In 2012, Christian O'Reilly’s award-winning play Sanctuary captivated audiences with its depiction of a sexual relationship between Larry and Sophie - two people with intellectual disabilities (ID), played by actors with ID. Below, Christian introduces its sequel, Finding Sophie, a coming to Galway's Town Hall Theatre this September.
During the recent photo-shoot for my new play Finding Sophie, a Decadent Theatre Company co-production with the Town Hall Theatre in Galway, I allowed myself a moment to take it all in. We had gathered at the steps of the theatre and had now moved down to the banks of the River Corrib, where falling leaves hinted at the coming of Autumn while the busy river roared past in the sunshine. As the photographer took snaps of actors Kieran Coppinger, Charlene Kelly, Denis Conway and Anna Healy, director Andrew Flynn and producer Dani Gill chatted nearby. Actors Jarlath Tivnan, who had been running lines with Kieran and Charlene since January, and Tara Finn were also on hand. For me, one of the joys of being a playwright is seeing a script transform into such a collection of brilliant people. The production of a new play always feels miraculous, but perhaps particularly so in the case of Finding Sophie.
Watch: Playwright Christian O'Reilly on Finding Sophie
When Fergal McGrath and I discussed a commission for the Town Hall Theatre in 2020, we agreed that the play would be set in the world of people with intellectual disabilities (ID). I had a particular idea in mind, but when I sat down to start work on it, I found myself instead wondering what might have become of Larry and Sophie, whose story I had written in the play Sanctuary, commissioned and produced by Blue Teapot Theatre Company in 2012, when sex before marriage was illegal for people with ID.
I had never written a sequel to a play before and wasn't aware of any other playwright doing so either. It happens with movies all the time, but not plays. But what do you do if you’ve written a play with an ending that feels right, but breaks your own heart?
In Sanctuary, Larry and Sophie abscond from a group outing to the cinema to a hotel room across the road where they can be alone together for the first time in their lives. There, they drink champagne, navigate sex and have the time of their lives. But then everything goes wrong and they are torn apart. A feature film adaptation followed in 2016 and even more emphatically ended with the sense that Larry and Sophie would never see each other again.
I love these characters and I love actors Kieran Coppinger and Charlene Kelly, who played Larry and Sophie in Sanctuary. But I had never written a sequel to a play before and wasn’t aware of any other playwright doing so either. It happens with movies all the time, but not plays. But what do you do if you’ve written a play with an ending that feels right, but breaks your own heart? On the other hand, would anyone but me be interested in a return to Larry and Sophie’s story? And was it pointless to embark on a play that might never be produced?
But, since a change to the law in 2017, it is no longer illegal for people with ID to have sexual relationships. A sequel would give me the opportunity to explore how this might filter down to Larry and Sophie. Might their relationship be allowed to breathe or would it be thwarted once again?
Thanks to the encouragement of my wife Ailbhe, the support of Petal Pilley and Blue Teapot and the dramaturgical guidance of Andrew Flynn, I wrote the script for Finding Sophie. When Andrew decided to stage it for Decadent at the Town Hall, there was just one more hurdle – would Kieran and Charlene want to play their characters again? We all agreed that it was impossible to imagine the show without them. Thankfully, they said yes and when the extraordinary Denis Conway and the fabulous Anna Healy joined our cast, we knew we were in business.
And, in case you’re wondering, Finding Sophie is a play that’s as much for people who haven’t seen Sanctuary as those who have. A testament to love, courage and the enduring power of the heart, don’t miss this poignant next chapter.
Finding Sophie is at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway from 5th – 13th September - find out more here
