Joan Dalton, producing a sci-fi adaption
Born and raised in New Jersey and educated in Montreal, Joan Dalton went to London in the 1980s "on a whim" where she worked as a photographic assistant before gravitating towards film. For a number of years she worked as research assistant to director Michael Caton-Jones on movies such as Memphis Belleand Scandal, and it was while filming the latter that she met John Hurt, who was playing the lead role. The couple married and had two children. There followed what she describes as "an extended career break" while she raised her children. "Yeah, the break lasted about 15 years," she laughs. "But when the youngest of my three children started school I thought it was time to get back to work."
Since remarried, in 2003 Dalton moved to rural Waterford and two years later joined the Red Kettle Theatre Company as director of children's programming. What was behind the move? "I never settled well in suburbia. I wanted my boys to be capable, does that make sense? . . . I wanted them to be able to chop trees and all that. I didn't think they would achieve that hanging around a shopping mall. Waterford is near enough to Dublin to keep up connections but it has the mountains and beaches and is small enough that it has its own integrity.
Now Red Kettle's executive producer, Dalton is responsible for its latest production, an adaptation of Russell Hoban's cult sci-fi novel, Riddley Walker, directed by Ben Hennessy. "It's a coming-of-age drama, set 3,000 years into the future, post nuclear apocalypse, and mankind has reverted to living in Iron Age settlements. It's the most ambitious production we have ever done. We have 35 community cast and six or seven professional cast, including Cormac McDonagh as Riddley Walker." Because of the scale, a Big Top has been specially commissioned.
For Red Kettle's 2007 children's play Time Quest, John Hurt contributed a film sequence where he played Genghis Khan, and he has also become a patron of Little Red Kettle. "He is very interested in the fact that we produce compelling theatre on a shoestring," says Dalton, "and he's so impressed with the professionalism." Dalton and Hurt's two sons are playing roles in Riddley Walker. Is she anxious about them becoming involved in acting? "No, not at all. I think that people should do what they love and find an interesting career for themselves."
Riddley Walker previews at the Big Top beside the Woodlands Hotel on the Dunmore Road on Wednesday and runs from November 10th to 17th. Tickets from Garter Lane Box Office, Waterford. Contact: 051-855038 or www.garterlane.ie