Mary Josephine O'Malley (19 March 1941 – 19 September 2020) was an English playwright of

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descent.

Early career

In the 1960s Mary O'Malley studied drama at the

City Literary Institute City Lit is an adult education college in Holborn, central London, founded by the London County Council in 1919, which has charitable status. It offers part-time courses across four schools and five "centres of expertise", covering humanities an ...

, and "

Improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

and Playmaking" with Dorothea Alexander. In the mid-1970s, while working in

fringe theatre Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fre ...

, she joined The Writers' Workshop run by

Howard Brenton Howard John Brenton FRSL (born 13 December 1942) is an English playwright and screenwriter. While little-known in the United States, he is celebrated in his home country and often ranked alongside contemporaries such as Edward Bond, Caryl Chur ...

at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...

. Early experimental work for theatre in the early 1970s included ''A 'Nevolent Society'', a lunchtime production at the

Open Space Theatre The Open Space Theatre was created by Charles Marowitz and Thelma Holt in 1968. It began in a basement on Tottenham Court Road in London, then transferred to an art deco post office on the Euston Road in 1976. Thelma attracted a team of volunteer ...

, Tottenham Court Road, ''Superscum'' and ''Oh if Ever a Man Suffered'', lunchtime productions at the

Soho Theatre The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces. The the ...

, the latter play transferring to

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...

for a short run as a late night production. Plays for television in the early to mid-1970s included two short plays by writers new to television, ''Percy and Kenneth'' and ''Shall I See You Now'' for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, produced by Tara Prem.

Later career

In 1975 The Royal Court commissioned O'Malley to write a play, which became ''

Once a Catholic ''Once a Catholic'' is a play by Mary O'Malley. ''Once a Catholic'' is a comedy first performed at The Royal Court Theatre in London in 1977, directed by Mike Ockrent. It concerns a retrospective view of the values of 1950s Catholic convent s ...

''. The play, directed by

Mike Ockrent Michael Robert Ockrent (18 June 1946 – 2 December 1999) was a British stage director, well-known both for his Broadway musicals and smaller niche plays. He was educated at Highgate School. Through directing ''Educating Rita'', '' The Nerd'' an ...

, opened at the Royal Court in 1977 and later transferred to

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...

, where it ran for over two years. In 1977 the play won awards from ''

The Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' and ''Plays & Players'', and in 1978 O'Malley was the first winner of the

Susan Smith Blackburn Prize The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize established in 1978, is the largest and oldest playwriting prize for women+ writing for English-speaking theatre. Named for Susan Smith Blackburn (1935–1977), alumna of Smith College, who died of breast cancer. W ...

for women playwrights. ''Once a Catholic'' has been performed on tours and at regional theatres in Britain, including the

Lyric Theatre (Belfast) The Lyric Theatre, or simply The Lyric, is the principal, full-time producing theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The theatre's current Executive Producer is Jimmy Fay, previously the founder and Artistic Director of Bedrock Productions. His ...

. In 1979 a production directed by Mike Ockrent was taken on a short tour of theatres in the US before opening at the

Helen Hayes Theatre The Hayes Theater (formerly the Little Theatre, New York Times Hall, Winthrop Ames Theatre, and Helen Hayes Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 240 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Named for actress ...

in New York, where it closed after six performances. In 1987 the play was produced in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

at The Celtic Arts Centre (An Claidheamh Soluis), in

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...

, from which the author received the Hollywood Drama-Logue Critics Award for "outstanding achievement in theatre"; it was directed by

Joe Praml Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

from which the director received the Hollywood Drama-Logue Critics Award for Direction; Morgan Walsh and David Farjeon received the Award for Acting. There have been productions in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany, and Belgium, and in 1991 in

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, Poland, at the Jan Kochanowski Theatre. In 1977 O'Malley wrote ''Oy Vay Maria'' for BBC television, directed by

Richard Loncraine Richard Loncraine (born 20 October 1946) is a British film and television director. Loncraine was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Loncraine received early training in the features department of the BBC, including a season directing items ...

. It won a ''Pye Television Award'', was televised in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, and produced as a stage play at the Liberal Jewish Synagogue,

St John's Wood St John's Wood is a district in the City of Westminster, London, lying 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Traditionally the northern part of the ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends east to west from ...

in 1981, and the

Oldham Coliseum Oldham Coliseum Theatre is a theatre in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Found on Fairbottom Street in the town centre, Oldham's Coliseum is a repertory theatre which celebrated its centenary in 1987. Its interior makes it a great period cla ...

in 1996. In 1978 she wrote ''Look Out...Here Comes Trouble'' for the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Micha ...

, directed by John Caird. Set in a

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

, it is an ensemble piece for fourteen actors, one of whom was

Maxine Audley Maxine Audley (29 April 1923 – 23 July 1992) was an English theatre and film actress. She made her professional stage debut in July 1940 at the Open Air Theatre. Audley performed with the Old Vic company and the Royal Shakespeare Company many ...

who received a London Critics Award for her performance as Olive, a

clairvoyant Clairvoyance (; ) is the magical ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ("one who sees cl ...

. Other work includes ''On the Shelf'' for television (1984) produced by Margaret Matheson, and ''Talk of the Devil'' at the Watford Playhouse (1986) directed by Bill Alexander.

Stage plays

*1972 – ''Superscum'',

, London *1974 – ''A 'Nevolent Society'',

, London *1975 – ''Oh If Ever a Man Suffered'', Soho Theatre, London *1977 – ''

'', Royal Court Theatre, London *1978 – ''Look Out... Here Comes Trouble'', Royal Shakespeare Company at the Donmar Warehouse, London *1986 – ''Talk of the Devil'', Watford Playhouse,

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

*1996 – ''Oy Vay Maria'', Oldham Coliseum

Television plays

*''Percy and Kenneth'',

BBC Birmingham BBC Birmingham is one of the oldest regional arms of the BBC, located in Birmingham. It was the first region outside London to start broadcasting both the corporation's radio (in 1922) and television (in 1949) transmissions, the latter from th ...

*15.4.1978 ''- Shall I See You Now'', BBC Birmingham *1977 – ''Oy Vay Maria'' *1984 – ''On the Shelf''

Awards

*1977 –

Evening Standard Award The ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the ''Evening Standa ...

- Most Promising Playwright for ''Once a Catholic''. *1977 – Plays & Players Award for ''Once a Catholic''. *1977 – Pye Television Award for ''Oy Vay Maria''. *1978 –

winner for ''Once a Catholic''. *1986 – Susan Smith Blackburn Prize runner-up for ''Talk of the Devil''. *1987 – Hollywood Dramalogue Critics Award for ''Once a Catholic''.

References

External links

"Once a Catholic"
''What's on Stage'', 20 February 2009 *Gubbins, Paul
"The Stage Review"
''BBC'', Paul Gubbins, 2003 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Omalley, Mary 1941 births 2020 deaths English dramatists and playwrights English screenwriters English people of Irish descent English people of Lithuanian descent