Out After Dark

Hugh Leonard, an Irish playwright and journalist, was born in Dublin in 1926. He spent fourteen years working for the Irish Civil Service, before he was able to concentrate fully on his writing. Leonard - known in 'real' life as John Keyes Byrne - received the Tony Award in 1977 for the play "Da", which was largely based on his own youth and his relationship with his adoptive father. (It was also made into a movie, with Martin Sheen playing the Hugh Leonard role). "Out After Dark" follows on from "Home Before Night", and tells part of his life story in prose form. "Out After Dark" is less of a year-by-year account of Leonard's life, and more a collection of anecdotes - largely from his early working life. There are, naturally, a couple of exceptions - including his traumatic last performance as an altar boy and how, despite the offer of another scholarship, he made his decision to leave school. His first job as a clerk was with Colombia Pictures, before moving onto the Land Commission. (He didn't particularly want to become a Civil Servant, but he recognised it as an easy escape route from an amorous colleague called Dolores). Like his mother, Leonard had always loved going to the cinema, though by the time he joined the Land Commission he knew he wanted to be a writer. Nevertheless, he soon gets drawn into acting - with a very helpful shove in the back from office typist, the persuasive, lively and lovable Kay Kelly. Leonard, by his own admission, proved a rather limited actor...he could've been a comic genius, only for the fact he was generally playing serious roles. (Still, his acting career does include connecting with a femme fatale called Sandra). Sadly, Kay's time as a character in the book proves limited. Leonard's best friend from his time in the Land Commission was a gentleman called Mick - the pair manage to get each other into no end of trouble. A couple of trips to Belfast feature, where he hopes to be taken advantage of by the women who live there, and he touches on his encounters with Behan, Kavanagh and O'Connor. I loved "Home Before Night", but I wasn't quite so taken with "Out After Dark". It is, admittedly, easily read, and a largely affectionate book. However, there's an occasional quip made an another's expense that could have been left out - Leonard only manages to make himself look bad, rather than his intended victim.