Ealing Man Selected For Prestigious Drama Festival

Peter Gould's play Hard Feelings to be performed in an international final

Ealing talent will be represented in an international group at a prestigious arts event in Ireland.

'Hard Feelings' written by Peter Gould, has been selected to be performed on the ‘fringe’ at the 48th Claremorris Drama Festival, in County Mayo, in March.

The organisers say the competition has attracted a huge number of entries and the ten plays chosen for performance include new work from writers in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Ireland.

“Hard Feelings is a story of love, betrayal and revenge,” says Mr Gould, a former BBC journalist who has lived in Ealing for nearly thirty years. He is a director at The Questors Theatre, where he helps to develop new writing for the stage.

He has been writing plays himself for several years, and a number have had public performances or readings. In November, he wrote and directed a spoof detective story, Murder at the Grange, as part of the Coarse Acting Festival at Questors.

Last year, a production of Noel Coward’s play Red Peppers which he originally directed for Questors, was performed at an international festival in Monaco, with Prince Albert in the audience. The experience encouraged him to enter the Claremorris festival.

Mr Gould says: “It’s very exciting to have my play accepted by such a well-established event. As a writer, it’s always fascinating to see how a story you put onto the page comes to life on the stage in front of an audience. That’s the real test for a playwright. I can’t wait to see what the Irish actors and director do with it.”

The Claremorris Drama and Fringe Festival takes place 15th -24th March

7th February 2018