THE SAFETY CATCH
No risk, no reward
"Probes the core dilemma of motorcycle racing: glory can only be won at immense risk, so why do it?..
Dramatic tension derives from the conflict within Michael: will he… follow his brother, father and uncle on the road to glory and perhaps the grave?.. The adrenaline kick is vividly conveyed...A final sequence that mimics a road race is quite a theatrical achievement"
KATY HAYES Irish Independent
"There's a grey blur and a green blur, I try and stay on the grey one" Joey Dunlop
"The gods envy us because any moment may be our last" Achilles
The pandemic has seen all of us recalibrate how we think about the balance between risk and tragedy in our everyday lives. This play takes you inside a world where this trade-off is a way of life. In the realm on our stage, as in Antquity, mortal risk is the price of glory, and tragedy is the often extracted toll.
Our hero's family has paid a heavy price for its glory, and now he must make his own choice; should he lay aside his way of life to save himself and his family from further suffering? Or is his life not worth the living without the risk he chooses to take and the glory that it brings?
It is 'Achilles Dilemma' debated at a time when it has become obvious to us all that the safest option does not come without a cost.
Michael Dunlop is the scion of the most famous dynasty in Road Racing - the world's most dangerous sport. We find him shortly after his brother William has been killed in practice for a race in Ireland. Through a dialogue with his mentor, he examines the joy his obsession brings him, his fear of its consequences, and his dread of a time when it is no longer part of his life.
For the rest of us, do the chances these racers take offend a civilised society? Are they a throwback to a more barbaric age? Or are they symbolic of something that seems dormant but remains important somewhere in our psyche? Do we still sense that life is never so vivid as when risk, mortal risk, lingers around every corner?
Written by Nick Snow
Directed by Joe O'Byrne
Director Joe O'Byrne says: “This is a play about life and death, a lot of death for the Dunlop family, one of the greatest sporting families Ireland has ever produced. The story is a verbal battle between two characters as they try to understand why they do what they do, why they couldn‘t not do what they do and with so much at stake it is a passionate and fierce encounter, full of emotion, grief and passion. But it is more than that, it is an ode to adventure, to ambition and ultimately a true affirmation of life.”
"an extraordinary piece of theatre" alaninbelfast.com
Writer Nick Snow adds: “Unusually, I can carbon date exactly when this idea came along. I was chatting to a couple of actors about playing Shakespeare while we hung around on a film set in Ireland. Somehow, the conversation turned to the then very recent death of William Dunlop and we agreed that the Dunlop family saga was a story of truly Shakespearean proportions. As a massive bike racing fan, I couldn’t shake the idea that it was a story worthy of the stage – then the pandemic came along and the theme of Risk versus Reward was irresistible, as exemplified in extreme form through the sheer passion for life intertwined with the very real risk of death that is road racing.”
THE SAFETY CATCH IN MCN: MOTORCYCLENEWS
THE SAFETY CATCH IN THE BELFAST TELEGRAPH
THE SAFETY CATCH IN THE SUNDAY WORLD
THE SAFETY CATCH ON BBC RADIO ULSTER
Joe O’Byrne is an experienced Dublin-based director, whose most recent work is The Cordelia Dream for New York’s Irish Repertory Theatre in 2021. With his own Co-Motion Theatre Company he directed ‘Frank Pig says Hello’, Patrick McCabe’s own adaption of his Booker-shortlisted novel The Butcher Boy. With Upbeat Productions he co-wrote, with Roddy Doyle, and directed the stage version of Doyle's The Woman Who Walked Into Doors.
Nick Snow is a journalist, businessman, writer and biker. He co-wrote and co-produced the film Prisoners of the Moon, premiered at the Dublin International Film Festival 2019, and is the author of the novel The Rocket’s Trail, (Arena Books 2009).
The producer is Johnny Gogan who follows up his obsession with machines last demonstrated with Black Ice (2013), the Netflix streaming feature about boy and girl racers. Gogan's other features include the Netflix documentary Hubert Butler Witness to the Future (2016), The Last Bus Home (1997), Mapmaker (2001) and the more recent Prisoners of the Moon (2019), Groundswell (2021).
The play was first performed at the The Glens Arts Centre in Manorhamilton in May 2022. In November 2022 it played for two weeks at the New Theatre, Dublin. Anthony Fox, Artisitic Director said: 'In 25 years no play has ever brought so many first-timers to the theatre. When I first heard there was a play about road racing, I had to jump on my bike and go and see it. My only hope was that I would like it. I was overjoyed; I felt that Nick, the cast and the director had captured the essence of what it is to ride motorcycles and to compete at impossible speeds.' In 2023 the play sold out six performances at The Lyric, Belfast.
'Fantastic show! I didn't know what to expect - it portrays the sport really well.' Mark Conlin, Ulster Supersport Champion.
