Interview: Sean Cooney of VAN GOGH'S IN THE ATTIC

Sean Cooney is not so much of a playwright as he is a magnet for stories.

“Most all of my plays happened in and around things in my life,” Cooney said in a telephone interview from New York City.  “These events would happen and then my mind would take off with these stories.

“Somebody said to me, ‘things just seem to happen to you.’ I could end up at your house, we’d go to a pub and this story would start happening. People would say ‘Oh my God, Sean, what happened here?’ and I would be in the middle of it for some reason.”

Cooney will be on hand when the Abbey Theater of Dublin (5600 Post Road in Dublin) presents the Irish playwright’s VAN GOGH’S IN THE ATTIC April 4-14.

The wacky tale of art forgers, a corrupt priest, and Irish Republic Army gunrunners is set in Cooney’s home of Youghal, Ireland. And like all his plays, Cooney said it is a comedy that is partly based in truth.

In VAN GOGH’S IN THE ATTIC, Fergal MacAdoo (played by Phil Cunningham) has lost memories of who he really is after an IRA bombing. After he takes up residency in the home of Mrs. Barnacle (Dayton Willison), MacAdoo comes to believe he is Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh. Fritzi (Scott Douglas Wilson), Barnacle’s untrustworthy son-in-law and Father Brady (Niko Carter) employ MacAdoo to create a series of Van Gogh forgeries, which they use to dupe art dealers. Alyssa Ryan (Nora) and Grace Emmenegger-Conrad (Erin) also star in the comedy.

While it is a comedy, it is based in truth. Mrs. Barnacle is based on Cooney’s late mother Mary.

“My late mother ran a pub by our family home,” Cooney said. “During the troubles in Ireland, the IRA got guns from the Germans, the Dutch, the French and even the English who were sympathetic to the cause,” he said. “The guns would come into our hometown. The Dutch and the Germans used artwork as a cover to hide the shipment of guns. They'd come over later and get the artwork for themselves.”

During one of these exchanges, Mary Cooney ended up with a Van Gogh in the attic. As Mrs. Cooney was battling dementia later in life, a corrupt priest conspired with her son-in-law to forge copies of the painting and then later stole the original painting for themselves.

“I remember coming over to Ireland with a lady friend I had during the time,” Cooney said. “We walked in and the priest was holding court with my mother in the parlor of our house. He's got a table between my mother and himself and they're sitting on two armchairs with a bottle of Jack Daniels in the middle and a candle.

“My girlfriend said, ‘I don't trust that priest.’ I said to her, ‘I don't trust any of them.’ I can hear her confession and all he was doing was trying to find out where the paintings and good stuff were.”

The play marks the third time the Abbey Theater has produced one of Cooney’s works, following A YANKEE COMES HOME and MOBY DICK’S GONE MISSING.

“We are honored to co-produce with Original Productions Theatre the world premiere of

VAN GOGH’S IN THE ATTIC,” Abbey Theater of Dublin’s Theater Supervisor Joe Bishara said. “This breakneck comedy elicits laughs, smiles, and an opportunity to appreciate the artistry of Vincent Van Gogh.”

Bishara and the Abbey Theater of Dublin are benefactors of mistaken identity. Cooney decided to cast a line out into the dramatic waters, sending emails to several theaters to see if there was any interest in doing his plays.

Cooney thought he was sending his work to The Abbey Theatre, the national theater of Dublin, Ireland. Instead, he sent it to the other Abbey Theater in a suburb of Columbus.

Cooney confides that it was the best typo he’s made in his life. After it made its debut at the Abbey Theater last fall, MOBY DICK’S GONE MISSING was selected to be a part of Dublin’s Irish Festival in August.

Asked how he felt about having his works performed, the playwright talked about the excitement leading up to opening night.

“I am so grateful at this time in my life to have my plays being put on,” said Cooney, who turned 75 on March 15. “This all happened to me late in life and (being discovered) is the biggest reward of all.”'

Photos courtesy of Sean Cooney