Swing when you're wedding

“It’sh a loifestoile choice”, says Michael McElhatton, adopting his on-screen accent. “And you have to be in a shecure relationship, babesh.”

I’ve just asked the writer and actor why a man like Fergus, the protagonist in his latest TV venture who is a successful businessman in love with fiancée Penny, would choose to spend his weekends having sex with unattractive middle-aged strangers? Though in truth, after two episodes it seems that Fergus himself is happier sitting on the stairs as wife-to-be Penny (Julia Ford), accompanies a variety of leather-clad, Landsdowne Road lotharios to somewhere called ‘the group room’. Grope room, more like.

“The reason that we chose to make Fergus a swinger was that we wanted to do something with an overtly sexual content,” says co-writer and director Ian Fitzgibbon. “The swinging scene in Ireland is absolutely huge and it’s something that those people who aren’t directly involved would know nothing about. So we researched it and having been assured by RTE that we wouldn’t have to compromise we decided that we’d go ahead.”

Ah, research. Did the boys actually attend any ‘swap-meets’?

“Jesus, no!” asserts Ian emphatically. “We did look at some documentary films and checked out relevant sites on the web. There’s quite a few. It appears to be growing in popularity here, but the rules and regulations would put anybody but the most keen off. For example, there’s strict rules governing the way people can touch each other and normally you’d wear latex gloves with which you finger a certain area, and you have to change to a new glove if you want to move on to another area.” “You wear a hip-pack,” Michael interjects, “containing gloves and condoms and lubes or whatever else you think you’ll need. Mars bars, crisps, whatever."

Did the duo discover exactly who engages in this sort of activity?

“It really is your average Joe and Josephine Soap,” says Ian, “or that’s what it would appear. I’d say if you took an average selection of punters from your local Tesco on a Friday evening the mix would be about the same. Though I’m not suggesting that Tesco shoppers in particular are partial to a bit of strange…”

“It’s rampant in Cork, apparently,” offers Michael. “And we heard of a Dublin group of 30 somethings, quite upwardly mobile people, who have a club in Dublin. I think it might be more of a class thing, specifically a middle-class thing. The other thing we discovered is that bi-sexual men are very much frowned upon by the majority of straight groups. Men who go along accompanied by a woman but who might like to try something else tend to make the straight men nervous. It’s not welcomed. Bi-sexual women though, ahhh, that’s a different story. Though it has to be said that nobody’s being coerced here.”

The question still remains however: Why on earth would people want to have such clinical sexual interaction with strangers?

“There’s a certain attraction in the idea,” suggests Ian, “that’s quite understandable if you’re in any way interested in physical sexual activity. But like most fantasies, the reality is frequently very different. I think there’s a subtle link in the way that Fergus is nominally happy with his lot in the wider world, he’s a successful businessman, he’s financially solvent, he’s got a woman who loves him and he’s emotionally secure. Yet he still yearns for an unidentifiable element in his life. It’s almost as if he’s looking at his situation and the numbers are just not adding up. He should be contented, he’s got everything he wants but yet there’s a dissatisfaction within him. It’s a pop at this Celtic Tiger notion of success that values acquisition and status above a real contentment.”

Michael agrees. “There is a link in the two separate elements of the plot which hasn’t yet become clear, but we can tell you that things get a lot more complicated for Fergus and Penny as the series progresses.”

The current series is something of a departure from the pair’s previous TV outing Paths To Freedom. That series, a mock-documentary which aired last year to rave reviews and highly respectable viewing figures, concerned the (mis) fortunes of two ex-prisoners, Rats and Jeremy, from very different backgrounds attempting to return to normal life.

“Although the format of Fergus’ Wedding is different the development of the characters happened in pretty much the same way,” says Michael. “I think there was a sympathetic element to Rats and eventually Jeremy that developed as the series progressed and a similar thing is going on with the characters in Fergus’ Wedding. I believe that there has to be an element in every dramatic role that involves the viewer. The character has to be at least believable if not likeable, you have to understand why it is they’re behaving in the way they are. Very often, it’s what a character doesn’t do that will tell you something about them that may provide a key to what’s really going on.”

It’s a salient point and one which is particularly valid in some of the supporting players in Fergus’ Wedding. From Deirdre O’Kane’s portrayal of the snobbish wedding planner to Peter McDonald’s sex-obsessed café manager, the supporting players are as rich in dramatic potential as the principles themselves. Were the actors a part of the improvisational process that led to such a character-rich script?

The duo consider the question carefully. “If an actor has an idea than we’re very happy to hear it,” admits Ian, “and in the case of Deirdre her stand-up experience has given her a flawless sense of both timing and what is just plain funny. But the characters were all developed with specific actors in mind, so if we’ve done our jobs properly there should be very little need for discussion. And to be honest you do get to know the characters in the writing stage, you know where they went to school and what music they liked and what their romantic history is. Again, a lot of what makes them who they are is never shown on screen, yet a talented actor can almost invisibly allude to that and provide an extra insight into the role. In the case of Peter’s character, who’s a bit of a filth-hound in many respects, I really got involved in the make-up of this guy. He’s definitely one of my favourites!”

Fergus’ Wedding also follows in the footsteps of Paths To Freedom in that it includes cameo roles by people who might be better known for pursuits other than acting, Gerry Ryan’s cameo in Paths was deservedly hailed as a triumph, especially as he portrayed himself most unsympathetically on screen. This time, writer and director Conor McPherson takes a turn in front of the camera.

With Fergus’ Wedding looking like emulating the pair’s previous success, will we see them working together again in the future?

“Most certainly,” Ian assures me. “We’re currently writing a feature film provisionally titled Zero Chance in which Rats from Paths is one of the central characters. We start shooting in September.”

Is Rats now on the straight-and-narrow?

“Not exactly,” confesses Ian. “The plot involves him trying to form a boy-band called Spin The Bottle within the confines of Mountjoy. But we can’t give too much away.”

I can see it now, Popstars ‘n Bars, perhaps a cover of ‘I Fought The Law’ and an exposé history of the band called The Inside Story. Perhaps Jeffrey the gynaecologist could be their manager…