The Monthly talks to Liam Kelly and Pamela Brown about their script, “The Magilligan Suitcase” – Part 2 – The Writing Process

How did you go about the writing process?

Pamela Brown

We initially decided to map out the main character, Budgie’s journey. We didn’t want to worry about sub plots and other devices. We wanted to know what his journey would be, and it had to take place over 24 hours, which is a crucial time-period when is a prisoner is released. We also wanted to make the journey as believable as possible.

Liam Kelly

The system is set up for failure and that was the key point we wanted to get across.

Pamela Brown

The first thing Budgie wanted to do was to see his daughter. That was a very human element as a starting point. He has been anticipating about this for 18 months, getting clean in order to do so, and he has a photograph of her that he has been carrying around, and looking at, the entire time.

We know Budgie needs a roof over his head, he needs somewhere to stay. We know he needs to get travel vouchers so that he can get to where he is going.

So, we start with Budgie standing at the gates of Magilligan, because the prison is in the middle of nowhere and all his belongings are in a brown paper bag, which is where the title of the script, “MagiIlligan Suitcase” comes from. From there he needs to get to the Access Centre in Belfast, he needs to get to Probation to check in, and he needs to secure accommodation.

Liam Kelly

Without giving too much of the story away, I have been through all the journeys that Budgie takes on that day, and while you may have a goal, so many obstacles get in the way, and most of the time it is almost impossible to get over these obstacles, even though you know this is going to inhibit you achieving your goal.

And where did you write the play?

Sometimes we worked on it when we got together at MagiIlligan, sometimes we met up on ZOOM. We were just always trying to find a space where we could work together.

How long did you take to complete the script?

Pamela Brown

We completed a draft in about 10 months. Then we let it sit for a few weeks—we printed out the script and made some paper edits—after that we got a good working draft and eventually a few people read it who work in film—and we are currently discussing the feedback towards a final draft.

Liam Kelly

We just kept in our minds that this is a story which has to be told and that kept us moving forward. Budgie is definitely the hero as well as the tragic element in the script, and the ripple effect of this is also obvious.