Tiny Thoughts For A Big Week

So there’s this theatre company in Dublin called Fishamble that a lot of people like because they’re quite cool (this sounds familiar to my ears) they like to nurture new writing that's their thing and last autumn with The Irish Times they launched a competition called Tiny Plays For Ireland asking people from all over Ireland of any age to submit Tiny Plays (literally tiny, with a 600 word limit) with the best being performed in March so then I was all ‘Maybe I should try that’ and so I did back in November and I got some help from some very nice people and then I twiddled my thumbs until the Tiny Plays winners were announced and I said to myself ‘Well I’ve got two Tiny Plays now to do what I like with that’s cool’ and then I started doing other stuff

until Monday as I was in the school canteen during lunch feeling bored because I had eaten all my food and they were talking about Ben Lyng and I don't know who he is so I looked up my emails on my phone which you have to understand I never ever usually do in the canteen but then I got an email from Gavin Kostick the Literary Director (oooh) for Fishamble saying that they liked one of the Tiny Plays I had written called ‘The Moneylender’ and they also liked the Tiny Plays of other young things like me so they decided to stage a rehearsed reading of the work of younger writers and that included me.

So I stared at it for a few seconds and most of my brain had gone silent like it does when I get a big surprise but some part of my brain must have been working as I sprang up from my chair and shrieked unintelligibly for a few seconds in a very high pitched voice then ran as fast as I could considering the chairs I had to squeeze past out of the canteen and near the door I nearly crashed into one of the smallest First Years but I apologised profusely so there's no need to look at me like that

And I ran out onto the grass and the fresh air woke up the rest of my brain and I wandered around for a bit and when I resurfaced to my companions I apologised for my lollygagging but I kept it a delicious secret in my tummy for the rest of the day you know that feeling don't you

Because I hadn't told my parents yet and I hadn't told my friends who had helped me with the Tiny Play yet and I hadn't told my English teacher yet and I couldn't go around the school with my phone so I waited

My mother printed out about five copies of the email I got from Mister Gavin Kostick and people have been congratulating me and when they do that it's easy to think they're talking to the wrong person because surely this is not me what did I do?

And that was Monday and now it's Thursday night

It's only beginning to sink in now

Even if it's only six hundred words and will only last a few minutes if that and it's being read out as I have been trying to tell people

because I am extremely very nervous which I think I'm allowed to be but maybe I shouldn't be

but what if someone asks me questions about my Tiny Play that I should know the answers to because I wrote it and everything but I don't know what to say maybe I should read it a few more times and think of some answers

But a Very Important Theatre Company In Dublin like me now and I am young and things are starting have started for me so soon and I have so much time and I'm in just the right place at the right time and I am extraordinarly lucky

And you'll never guess what but Fishamble like my writing and want to stage it and show it to other people who don't know me at all strangers even

That's basically it and it may seem small but it makes all the difference in the world

Actually I haven't booked my ticket for the reading yet

Should probably do that

Yeah

Also thank you to the nice people at Fishamble for including me and thank you to the nice people at Devious       because they helped me with the Tiny Plays and they say I'm on their young writing drive now and it's nice to feel a part of something (well I already did, but it's been said now) and thank you to the nice person who is John Kennedy just because and thank you to my mammy and daddy because they're nice too (not that they're going to read that or anything)

Anyway it's 23:12 and I'm tired. And I wanted you to hear it from me first

And I'll probably have more info soon

Project Arts Centre. Dublin. 24th March. 17:30. It's free.

So I typed this out in some sort of haze, then went to bed and forgot about it until now. The reading is on this Saturday if you're interested. This is what the nice people at Devious Theatre had to say about it, and this is more about the Tiny Plays production by Fishamble, which you should definitely go to see if you can.


And I did get around to booking my ticket.


Eleanor Roscuro