Dress You Up by Wayne Power

– from poet to playwright in a love letter to the nineties –

The sun-soaked streets of Waterford were alive on the evening of Friday, 6 September. Among the many attractions to lure people into the city's cultural quarter was the launch of the book, Dress You Up by Wayne Power, or the book of the play soon to premiere to be more precise. The Book Centre played host to a well-attended gathering.

The drama is set during the summer of 1997 when Girl Power is in, as are Fianna Fáil and New Labour in Britain, while Oasis have yet to split up, thereby rendering the forthcoming reunion tour a mere twinkle in some concert promoter's eye. This is the context in which a young Bobby Burke is discovering that he will need to learn how to walk in stilettos before he will be able to run.

At school, he is bullied and tormented by Decky Flynn, who reckons that he can 'beat the gay out of him'. On the other hand, he is aided and abetted by his friend, Mandy, who helps him with his make-up and is known to have kicked Decky Flynn in the balls once, on Bobby's behalf. Yet, she admits to having feelings for Decky and a couple of recent pregnancy tests have turned up positive.

For people of Bobby Burke's generation, there is a yearning and a passion that is screaming to be heard underneath the the disco balls, the dances till dawn, the inevitable hangovers, the vomit and bad karaoke.

Wayne Power is an author, poet, playwright, spoken-word artist who hails from Waterford, the city where he continues to live, work and write about. Three volumes of his poetry have been published to date, the most recent being Only When I'm Dancing Can I Feel This Free, another book that derives its inspiration and title from the Queen of Pop's lyrics.

Speaking to Waterford News and Star, Wayne Power says, "The play really is a love letter to the nineties" and that his transition from poetry to playwriting marks the next step in his creative journey.

"This is my first proper outing as a playwright and it's kind of scary on a lot of levels … Poetry and spoken word comes very easy to me, whereas with the playwriting, it was a bit more intensive, but still very satisfying. It’s been amazing so far. To write it and see people read your stuff and then act it out is surreal." – Wayne Power

Dress You Up by Wayne Power will have its world premiere at the Bank Lane venue in Waterford historic Viking quarter on Tuesday, 22 October. It will run for four nights. Tickets can be booked online.

In the meantime, you don't have to wait to order your copy of Dress You Up. It is available to buy online, along with other books by Wayne Power.