We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

“The original stage show of The Commitments in 2013,” says the Irish writer, “was a brilliant experience from my point of view. “It stayed in the West End for over two years. Then it went on a successful tour.”

Now it is kicking off a new nine-month tour of the UK and Ireland, starting at the Churchill, Bromley, today, and coming to rest at the Theatre Royal in Brighton next July.

Nigel Pivaro – former lovable rogue Terry Duckworth in Coronation Street from 1983 to 2012 – will take the pivotal role of Da, Jimmy Rabbitte’s father.

Andrew Linnie, sax player Dean in the original West End production and then Jimmy Rabbitte himself on tour, will be directing.

For the original West End production Roddy lived in London for 12 weeks, attending rehearsals every day and doing daily rewrites.

“I attended every preview and then the meetings the next day as we discussed what was and wasn’t working.

“My role this time round has been less vital, but attending the read-through was terrific. It all came back to me.”

Has he felt emotional returning to this first work of fiction?

“It’s brought back a lot of memories. I was a geography and English teacher when I wrote the novel. I wanted an excuse to bring a bunch of young people together in book form and capture the rhythm of Dublin kids yapping and teasing and bullying.

“But I needed to find a setting outside school and that’s when the idea of a band came to me.

“A big band with a brass section and backing vocals as opposed to three or four young men which was the norm back then.”

Roddy has resisted the temptation to update the action.

“The vibrancy is still there but so is the tension caused by lack of communication. For instance, will Deco, the obnoxious lead singer, turn up on time?

“These days, you’d track him down on your mobile in no time at all. But there wasn’t that option in the late 80s.

“And I chose the 60s music, Motown and Memphis soul, because at the time it felt timeless – and 35 years later I was right.”

For a long time Roddy was a teacher who wrote on the side.

“I loved teaching and the holidays were great, a time when I got into the habit of writing. I wrote The Commitments in 1986.

“It was published the following year and I was working on the screenplay in 1988. But I was still teaching up until 1993.”

The Snapper and The Van followed in 1990 and 1991 respectively and, along with The Commitments, make up what is known as the Barrytown Trilogy.

Then, in 1993, Roddy hit the jackpot. His novel, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, about a rambunctious 10-year-old living in quickly changing north Dublin in 1968, won the prestigious Booker Prize. Roddy was 35.

“I was delighted, although I can’t remember what I said in my acceptance speech.

“But I do recall being taken away to be interviewed when all I wanted to do was get back to the table and share the moment with my wife and publisher.

“It felt as if I’d become public property and I didn’t like it.

“What I wanted more than anything was to get back to Ireland and live as near a normal life as possible. I deliberately continued to use public transport, for example. But now, 30 years later, I can take it all in my stride.”

Pick up any of the early books, in particular, and you could almost be reading a screenplay.

“That’s true. I think that the best way of establishing characters is to get them talking.

“That’s especially true of The Commitments – and it gave me a template which I used for some years. We talk a lot in Ireland.”

He has an attic office in his home where he writes. But since the lifting of lockdown he has acquired a room in the city centre where he’ll also write.

“It struck me as a good idea to get out of the house and walk around and experience Dublin opening up, coming alive again. It’s been really interesting.

“Also, my children are grown up and no longer living at home.

“So I’m not surrounded by the rhythm of their speech.”

His is a disciplined approach to work, usually writing from nine until six each day. “But I’ve become a bit more relaxed as I’ve got older. There’s nothing quite as nice as going to the cinema in daylight. And I never feel guilty.”

Whatever came afterwards,The Commitments will always hold a special place in Roddy’s heart for the simple reason it was his first published book.

At 64, Roddy remains prolific with 12 novels, three collections of stories, eight books for children, a book he co-wrote with Roy Keane and, of course, a stage musical under his belt so retirement seems unlikely.

He was once quoted as saying he hoped to die mid-sentence. He laughs. “Well, it might be nice to get to a full stop.”

• For tickets and venues: thecommitmentsontour.co.uk

Source: Read Full Article