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Showcase for works that push the boundaries of drama and narrative

Showcase for works that push the boundaries of drama and narrative, created by first-time radio writers and also writers distinguished in other forms

Patrick McCabe

Stephen Rea

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Julia Dearden

Silvio Ben

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The Wire: Country and Irish

01/03/2014

Country and Irish

BBC Radio 3 - The Wire, Country and Irish

Betrayed by those closest to him, Donie Burris sets out on an explosive act of revenge.

By Patrick McCabe. Drama set in Ireland in which a man exacts explosive revenge on those closest to him when his darkest secret is exposed. With Stephen Rea.

Welcome to the Irish Midlands - where sentiment and psychopathy do an old-time waltz, and no-one gets out of the ballroom alive.

Donie 'Jellybelly' Burris's life is in free-fall. When one of his deepest, darkest secrets is revealed and he is betrayed by those closest to him, Donie decides its time for revenge, and revenge the old-fashioned way! Calling in a favour from ordnance expert Rafter Coulson, Donie sets out on a dangerous plan of reprisal, but will everything go as he intends?

As he records his last will and testament, charting the catalogue of events that sent his life spiralling into chaos, it seems Donie's legacy will be nothing short of explosive.

Savagery and sentiment collide in an anarchic story of revenge set in the Irish Midlands from one of the most distinctive voices in Irish literature: Patrick McCabe. Often referred to as the 'king of bog gothic' owing to his characteristic blend of dark horror and humour set in small-town contemporary Ireland, his novels include 'The Butcher Boy', 'The Dead School', 'Breakfast on Pluto', 'Winterwood' and 'Stray Sod City'. Both 'The Butcher Boy' and 'Breakfast on Pluto' were shortlisted for the Booker Prize and both were subsequently made into successful films directed by Neil Jordan. For Radio 3 he has most recently written 'All the Colours of Love' (2008) for Drama on 3.

Starring Stephen Rea and with original music by Gavin Friday.
Produced in Belfast by Heather Larmour.

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