- Barry McGovern
Barry McGovern is an Irish stage,
film andtelevision actor, born in 1948. He was educated atCastleknock College ,Dublin .Background
McGovern is a former member of the RTÉ Players and the Abbey Theatre Company. A prolific actor, he has worked in theatre, film, radio and television, as well as written music for many shows, and co-written two musicals and directed plays and operas. Films include "Riders to The Sea", "Joe Versus the Volcano", "Billy Bathgate", "Far and Away", "Braveheart", "The Disappearance of Finbar", "The Informant", "Miracle at Midnight and Sparrow's Trap"; he most recently worked with director
Atom Egoyan onFelicia's Journey .He is known internationally for his award-winning one-man Beckett show "I'll Go On", which the
Gate Theatre presented at the 1985Dublin Theatre Festival .Most recently, he gave a lecture on James Joyce on the 18th February, 2008 in
Dublin . [ [http://www.visitdublin.com/Events/AllDublinEvents/Detail.aspx?id=299&mid=4138 Dublin Tourism - Readings & Lectures - Talk by Barry McGovern - An Approach to Reading 'Sirens' ] ]elected Theatreography
* One-man show of the works of
Samuel Beckett "I'll Go On" at The Gate Theatre,Dublin (November 2006);Sydney Festival (January 2007)
* Cathbad the Druid in "A Cry from Heaven ' at theAbbey Theatre , Dublin (2005)
* Jack in "Dancing at Lughnasa " at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin (1990)
*The Shadow of a Gunman
*Noises Off
*The Pirates of Penzance
*Twelfth Night
*Endgame Complete Filmography
Film
*
Waiting for Godot (2001)
*Felicia's Journey (1999)
*The General (1998)
*The Informant (1997)
*Driftwood (1997)
*The Disappearance of Finbar (1996)
*Braveheart (1995)
*Far and Away (1992)
*Billy Bathgate (1991)
*Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)
*Riders to the Sea (1987)Television
*The Tudors (2007)
*Miracle at Midnight (1998)
*Ballykissangel (1998)
*The Governor (1995)
*The Treaty (1991)
*Dear Sarah (1989)
*Foreign Bodies (1987)
*Caught in a Free State (1984)
*Play for Today (1979)Quotes
*Waiting for Godot is probably the most accessible of Beckett's plays,' says Barry. 'It's like Mozart – too easy for children, too difficult for adults. I remember my stepson saying: "I know what Godot is about. It's about these two men waiting for somebody who never arrives." That's it! There are ramifications in all sorts of directions, overtones and undertones, but that is basically what it's about. [ [http://www.beckettonfilm.com/plays/waitingforgodot/synopsis.html Beckett on Film | Waiting for Godot ] ]
*Some people think of Beckett as a very negative writer. I think he's a positive writer. The last three words of [his novel] The Unnameable are: "I'll go on" – "You must go on; I can't go on; I'll go on." [ [http://www.beckettonfilm.com/plays/waitingforgodot/synopsis.html Beckett on Film | Waiting for Godot ] ]
Barry McGovern Reviews
*(on his one man show "I'll Go On") [ [http://www.gate-theatre.ie/tour.html Gate Theatre Dublin : The Gate ] ]
**"McGovern illuminates the accessibility of the novels, their Irishness and their brilliant, bitter humour...brilliant" -
The New York Times
**"Barry McGovern's dazzling one-man performance…makes for wicked, compulsive fun" -The Irish Times
**"An outright triumph…arrestingly funny" -Time Magazine
**"90 minutes of laughter, bitterness, compassion and verbal music to leave you rapt" -New York Magazine
**"Superb one-man show…. Without doubt one of the best interpreters of Samuel Beckett’s work, McGovern’s performance is masterful" -Sunday Business External links
*imdb name|id=0569547
* [http://www.beckettonfilm.com/plays/waitingforgodot/synopsis.html Waiting for Godot]
* [http://www.gate-theatre.ie/tour.html I'll Go On]
* [http://www.visitdublin.com/Events/AllDublinEvents/Detail.aspx?id=299&mid=4138 Talk given by Barry McGovern on 18th February 2008]References
Further reading
*Young, Jordan R. (1989). "Acting Solo: The Art of One-Person Shows". Beverly Hills: Past Times Publishing Co.
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