Salvation

SALVATION

A Full Length Play

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 by Alan Cliff.

Publication partially aided by Waterford City Arts Council and the Publishing Purchase Scheme:

http://www.waterfordarts.com

For Clare

INTRODUCTION

SALVATION: The Play

When Stagemad's James Power approached me in June 2012 to write a play about Kilmacthomas Workhouse I was overjoyed for two reasons. The first being that Stagemad is renowned for nurturing new writers and taking audiences on dramatic journeys. Secondly, the chance to explore the lives of the workhouse residents was a challenging and exciting opportunity which I was eager to research. What was created was Sanctuary a site-specific one-act play, a historical fantasy/horror with a twist. The performance took place during Halloween inside the former infirmary of Kilmacthomas Workhouse. The piece went on to win Best New Play and Best One Act Play from The Munster Express and The Waterford News And Star respectively.

Irish workhouses are an important part of history and a dramatisation of such opens a wide range of creative possibilities. Consequently, during the run of the one-act play the first blueprints of the full length piece were being formed.

I wanted to establish a realistic representation of the Irish workhouse world but I didn’t wish to weigh it down with too many facts and statistics. I believe drama, in its rawest form should deal with the situations, challenges and experiences of dramatic characters and follow their emotions, decisions and impulses under these circumstances. With SALVATION I have tried to steer the piece away from being purely documentary in its intent. Therefore, I have created fictitious characters and events within an historically accurate setting. The agendas and motives portrayed by these characters are, in the main, aggrandised and embellished for the sake of drama. My aim is to take you on a journey, to engage your imaginations, to take you into a different world. AC.

SALVATION: The Book

I enjoy reading plays more than any other literary medium. I would even go as far to say that, occasionally, I enjoy reading plays more than I enjoy watching them. I allow my imagination to fly when uncovering the realistic, surrealistic and down right obscure worlds that playwrights create.

At home, a pokey flat above Johnnie Walkers Chip Shop on Mayor’s Walk in Waterford, I have a bookcase that contains nothing but plays. Most of these are in volumes of five or six; I haven’t actually counted them all but my best estimate would be approximately three hundred. Three hundred different worlds.

I find most of the material in charity shops and take great joy in seeing original price stickers on back covers as I purchase them for, sometimes, two hundred percent less than the book shop price. I believe first-hand play manuscripts, for whatever reason, are very expensive. Have I read all of these second-hand scripts? No. But I will. Have I seen all of them? No. And I probably won’t. There are some plays on that bookcase by writers I no longer hear about regarding new work or having their work produced. Makes me think of fireworks: their plays lit the sky for a couple of nights and then burnt out. Saying this, their work is always there, right in front of me. I can insert myself into their dramatic worlds any time I please.

With the aid of Waterford City Arts Council’s Publishing Purchase Scheme I have been able to publish SALVATION in paperback form. The play will also be available as an E-Book in the summer of 2013. In accordance with my ethos that play scripts are too expensive in book shops, the play will be available at the price of €5 and the E-Book will be 49c.

As SALVATION stands on the third shelf between my Methuen and Penguin collections I wonder, in the future, will it be picked up in the local Oxfam and inspire someone to recreate what Stagemad created at the premiere of the show in Garter Lane Theatre? Or will it, ultimately, like a firework, blast off and burn never to catch light again? I hope the copies published will travel far and wide through the charity shops of the world. Read by the new owner, so they can experience my representation of a dramatic world, and then given away again. I will hope for more displays, of course, but even if it is just being read I truly believe my dramatic world remains alive. AC.

SALVATION is free for performance but Stagemad Theatre Company http://www.stagemad.ie must be notified before any production begins.

CONCLUSION

I would like to take this opportunity to mention a number of important people who have had a major influence on my writing. Liam Murphy in particular, whose time and patience I took advantage of, for teaching me how to edit more tightly and be bolder, braver and stronger in the face of competition. I thank Jim Nolan who took the time to read my work, chew the bulging fat of it and make me consider how my characters are engaged when not on stage. Finally, and most importantly, to my partner Clare, whose unyielding spirit and passion for the Arts is a blessing to me and my scripts. I thank you for your knowledge, your understanding and your love. AC.

SALVATION

Characters

Mary Morrissey,