Passion Play - Softcover

Creedon, Cónal

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0955764459 ISBN 13: 9780955764455

Publisher: Irishtown Press, 2017

Synopsis

Passion Play is a gospel for the 21st century, thematically styled and structured on the Passion of Jesus Christ.

‘They say yer life flashes in front of yer eyes before ye dies.’

It’s the early hours of Good Friday morning. Demented, depressed and disillusioned, Pluto stubs another cigarette in the dregs of his coffee mug and buries himself deep under the bed clothes. He is alone and lonely in rundown bedsit-land. The sounds of footsteps on the ceiling, late-night radio, the movement of people in the hallway outside his door and the cacophony of voices from a hellish past life echo around inside his head.

‘Sometimes the need to die is stronger than the will to live.’

Caught in the slipstream of the past, Pluto’s soul takes off in a kaleidoscopic odyssey of Marx Brothers’ proportion – where the insanity of life is reconciled with the taste of freshly-boiled pig’s head.

‘The novel’s interior is much indebted to Joyce. The way Creedon combines the child-centred perspective of Paddy Clarke Ha! Ha! Ha! with the tough teenage world of The Commitments and the domestic cruelty of The Woman who Walked into Doors is ambitious and effective. His exposition of his characters’ thought processes owes much to Flann O’Brien’s skewed sophistication and Patrick McCabe’s scabrous vision as to an earlier prototype of Seán O’Casey’s Joxer. Creedon has found a form all of his own.’
— The London Times Literary Review [TLS]

Book of the Year 1999
— BBC R4 Saturday Review, Cahal Dallat.

About this title

About the Author:

Cónal Creedon is a novelist, playwright and documentary film maker. His published works include: Pancho and Lefty Ride Out (1995), Passion Play (1999), Second City Trilogy (2007), The Immortal Deed Of Michael O’Leary (2015). His prose has been translated into German, Bulgarian, Italian, with English extracts published in China and Australia. Cónal’s stage plays include: The Trial Of Jesus (2000), Glory Be To The Father (2002), After Luke (2005), When I Was God (2005), The Cure (2005). His plays received critical acclaim in Shanghai, China, when they featured at World Expo Shanghai (2010) and The JUE International Arts Festival Shanghai (2011). The USA premieres were produced at The Irish Repertory Theatre, New York (2009) and the Green Room Theatre, New York (2013). The New York productions were well received by the New York theatre critics. Productions of his work have been awarded two Irish National Business To Arts Awards (2000), Best Director (2009) and Best Actor at 1st Irish Theatre Awards New York (2013) — with nominations for the Irish Times Theatre Awards (2000), and Best Playwright at 1st Irish Theatre Awards New York (2013). Creedon has written over 60 hours of original radio drama — broadcast on RTÉ, Lyric FM, BBC, BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service. His work has achieved recognition in the One Voice Monologue Awards (BBC), The Francis McManus Awards (RTÉ), The PJ O’Connor Awards (RTÉ) and has represented Ireland in the BBC World Service World Play Radio Drama Competition. Critical reviews of Cónal’s radio work include commendations in the Irish Times radio critics list of Best Radio of the Year for 1994 and 1997. Cónal has produced, written and directed a number of film documentaries: The Burning of Cork (2005), Why the Guns Remained Silent in Rebel Cork (2006), If it’s Spiced Beef (2007), The Boys of Fairhill (2009). His documentary, Flynnie: The Man Who Walked Like Shakespeare (2008) was shortlisted for Focal International Documentary Awards UK London. Creedon’s documentaries were broadcast by RTÉ TV – and were presented in numerous public screenings including at the Irish Pavilion in Shanghai China, during World Expo 2010.

About this edition

• Publisher: Irishtown Press
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0955764459
• ISBN 13: 9780955764455
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304