Motley Magazine - Volume X Issue Four - December 2016

I N T E R V I E W
DO YOU VOODOO?
STEFANIE PREISSNER
SCREENWRITER, PLAYWRIGHT, ACTOR. CREATOR OF RTÉ’S “CAN’T COPE, WON’T COPE”
IN CONVERSATION WITH LUCY CREEDON
I definitely see ‘Can’t Cope, Won’t
Cope’ as a drama. I think that in the
UK and in America, it’s much easier
for people to put things into a comedydrama
department. In Ireland, we have
a comedic department, and a drama
department. Usually it’s straight up
characters in a funny situation: three
serious priests on an island. I think
that the show is more representative
of life, and certainly Irish life. We’re
very funny people and we deal with the
darkness of situations in a very funny
way. The characters are comedy, and
the situation is a drama.
Obviously, you write about what
you know about. For me, it’s female
friendships. I wanted to have these two
characters, Danielle and Aisling, and
look at the way they interact and play
out situations that were in my head or
that I’ve experienced. I do also think
that in this country, we have an issue
with silence. I refuse to align myself
to that way of being. I don’t think that I
should be quiet about something that I
think is important.
I think that [men] are quite shocked
that they feature so little in this. But
there’s just so much content out
there for them, there’s so much. I just
don’t feel the need to contribute to
the mass-representation of men in
the media. And also, I’m not a man. I
wouldn’t write very good men. So I can
understand why they’re like ‘Hey, this is
s**t, I don’t understand this.’ But it’s fine!
You have all your other shows, and it’s
just not your day.
I hate being didactic. I hated when I was
a kid and people were like ‘That’s enough
crisps for you now’. I’ll have enough
when I’ve had enough. I think that idea
of ‘enough’ is something that Aisling
struggles with. I’m not saying that she
has or hasn’t got a drinking problem.
There are loads of people who drink the
same as Aisling in their twenties then
literally just grow out of it. But there are
also people who drink like Aisling, and
drink themselves into a grave. I think that
the difference between those two people,
besides alcoholism and addiction, is the
person who tells them that they have a
problem.
My thing is that I don’t make
announcements. A little shift in the
status quo is a very big and powerful
thing. I want to create things that show
people, in a more subtle way, the issues
that need to be talked about.
Let your success be your introduction.
Continue to be sure of what you’re
doing, and just keep doing it. If you get
enjoyment from your work, and fulfilment
from it, for me, that is much more
valuable than working a job I hate and
getting paid loads of money so that I can
get two weeks in the year that I enjoy in
Thailand.
I’ve been up since five o’clock this
morning. I write and I don’t take any
interruptions until 10 a.m. Does that
mean that I’m sitting there typing
furiously? No. Words don’t come that
quickly. And that’s hard, especially
now, when the deadlines are tighter
and the demands are greater. Aisling
and Danielle’s argument in Episode
5 took me about 55 minutes. I was
struggling with the script. I went
down and did my kickboxing session
and I was really angry. Then I came
back and sat down and I wrote it
from start to finish. And that was the
best feeling in the world. You have to
juggle the success with the work.
I’ve started the writing of a
screenplay, supported by the Irish
Film Board, with the UK company
‘Parallel Films’. It’s about twin girls in
Ireland, but I can’t say anything else
because of contracts and stuff. I hate
doing press because I have to sound
like this dope and be like ‘I can’t tell
you.’
I don’t know if there will be a series
2. I’m really hoping there will be. I
think that, based on demand, there
might be. As of now, I have a vague
idea where season 2 might go. I think
it’s highly likely. If I were to put money
on it, I would say yes.
TUESDAYS
WALL
STREET
THURSDAYS
PAT FITZ
& IZZY
OVER 20S
OVER 21S