Behind the scenes at Ros na Rún
To a television set novice like myself, this looks like a typical town in the West of Ireland. And yet, behind the facade of Loinnir, the local beautician’s in Ros na Rún, there is nobody getting their nails done; nobody is laying on a bet behind the shop front of the local bookies, Mulholland’s, and it is unlikely that taxi company, Luas na Run, will get you home from a night out. The Denny rashers in the local Centra? Facsimiles, just paper. The Dairy Milks, Crunchies, the Fruit & Nuts? Not a calorie in sight, none of it is real.
Even the Top garage, replete with pumps, pints of oil and a hand towel dispenser couldn’t give you a drop of petrol if you needed it. Nonetheless, the rooms behind its false front are in something of a mess. Paint pots, empty beer cans, hard hats, helmets and even a basketball — all flung in a seemingly chaotic heap in what turns out to be the rooms of the design team.
“If we need something, the designers have to source it,” explains Ros na Rún producer Hugh Farley. “They have to find it, or buy it or get a loan of it and if that doesn’t work, they have to manufacture it. And this is where they do that.”
So this is where the rashers are made — in a room that looks like something from a documentary about a teenage grunge band. On closer inspection, however, it becomes apparent, just from the odd detail you see around the room, that every aspect of every character has been thought through from umpteen angles. Take, for instance, a chart on a locker, with pictures of mobile phones and their owner’s name beside them. Who would have thought you needed to think of that? On a far wall, cubby holes with stickered plastic boxes contain more props. By sifting through them you could probably tell much about the characters.
Over at the set of the local pub, Tigh Thaidhg, actress Tara Breathnach is running through her scene. It will last less than forty seconds and involves Breathnach’s character, a foxy vixen named Tina O’Dowd, walking uncomfortably into Tigh Thaidhg and flashing threatening looks at her foes. Being filmed in this way all looks very claustrophobic, what with boom mics above her head, the lights shining on her face and cameras staring at her relentlessly.
Breathnach has been playing the role of Tina for three years. Hers is a character that most of the estimated 140,000 Ros na Rún viewers love to hate. The show has now been running for sixteen years. Although Breathnach has her reservations about Tina, she has enjoyed every minute of playing her so far.
“She came in briefly at one particular story line but she’s more rounded now,” says the actress. “There’s a sort of ‘how can I best use this to my advantage?’ about her. Life is like a game of chess to her. I really enjoy playing her but I don’t know if I’d be inviting her around for a cup of tea.”
Since Tina’s arrival, she has been involved in more affairs than Blanche from the Golden Girls, has robbed people including arch nemesis and bar owner Taidhg, and has also had a marriage annulled.
Scandalous enough you might think for a soap set in the West of Ireland, but regular viewers will know that the makers of Ros na Rún are not afraid of addressing topical issues. Indeed, the current series deals with sensitive subjects such as paedophilia, suicide and abortion.
“There is a social function to drama,” argues Farley. “That is, to dramatise things that are in the public consciousness, not necessarily to sensationalise them. We show a microcosm of society, of people struggling to deal with things, sometimes rising to the challenge and succeeding and sometimes failing. And that’s why people bother watching these things. We’re trying, in an entertaining fashion, to depict Irish society as it is now, in a way that makes sense of it.”
As we walk away from the bar, we bump into retired local man, Josie Ó Márta who has been an extra on the show from day one. “I enjoy every minute of it,” he whispers as we look on at the aforementioned scene in front of us. “I was here for the first day 16 years ago and I’ve been here ever since. It’s great. Everybody’s the same, it’s like a community; one happy family.”
There is little doubt that Ros na Rún has been of great benefit to the local area. Farley says the programme employs approximately 150 people at any one time, but more than anything, the series has provided people with training.
“What tends to happen is people will be trained up, they get some skills, they stay around and if the economies are a little bit better, they’ll probably go on to a better paid job in Dublin,” says Farley. “We constantly have to replace staff. So a culture of training and opportunity is paramount; you have to turn a disadvantage into an advantage and it’s made it a tremendously open opportunity. Many people started as production assistants and have gone on to be writers and directors of the show.”
Michael Flood is one of those people who have gone full circle. Having started out on Ros na Rún some ten years ago, he is now one of its directors.
“I come from an editing background,” he explains. “And I came into Ros na Rún as a vision mixer which is basically a live editor. For me Ros na Rún allows you to move into different areas and you can find what your particular area really is.”
Interestingly, there was one skill which Flood did not have when he first arrived on the show. “Well, the Irish I have now all came through working here,” he explains. “When I was in school I was one of those people who said ‘I’ll never use this’. I developed my Irish as I worked through here. I used to come into rehearsals just to hear the actors speak and get used to it. So if Ros na Rún wasn’t here I wouldn’t have it.”
A short distance from the various sets sits a large truck. On entering we see scene editing and vision mixing taking place as the scenes are being shot. It’s not the most inviting of working environments; it’s rather dark and pokey, but this is the engine room of the operation, and in here the factory-like nature of making a show like Ros na Rún becomes more apparent. It seems somewhat relentless but it is clear that for its makers and their team, Ros na Rún is more than just entertainment.
“What soap and television has to do to survive is be an opportunity for community,” says Farley. “People want an opportunity to stay connected. Therefore we have to think about the kinds of stories that make people talk. But we have to make it believable within the world of Ros na Rún.”
* Ros na Rún, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8.30pm, TG4.
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