Fintan O'Toole wrote recently in these pages that, with the death of John B. Keane, pagan Ireland had lost its author-in-chief. That may well be true, but pagan Ireland is not wholly without a champion, as people who have seen Tony Guerin's new play, Hummin', will confirm. The work ends its run at Andrew's Lane Theatre, Dublin tomorrow, before moving on to Wexford, Kilkenny, Athlone, Mullingar, Listowel and Sligo.
Like John B., Tony Guerin is a Listowel man, and the two were lifelong friends. Guerin, who played junior football for Kerry, contracted TB in the late 1950s. It is difficult to imagine now, but TB was the AIDS disease of its time: carriers were to be avoided at all costs. John B. and his wife Mary made Guerin welcome under their roof when some in Listowel would not.
Many years later, Guerin would do a good turn for his old friend by bring him to and from his chemotherapy sessions at Cork Regional Hospital.
Guerin went on to be a member of the Garda. He retired seven years ago and since then he has written three novels and three plays. The novels remain unpublished, though they are extraordinarily good.
Vogues in publishing
Guerin's accounts of literary agents are almost as funny as the books. One agent told him there was a cycle in publishing - sometimes a vogue for spy fiction, sometimes for romance, and so on. The agent could not quite figure out into which category the Guerin novels fitted. "My books are full of shteamy sex," the author said gravely, believing this to be an imperishable quality in succssful publishing.
All three plays have now been produced. The first two, Cuckoo Blue and Solo Run, were put on by the Lartigue Players of Listowel. Both productions were outstanding, a tribute to director Danny Hannon and an extraordinary group of amateur actors.
Hummin' is being performed by the Waterford-based professional company Red Kettle, with Geraldine Plunkett and her real-life husband Peadar Lamb in the lead roles. Red Kettle describes the play as a psychological thriller and severe comedy somewhere between John B. Keane and Quentin Tarantino - a raw cocktail, to be sure.
Set in a remote part of North Kerry - where else? - Hummin' tells the story of farmer Mike Dee and his partner, Jennie, who has retired from a career as a prositute in Dublin.The relationship between the two may be described as fraught.
Enter Mike's nephew Andy, who wants his uncle to sign over his land to him. Jennie believes, probably rightly, they will be made homeless. Enter Howdy in a cowboy suit on a bicycle with horns mounted on the handlebars. Howdy has ambitions to carry Jennie off on his trusty steed.
Needless to say, it all ends badly, though the violence at the end was, I thought, poorly choegraphed by director Ben Hennessy. However, he draws an astonshing performance from Geraldine Plunkett. For those who knew her mainly as Mary Moran in Glenroe, the transformation into an axe-wielding object of intense sexual appeal is mesmerising. She is onstage for practically the whole performance, an impressive feat of memory and physical endurance.
The first night of Hummin' was not without drama of the real kind. The day the production was due to open in Garter Lane in Waterford, Peadar Lamb had a mild heart attack and had to be hospitalised. The opening had to be postponed until a replacement actor was found.
Next stop Hollywood?
Guerin's next stop may be Hollywood. The actor Patrick Bergin was so taken with Cuckoo Blue that he bought an option on it with a view to turning it into a movie, with himself as producer. Such projects often come to nothing, but the author is pleased and flattered.
He was, of course, at John B.'s funeral. He was not surprised by the writer's dying - but very emphatic - wish that Listowel Writers' Week would go ahead. And so it did, on either side of the funeral. Guerin inherits the Keane mantle more than any other practising playright with all the richness of language - and pagan tendencies - of the north Kerry habitat.