Those suffering from withdrawal symptoms now that RTE radio has, surprise, surprise, dropped the wonderful re-enactments of the larger than life proceedings at the Flood and Moriarty tribunals, and indeed the Tonight with Vincent Browne programme itself, can get a fix again shortly. Joe Taylor and Malcolm Douglas, the actors who made the shenanigans come alive four nights a week have joined forces with producer Noel Pearson to stage a revue called Will We Get a Receipt? Will We F. . .? which opens at Dublin's HQ next Friday for a fortnight.
Taylor told Quidnunc this week that his home is like the office of a sloppy solicitor as he sorts through the transcripts for sketches. He has written 10 songs which he says represent one way of being satirical, but he knows avoiding libel "is like walking on egg-shells". He is putting together quotes from cross-examinations and linking in anecdotes and stories. One sketch plays with the idea that the Alzheimers Society should be funded to examine the outbreak of collective amnesia among tribunal witnesses. Questioned by Douglas, Taylor goes through the characters who had no recollection. Isn't it remarkable, he says, that George Redmond, in his mid-70s, and James Gogarty, 83, were the only ones who could recall events with clarity.
Gogarty is Taylor's favourite character. The neutrals were hard to do and it took him a while to get Frank Dunlop.
Some of the participants, including the jobless actors, turned up at the closing down party in the Merrion Inn on Thursday of last week. Political guests attending included Liam Lawlor, whose arrival created a frisson of excitement, and fellow stars of the show Dick Roche, Jim Mitchell and Sean Ardagh. The good news is that RTE is understood to be making arrangements for a one-off show when/if Charlie Haughey appears before Moriarty.