Roddy Doyle opened up about paying tribute to his late friend, actor Johnny Murphy from The Commitments, saying his Facebook 'Two Pints' post gave him a chance to "just say goodbye".
Speaking to TEN, the Dublin-writer said: "When Johnny Murphy died the 'Two Pints' post on Facebook gave me an opportunity to just say goodbye and to pay tribute to him, but I wouldn't be wishing people dead so that I can get the opportunity to pay tribute to them.
"I'd much rather if he was alive, and if David Bowie was alive and Alan Rickman was alive, and going back all these people I've paid tribute to, I'd much rather they were still alive, rather than have the opportunity to write a few hundred words and put them up on Facebook."
What did #RoddyDoyle have to say about his @facebook tribute to the late Johnny Murphy from The Commitments?https://t.co/e5XGkhFbq3
— RTÉ TEN (@RTE_TEN) March 12, 2016
The writer added that since the 'Two Pints' posts have become so popular, he now gets requests. He said: "I got one recently, 'What do the two lads think about the Arts policy?' And the notion that the two lads sitting in the pub talking about government Arts policy is just beyond weird!
"Every time somebody dies, you get 'Are you going to write one?' but it becomes a strange way to look at life, looking at the death column to see if there's anybody dead I should write about. So I have to put on the blinkers and go with my own pace."
Doyle was enlisted to translate Mozart's Don Giovanni for this year's Dublin Theatre Festival, a mammoth task that tested his renowned skills with words to the limit. As he says himself, he knew he "couldn't mess" with the script and "start trying to make the Commitments 2".
The new production will be directed by Gavin Quinn, Artistic Director of Pan Pan Theatre company, and will star Welsh baritone David Kempster in the title role. It will receive its World Premiere at the Gaiety on September 29, before travelling to the Cork Opera House.
Tickets go on sale on Wednesday March 16 at 1pm.
