often using humour to explore serious topics.
Lauren Lyle, who is recognisable for playing the title character in Karen Pirie, the ITV series based on the books of Val McDermid, plays Mary.
Lauren has won two BAFTA Scotland awards and has also been seen in Outlander, The Outrun and Toxic Town.
Alexander Arnold, who first came to prominence on Channel 4’s teen drama Skins, plays Mike.
The Irish World spoke to Belfast playwright David Ireland ahead of the play, which has been acclaimed at Edinburgh, coming to London.
What inspired Most Favoured?
“I wrote it a long time ago. Around 2011. So I’m not sure I remember!
“I think I was reading a lot of Neil Simon at the time.
“I love Neil Simon, he’s one of my favourite playwrights. So I was trying to imitate him, at this point, I think.”
How would you describe the play to someone who didn’t know anything about it?
“A very gentle, unconventional romantic comedy, with no profanity, and no violence – and a touch of the rhapsodic.”
Are loneliness or perhaps people’s need for connection big themes in the play?
“Yes, I’d say that’s true. I think that’s probably a thing that runs through all my plays.”
I saw Max Elton’s production of Not Now at the Finborough in 2022. He’s also directed Yes So I Said Yes and more of your plays so is he a director that you like to see taking charge of your work? Do you feel he really gets it or what do you like about Max’s direction?
“Yes, very much so. He’s one of my favourite directors. He understands my plays better than anyone, I think. And we have very similar tastes.”
Are you the kind of writer who gets involved in the rehearsal process or do you like to leave director/ actors to it?
“No, I try to stay away from rehearsals. As an actor, I always hated the writer being in the room, so I prefer to leave everyone to it.
“I’m not sure my presence there helps.
“I love watching actors and I love the company of actors.
“I still think of myself as an actor more than a writer – even though I don’t really act anymore.
“But really, I always think I shouldn’t be in the rehearsal room.
“I should be alone in a coffee shop, typing and daydreaming.”
How did you enjoy the major production of The Fifth Step earlier this year? What was it like to see Martin Freeman and Jack Lowden do it? And were you involved in that rehearsal process?
“Martin and Jack brought so much to the play, and did an astounding job.
“They were perfect together.
“It was a very enjoyable room to be in.
“Martin’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, and watching him and Jack trying not to laugh was a delight.”
And it is not that long ago that Ulster American was at Riverside Studios. What was it like to have another A list star like Woody Harrelson doing your work alongside of course Louisa Harland and Andy Serkis?
“Yeah, Woody was very down-to-earth and approachable, as was Andy.
“It was a very surreal experience.
“The two of them know everyone so it felt like every famous person in the world came to see the play – Jim Carrey, Paul McCartney, David Blaine.
“I stayed at home in Glasgow for the most part.
“I like my life to be quiet and simple.”
Also was that a nice reconnection with Louisa after Derry Girls?
“Yeah, Louisa did a fantastic job with the part.
“She was perfect.
“At one point, I thought she was imitating someone I knew but I couldn’t place who it was.
“After the opening night, I asked her who she’d based the character on and she said ‘David, I’ve based it on you’.”
Speaking of Derry Girls, your screen daughter Nicola Coughlan is about to star in Playboy at the National, do you think it’s a very exciting time for Irish theatre?
“I honestly couldn’t answer that question.
“I don’t keep up with what’s going on in Irish theatre.
“But Nicola is a great talent and I’d love to have her in one of my plays.”
There seems to be so much coming out of Northern Ireland in the past few years with Derry Girls and Kneecap really capturing the imagination and there has been several plays on in London from there too such as Little Brother which was recently at Soho Theatre, do you get a sense of the whole region finding its voice or finally having freedom to express themselves now the Troubles are gone? And in addition to that a real demand for stories from there?
“I don’t know.
“Certainly, ten years ago when I went to meet TV producers in London there was a hesitancy about producing anything about Northern Ireland – but Lisa McGee changed all that, God bless her.”
I understand you have been based in Glasgow for a long time but are you struck by how much things have changed every time you return home now? Is it hard to fathom even?
“I don’t really visit Belfast much, so I don’t know.
“I feel very disconnected from Northern Ireland, and feel more at home in Scotland now.”
Identity seems to be a big thing in your work and you put that down to the time period you grew up in Northern Ireland, isn’t that right?
“Well, people often say that my work is about identity but I’m not really sure what identity even means. People are often arguing in my plays about whether they’re British or Irish or Northern Irish, so I guess it comes from that.
“I think that was just the experience of having never thought of myself as Irish, then moving to Britain when I was 19, and everyone calling me Irish.”
Another big theme in your work is neighbours. We have no control over who we live next door to and yet they can ruin your life. We see that in Yes So I Said Yes and Coldwater. That’s also something that interests you, isn’t it?
“Well I think in Yes So I Said Yes, the relationship between Snuffy and his neighbour was a metaphor for the Troubles.
“Whereas in Coldwater, it was about a fear of community.”
By the way how did you enjoy Coldwater, what was it like to write a piece for television like that and something that is not set in Northern Ireland? Is it something you could do more of?
“I’d like to write more TV but I don’t think I’m naturally very good at it. It took me ten years to learn how to write a play, so I think I might write a good TV series by the time I’m 59.”
Back to Most Favoured, is there a feeling you would like the audience to come away after seeing it?
“Not really, I think the audience’s feelings are none of my business.
“I just hope they don’t feel they’ve wasted their time.”
What’s next? Is there anything else we should look out for?
“The NT Live version of The Fifth Step is in cinemas nationwide and Coldwater is available to watch on ITVX.”
Most Favoured by David Ireland is at Soho Theatre until Saturday 24 January.
For more information and to book, click here.