A series of interconnecting tales told across a variety of media, Plays, Films, Poems, Songs and the latest venture - Graphic Novels. The community has thus far been the backdrop for the feature film LOOKIN' FOR LUCKY, the short films THE WATCHER and the award winning I'M FRANK MORGAN. The plays are I'M FRANK MORGAN, THE BENCH, RANK, STRAWBERR
Y JACK and DIANE'S DELI. All these productions are critically acclaimed and thrilled audiences around the North West of England. Each tale is a self contained story, you can jump on board at any point with any story here, you don’t have to have seen any of the other productions in the series to enjoy the tale you are watching. However; when you see more than one you start to see the deeply embedded links in the tales, the ripples from events that have shaped the characters and the community; the true depth and sense of scale of this series, a series that will one day surely make the transition to TV. They have been described as a graphic illustration of Broken Britain, a Canterbury Tales for the 21st Century, a Chronicle for Today.
2014 see's the launch of the graphic novel - ONE SHOT, which will feature many of the colourful characters and places from the series thus far. An epic tale in the mould of BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN it will be dripping in Salford Noir. Part 1 has already received excellent reviews.
‘I live in a community like Paradise Heights so there is a reality at the core, and it’s great to see such a positive reaction from audiences to these stories; I think there is something in each of them that strikes a chord across a wide range of age groups. I believe in telling real issue based stories, issues that sometimes get tossed around in Parliament in between the important business of flipping homes and fiddling expense claims.
‘Paradise Heights is a deprived community with more than its fair share of problems, problems reflected from the issues seen in most media headlines today. Yes these stories are hard hitting but they are shot through with a rich vein of humour, the kind of humour people find when faced with all kinds of adversity. It’s a tough area but at there is a beating heart at the centre, a kinship. These are just ordinary people facing some of life's extra-ordinary dilemmas. It's the choices they make facing up to - or running away from - these problems that ultimately defines who they are. The Heights now has a really diverse range of characters brought to life by incredibly talented and passionate thus far ‘unknown’ actors and crew that I owe a huge debt to, ultimately this form of art is a collaborative process, without their incredible efforts the work stays on the page. Some of the characters cross over or are referred to from story to story, it’s sort of like Camberwick Green with Hoodie’s or even a council estate Canterbury Tales. I’m looking for a publishing deal to get the first five scripts in one volume entitled ‘Low Tales from The Heights’ – that probably sounds a bit lofty but there’s nothing wrong with having a dream is there? When I started out 10 years ago I just wanted to act, I didn’t dream I’d be writing, directing, producing and ...oh yeah...acting. To stop doing any of them now would be like hacking a limb off...'
Joe O'Byrne
31/10/2024
To the wonderful audience of King George's Hall, Blackburn, a huge n hearty thank you for last night. You more than played your part, your reactions could be felt throughout the whole play and huge thanks for the lovely applause, whistles and cheers at the end, you gave us another night we will never forget. Special thanks to Darren, Sofia, Nathan and all the staff at The King George's Hall, you were an absolute pleasure to work with.
So tonight we hit Rhyl Pavilion for Halloween - can't wait - we love the Pavilion audience and all there, then Sunday we are in Monmouth at the beautiful Savoy Theatre, the oldest working theatre in Wales and we are heading fast towards sold out there. We are then in Salford on 5 & 6 November are there are only 48 tickets left out of 800, sure to sell out so get your tickets now.
And the final gig for The Haunting of Blain Manor this year is a wonderful return to the glorious Buxton Opera House on the 15th of November where we have already sold 75% of the 830 tickets on sale there.
Climb aboard the Ghost Train...it's a helluva ride and we're having the time of our lives with this play - and Tales from Paradise Heights, lots of new dates for all six shows coming in for next year and beyond.
Ticket links for remaining Blaine Manor shows below:
The Key Theatre, Peterborough brochure ad looking fab...click to see the full image 😈🦇🦇🦇
29/10/2024
Strawberry Jack is Back! The warhorse, the cyclops, the ferocious doorman of Frank Morgan's Ace of Spades nightclub. This thriller has elements of the darkest fairy tale, and it's Paradise Heights - 'Stephen King meets Jimmy McGovern'.
The rescue of a woman on the mean n dirty streets of Paradise Heights has plunged Jack into the deepest and darkest place, they're lining up to see him dead by Christmas. Shirley, the street wise Angel, is on the case again for the man who thinks he killed Corny McGeehan.
Christmas is a time of angels and miracles, well Jack's found his angel, now all he needs is a miracle...
Coming to The Gladstone Theatre, Port Sunlight on The Wirral
22nd November
There are now less than 80 tickets left out of the 880 tickets available for the show at The Lowry, Salford on 5th and 6th of November, this is going to sell out across both nights, get the best seats left now! 😈🦇🦇🦇
27/10/2024
LAST NIGHT WAS SPECTACULAR!!!! So, the end of the 4 test runs we were doing of the show and wow, this has already certainly found a place and has dates coming in for 2025 that I will share tomorrow, dates in theatres around the country. Last night in Port Sunlight was just magic and we couldn't have asked for more. We love The Gladstone and the wonderful audience there that feel just like family - and wow how they responded to the show last night, many already booking tickers for our return there on the 22 November with Strawberry Jack: A Tale from Paradise Heights.
Thank you to ALL at Grand Theatre Blackpool Blackpool Grand Theatre Gladstone Theatre Thank you to last night's spectacular audience and to the audiences of Blackpool, you gave us a run we will never forget. See you all soon...
27/10/2024
https://youtu.be/oGjtnuRBWB4?si=N-5awbbxMpNvqXWr We're fast approaching Hall🎃ween, and in the wake of the success of the revival of RANK: A Tale from Paradise Heights at Blackpool Grand and The Gladstone Theatre, here's a spooky animation, 6 minutes long, animated by Darren McGinn, based on one of my poems. Death takes a walk through the streets of Paradise Heights and runs into you know who...
For fans of the series both old and new, see how many Tales from Paradise Heights 'Easter eggs' or references you can spot...
Blackpool Grand Theatre Grand Theatre Blackpool Gladstone Theatre
It's Halloween, and Death takes a walk through Paradise Heights...For fans of Tales from Paradise Heights there are quite a few nods to the series here, see ...
27/10/2024
Legend. RIP
25/10/2024
There are only 5 tickets left for tonight's performance of the show, this one has the most intense atmosphere, gripping audiences from start to finish and we are getting fabulous feedback from the audiences, thank you to all of them so far, you've been just amazing.
There's something really scary blowing in on that dark supernatural storm coming in from Ireland and whatever it is is heading for Paradise Heights, for the remote and cut off taxi rank...all hell is set to be let loose tonight. Don't miss it! Get those last tickets now!
Grand Theatre Blackpool Blackpool Grand Theatre Gladstone Theatre
25/10/2024
AI has reviewed Rank: A Tale from Paradise Heights...first time I've had any respect for AI 👍
24/10/2024
A hilarious memory that will stay with me from our opening night. We're coming up to the extremely tense last minute of the first act. We are down stage right in front of the audience, at the steps they use to get in and out.
Three of us, Jeni Williams, Arron Rochford and myself looking right out of the window of the rank (the audience) when we notice a couple trying look inconspicuous and failing spectacularly. They are trying to get out! The creep past us (4 inches away) and exit as we are continuing the scene. Seconds later the audience are laughing. They have inadvertently slipped out the wrong door, come back in and are on stage behind us as we are playing out this tense moment.
Why were they leaving? They thought they were in the Winter Gardens theatre, supposed to be watching a dance show they had booked there and come to the wrong theatre. They sat their for 40 minutes and must have thought is was the strangest dance show they'd ever seen!
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The fabulous Floral Pavilion, this speaks for itself, exhausted but what an absolutely extraordinary night. Wonderful audience, venue, staff and cast and crew smashing it hard all adding up to another unforgettable night, more tomorrow ❤️❤️❤️#TheHauntingofBlaineManor #TalesfromParadiseHeights Floral Pavilion
PREMIERING IN ITS NEW FORM THIS HALLOWEEN SEASON. The scariest play I've written so far. A Hall🎃ween Tale, set on Halloween in Paradise Heights. This one is going to scare the bejaysus out of you.
'Stephen King meets Jimmy McGovern'
Book your tickets for the premiere of the play in it's new for, ticket link below:
https://www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk/event/rank-a-tale-from-paradise-heights
Take a ride tonight, with the Dogz of Paradise Heights
#RankATalefromParadiseHeights #TalesfromParadiseHeights Grand Theatre Blackpool
RANK: A Tale from Paradise Heights - Full Trailer
I've been waiting almost 14 years to bring this back. I don't just bring things back though, I take them to the next level. This one is going to blow your minds. Urban grit meets the supernatural. Stephen King meets Jimmy McGovern.
This one is set on Halloween 🎃🎃🎃
Book your tickets at the links below:
Blackpool Grand 23/24/25 October
https://www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk/event/rank-a-tale-from-paradise-heights
The Gladstone Theatre, Port Sunlight 26 October
https://gladstonetheatre.org.uk/events/rank/
The Muni Theatre, Colne 7 November
On Sale Soon
Take a Ride Tonight, with the Dogz of Paradise Heights
#talesfromparadiseheights #rankatalefromparadiseheights
Rank: A Tale from Paradise Heights returns to stages later this year. Set on Halloween it's probably the most intense of all the Tales from Paradise Heights productions. A Halloween night that takes us from the mean n moody and tonight violent streets of Paradise Heights and crosses over into supernatural territory. Something wicked this way comes...
Here's a teaser trailer, the full trailer will drop on Tuesday 11 June.
Big thanks to Ed Blaney/Trigger Happy for use of the track 'Busted' a banger of a Salford Tune...check out Ed's brilliant latest album here, they play Glastonbury this year.
https://yerrrr.bandcamp.com/album/the-severance
The play is already on sale at:
Blackpool Grand Theatre 23/24 & 25 October
https://www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk/event/rank-a-tale-from-paradise-heights
The Gladstone Theatre, Port Sunlight
https://gladstonetheatre.org.uk/events/rank/
...and on sale soon at The Muni Theatre in Colne, more venues and dates to follow including Rhyl Pavilion and Buxton Opera House.
More info on Tues 11/6/24
#talesfromparadiseheights #rankatalefromparadiseheights #DianesDeliATalefromParadiseHeights #TheBenchATalefromParadiseHeights #strawberryjackatalefromparadiseheights #ImFrankMorganATalefromParadiseHeights Gladstone Theatre
COMING TO THE PLATFORM THEATRE, MORECAMBE
Diane's Deli: A Tale from Paradise Heights, coming to The Platform, Morecambe. In the wake of the fantastic reception of The Bench: A Tale from Paradise Heights there last month, this is going to be one helluva night for the scorching, spooky thriller!
Book the best seats now!
https://uk.patronbase.com/_ThePlatform/Productions?category=THEA
#DianesDeliATalefromParadiseHeights #TheBenchATalefromParadiseHeights #talesfromparadiseheights The Platform - Morecambe
You've heard him mentioned in The Bench: A Tale from Paradise Heights and Diane's Deli: A Tale from Paradise Heights. From Greek Tragedy to Urban Myth, the one eyed monster of Paradise Heights, the ferocious and feared doorman of Frank Morgan's The Ace of Spades nightclub.
The most ambitious of all the Tales from Paradise Heights so far premieres in January 2024 at the Platform Morecambe
Strawberry Jack: A Tale from Paradise Heights
24th January, The Platform
3rd February, The Gatehouse Theatre, Stafford
Blackpool Grand Studio 31 May
Blackpool Grand Studio 1 June
Rhyl Pavillion, 20 June
More dates to follow.
I'm really excited about this one...😈♠️
Teaser by the brilliant Darren McGinn, full trailer soon...
#strawberryjackatalefromparadiseheights #TalesfromPardiseHeights.
The Haunting of Blaine Manor...Teaser trailer, full trailer to...
England, 1953. Renowned American parapsychologist Doctor Roy Earle, famous for discrediting hauntings and exposing fake mediums, is invited to attend a seance in what is said to be the most haunted building in England, a building with a horrific history, Blaine Manor. Even the locals won’t set foot there, as all who walk within those grounds will be cursed.
But his arrival at the manor has awoken something, something horrific within the walls. As a raging storm closes off Blaine Manor from the outside world, Earle and the others find that what is waiting there is not nearly as horrific as what has entered with him…
Coming in April, more details to follow...
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The Story Do Far...
Paradise Heights is a community created by writer/director Joe O'Byrne. It is also a multi media endeavour, a series of separate but interconnecting tales covering film, theatre, poetry, song, novelisation, graphic novel and radio. For more info visit www.talesfromparadiseheights.com
The community has thus far been the backdrop for the feature film Lookin’ for Lucky, the short films The Watcher: A Tale from Paradise Heights and the award winning I'm Frank Morgan. The plays are I'm Frank Morgan, The Bench, Rank, Strawberry Jack, Diane's Deli and I’m Frank Morgan: RewiRED. All these productions are critically acclaimed and thrilled audiences around the North West of England.
Each tale is a self contained story, you can jump on board at any point with any story here, you don’t have to have seen any of the other productions in the series to enjoy the tale you are watching. However; when you see more than one you start to see the deeply embedded links in the tales, the ripples from events that have shaped the characters and the community; the true depth and sense of scale of this series, a series that will one day surely make the transition to TV. They have been described as a graphic illustration of Broken Britain, a Canterbury Tales for the 21st Century, a Chronicle for Today.
2014 saw the launch of the graphic novel - One Shot - Part 1 which will feature many of the colourful characters and places from the series thus far. An epic tale in the mould of BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN it will be dripping in Salford Noir. Part 1 has already received excellent reviews. 2015 saw the launch of my first novel in the series The Bench: A Tale from Paradise Heights, available on Amazon at the following link:
- the novel is great introduction to the series and again has received many great reviews, including one from Martina Cole.
‘I live in a community like Paradise Heights so there is a reality at the core, and it’s great to see such a positive reaction from audiences to these stories; I think there is something in each of them that strikes a chord across a wide range of age groups. I believe in telling real issue based stories, issues that sometimes get tossed around in Parliament in between the important business of flipping homes and fiddling expense claims.
‘Paradise Heights is a deprived community with more than its fair share of problems, problems reflected from the issues seen in most media headlines today. Yes these stories are hard hitting but they are shot through with a rich vein of humour, the kind of humour people find when faced with all kinds of adversity. It’s a tough area but at there is a beating heart at the centre, a kinship. These are just ordinary people facing some of life's extra-ordinary dilemmas.
It's the choices they make facing up to - or running away from - these problems that ultimately defines who they are.
The Heights now has a really diverse range of characters brought to life by incredibly talented and passionate thus far ‘unknown’ actors and crew that I owe a huge debt to, ultimately this form of art is a collaborative process, without their incredible efforts the work stays on the page. Some of the characters cross over or are referred to from story to story, it’s sort of like Camberwick Green with Hoodie’s or even a council estate Canterbury Tales. I’m looking for a publishing deal to get the first five scripts in one volume entitled ‘Low Tales from The Heights’ – that probably sounds a bit lofty but there’s nothing wrong with having a dream is there? When I started out 10 years ago I just wanted to act, I didn’t dream I’d be writing, directing, producing and ...oh yeah...acting. To stop doing any of them now would be like hacking a limb off...'
In addition to these tales I have a play that is set outside the world of Tales from Paradise Heights - currently (Autumn 2018) touring. The play is the award winning The Haunting of Blaine Manor and you will find posts about the play on this group page.
Coming soon is the first animated film in the series The Night Death Put Me Down, in which I will be collaborating again with Darren McGinn and Justin Wetherill, this to be the first in a series of animated tales.
