Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Bealtaine Festival in association with ILFD

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Sir Isaac Newton

Phillip McMahon and his mentor Gerry Stembridge discuss how they met via Dublin Youth Theatre in 1997, and the ‘je ne sais quoi’ which sparked Phillip to follow in Gerry's footsteps as a theatre artist.

Entrepreneurial playwright and founder co-director of of theatre mavericks, THISISPOPBABY, Phillip McMahon talks to Gerry Stembridge, playwright, screenwriter and novelist and co-creator of the much-loved Scrap Saturday radio programme with comedian Dermot Morgan. They explore Phillip's work as he continues to admire and be influenced by Gerry's writing.

Phillip McMahon’s work has shown at venues and festivals around the world. Writing highlights include Alice In Funderland for THISISPOPBABY and the Abbey theatre, Come On Home for the Abbey theatre, and Once Before I Go for The Gate Theatre. Directing highlights include Dublin Oldschool by Emmet Kirwan, Insane Animals by Bourgeois & Maurice, RIOT and WAKE by THISISPOPBABY, and live shows for drag superstar Panti Bliss.

Gerard Stembridge has written/directed in TV, film, radio as well as theatre with plays for DYT, Project Arts Centre (Love Child, The Gay Detective) and the Abbey theatre (That Was Then). He has directed frequently in the theatre: The Whiteheaded Boy, Macbeth (Barabbas), and That Was Then, Doubt, The Grown Ups, The Waste Ground Party, Maeve’s House (Abbey/Peacock). He has published five novels.