BARFLIES

2009

GRID IRON

A site-specific theatre production based on the writings of Charles Bukowski

DIRECTOR
Ben Harrison

SOUNDTRACK INFO
Live acoustic vocal & piano soundtrack. As a well as singer & pianist, I was cast in the role of Silent Dave, The Barman (the production was performed in actual bars). The songs are my interpretations of other artists work including Lilac Wine (inspired by the Jeff Buckley version), The Piano Has Been Drinking (Tom Waits), You Know I'm No Good (Amy Winehouse) and Green Grow The Rashes O' (Robert Burns).

PERFORMANCE HISTORY
Premiered at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe in the Barony Bar, Broughton Street as part of the Traverse Theatre Fringe programme.

The production was remounted in 2012 and returned to the Barony Bar followed by a UK Tour including the Tron Theatre Victorian Bar, Glasgow and The Vulcan, Cardiff.

AWARDS
The production received several theatre awards in 2009, including a Herald Angel and a Scotsman Fringe First.

RELATED WORKS
Soundtracks for other Grid Iron productions include:
Muster Station: Leith (2022)
Jury Play (2017)
What Remains (2011)
The Devil’s Larder (2005)
Those Eyes, That Mouth (2003)

Two tracks from the theatre soundtrack to Barflies (2009), including an arrangement of the Robert Burns song Green Grow The Rashes O, sung by DPJ.

Written & Produced by David Paul Jones

“David Paul Jones, who occasionally emerges from behind his piano to take on the role of barman, adds a fascinating variety of music, from pub ditties to a surprisingly moving rendition of ‘Lilac Wine’”

THE LIST

“a brawling, kissing, swilling and spilling cast of old lushes, steaming lowlifes, stool-based philosophers and a bar-room pianist (David Paul Jones) singing "Lilac Wine" and "Green Grow the Rashes" in a throbbing voice of malty richness.”

THE INDEPENDENT

“David Paul Jones adds haunting melodies and perfectly delivererd one-liners as Silent Dave, the piano-playing barman who sees all.”

BUZZ MAGAZINE (Cardiff)

“All the while David Paul Jones provides a soundtrack from the pub piano, and slips behind the bar to serve drinks with all the disdain of a professional barkeep as Silent Dave. It’s a pleasure to hear his renditions of The Piano Has Been Drinking and Lilac Wine, while his Green Grow the Rashes O’ which finishes the whole piece just emphasises the validity of placing Bukowski in a Scottish bar.”

ALL EDINBURGH THEATRE

CREDITS

Written by Ben Harrison from the works of Charles Bukowski

Director: Ben Harrison
Assistant Director: Catrin Evans
Composer & Sound Designer: David Paul Jones
Lighting Designer: Paul Claydon
Set Designer: Becky Minto

Cast: Keith Fleming | Gail Watson (2009) | Charlene Boyd (2012) | David Paul Jones