Three women meet at a creative writing class in Belfast. As the weeks go by Brenda, Maureen and Joanna get to know each other through their stories. But it's the things they’re all leaving out that really tell the tale... Writer and performer Nuala McKeever introduces her new radio play, Truth, Love or Promise, which will be broadcast on Drama on One on RTÉ Radio 1 this Sunday, 16th February - listen above.
I’m a writer, performer, broadcaster and stand-up comedian from Belfast. Apparently, I was the first woman in Ireland to have her own TV show! It was called McKeever and it ran for three series on UTV. When it finished, I couldn’t get arrested, so I started writing plays to earn a living.
Twenty-five years, six plays and five stand-up tours later, I’m doing okay!
The birth of this play was so serendipitous. For years I’d had an image of doing a play set in a class – using the chairs to represent different characters. Then I was asked to write something for International Women’s Day, for Dunboyne College in Co Meath. I’ve had a great relationship with one of the lecturers there, Johanna Dawe, for years and we’ve done quite a few projects together.
So I had a commission! And a vague idea! I then had a dream about Dan Gordon (award-winning actor and director). I rang and asked if he’d direct this play that wasn’t written yet. He said yes, immediately!
It all felt as if it was meant to be.
The play is full of humour and pathos. It's about grief and loss and the wonderful joy of finding your voice, telling your story.
One afternoon in the house, wrapped up in blankets because the cost of heating oil had skyrocketed, I saw a scene play out in my mind. A wee girl, during the Troubles, witnessing something shocking.
I teased out who this person was, now, as an adult. She is Maureen, from West Belfast and she wants to write about "m’Daddy".
Then came Brenda, the character who narrates the play about her experience of joining a class to keep her sister company. The sister that never turns up.
Throw into the mix Joanna, a seemingly sweet, dippy English woman who's just moved to Belfast and the stage is set.
The characters started talking to each other in my head as I lay in bed at night. Propped up on one elbow, I’d speak their dialogue into my phone and the next day type it out. It was an amazing process. Not like work at all!
I’m delighted that audiences have been surprised by how the characters’ stories develop. At first they might appear to be "types" – the feisty one, the sensible one, the silly one. But they’re not that simple. People are never only one thing and they often confound our expectations.
The play is full of humour and pathos. It’s about grief and loss and the wonderful joy of finding your voice, telling your story. As ordinary people we often feel powerless, victims of our circumstances. Truth, Love or Promise is about discovering the power of choice when things don’t go the way we expect in our lives. Oh, and it’s very funny too!
Drama on One: Truth, Love or Promise will be broadcast on RTE Radio 1 at 8.02 pm on Sunday 16th February 2025 - listen to more from Drama On One here. Nuala’s new play In The Window is at The Lyric Theatre, Belfast from 19th - 30th of March 2025 - find out more here.
