24 Hour Plays at the Abbey Theatre

Cast and Crew 2018

 

24 Hour Plays at the Abbey Theatre, Sun 28 Jan in aid of Dublin Youth Theatre.

Six short plays written, rehearsed and presented in just 24 hours in aid of Dublin Youth Theatre.

The 24 Hour Plays: Dublin in aid of Dublin Youth Theatre kicks off at the Meet and Greet. The writers and directors are paired up and briefed. Then the company assembles and each actor presents a prop, a costume, a special skill and something they have always wanted to do on stage but never have. (The writers and directors also add a prop and costume to the mix). All of this acts as inspiration for the writers (and maybe an indication to the directors of how far they can push their cast!!) It is a wonderful couple of hours packed with creative energy. Observing all of this are the technical departments: lighting, sound, stage management, costumes, and the assistant directors and production assistants, taking notes. It’s amazing to see what inspires the writers! All photos by Aoife Herrity, photographer.

 

My prop was a picture of myself age 6, dressed as an angel.  My costume piece was an orange jacket.  My skill was Mime (hoping to avoid a lengthy line learn) and my wish was to do a really good prat fall.

The actors went home and the writers set to work writing feverishly till 6am when scripts had to be printed.  We met again in the Abbey at 8.15am and the cast and directors were announced, and we set off to our rehearsal room in the Lab F oley Street, scripts in hand.  Mark Doherty,  Susan Bracken, Pat McGrath and myself were ably directed by Susan Baxter, and our play was written by Orla McGovern.  It turned out to be an extremely involved Film Noir detective story complete with detective, Russian tap-dancer, Maire the Mime, Ronnie Rooney the Ringmaster, Pete the Pecs muscle man, and a closing cast dance finale!!

We spent a feverish few hours figuring who murdered who, and who was secretly in love with the other, before the production crew landed into the room.  We had half an hour with Bryan Burrows who advised us on face slaps and sudden death falls.  We stopped for lunch and script learning.  We had 20 minutes on the Abbey stage for a technical rehearsal.  Then we retreated back to Foley Street to re-learn the lines (and yes I had plenty despite being Maire the Mime!)  Run throughs then to try and hang the play together, and it was actually becoming more clear to our befuddled brains.  The dance finale was pure relief and fun.  At 6pm, we hauled ourselves back to the Abbey for a company photo shoot and then it was find a dressing room, put on a clean tee shirt, bit of slap, and nose in the script until we heard the first play being introduced.  We were on third, so thankfully our ordeal would be over before the interval.  A brief hug and on we marched, taking up our opening positions.  Mark had offered clarinet playing as his skill and our opening image was wonderful with Susan donning her detective hat to the strains of the clarinet.  All was going well till Mark gave a lash of his Ringmaster’s whip – crack the sound effect followed 5 seconds later.  He tried again, and crack the same sound delay got a roar of approval from the audience.  Then I announced that “a gun was found near the body.”  Immediately I knew I had to correct it.  “No.  A hammer was found near the body.”  Tarn.  The audience again whooped encouragement!  We made it unscathed to the dance number and the audience applauded their way through till we peeled our way into the wings.

 

It’s not for the faint-hearted, but it was a pleasure to be on the Abbey stage again, and a pleasure to see a full house and know that Dublin Youth Theatre will have funding for another year.

Publicity Profile on Twitter/Facebook to promote the event:

 

Rose has had her hand up to be an actor since age 2, and they’re finally letting her have a go. She worked in Children’s TV with Pajo’s Junkbox, Nighthawks, Father Ted, Fair City, and has written two plays Ruby Tuesday and Take Off Your Cornflakes with Pat Nolan. She is currently touring Boom by Isobel Mahon and Weighing In by Ger Gallagher.

Have you participated in The 24 Hour Plays in aid of Dublin Youth Theatre before? If yes what is your fondest/ most nightmare causing memories? If no what are you looking forward to/ terrified of?

No. It’s a bit like buying a ticket for the roller coaster and looking at all the loops from the ground. “Yes. This is going to be fun,” I say firmly, not convincing myself at all.

As a teenager what was your greatest interest?

Drama, singing and skipping (yeah, All Ireland Champ)

If you could work on any film or play with anyone living or dead what production and who would it be? Why?

I’d love to have worked with Lucille Ball, a sassy slapstick comic with impeccable timing who was also the first woman to head a major Hollywood studio. I want to be in that conveyor belt chocolate scene!

If you could time travel would you go forward or back and why?

Forward for sure. This is why I support Youth Theatre. I’m excited to see what’s ahead, what barriers come crashing down, what inventions are set to change our lives, and whether we ever get to figure out that love is the answer.

International Women’s Club

Rose was guest speaker at the International Women’s Club, Talbot Hotel Tuesday 16 January, 2018.

 

This is an extraordinary gathering of women who come from all walks of life and over 26 countries.  They are women who happen to be living in Dublin for anything from 6 months to 6 years.   Often they are the ones who support their husband’s career, and during a posting here, they find schools for their children, and facilitate their smooth acceptance into a new culture.  Meanwhile, as women do worldwide, they support each other, sharing tips for living in this crazy town, interpreting road-signs, explaining the subtleties of our culture as well as helping each other feel at home in whatever way they can.  As well as language classes, fitness classes, yoga, they invite a speaker to the Talbot Hotel once a month, and in January they decided they needed some cheering up, and plummed for a comedian/actress to do just that.  Given the diversity of the audience, I wasn’t sure was this going to be my quietest audience yet, but I need not have feared.  Over 150 women were warm and interested and gave me their full attention.  I did some comedy sketches, talked about creating a career after children, invited them to my upcoming shows, and got them up singing in four-part harmony!!

 

Thank you for inviting me.

 

BOOM? by Isobel Mahon

Directed by Caroline FitzGerald

  

 

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Selma Mae (Isobel Mahon) is riding the boom, or so it appears to friends and family. She has a perfect husband, perfect kids, a perfect home.
But, when her social-climbing Mother, Carmel (Maria McDermottroe), ‘helpfully’ organises a bash to celebrate her new state-of-the-art extension, Selma begins to wonder who’s life she’s living after all. As the odd assortment of guests; glamorous neighbour Chloe (Claudia Carroll), career-girl sister Maeve (Aisling O’Neill), and the eccentric Bernie (Rose Henderson), begin to assemble, it becomes obvious that Carmel’s dream of an elegant ‘do’ is fast descending into chaos.
The night unfolds, old secrets are shared and facades begin to crack. The Boomtime girls are forced to recognise that behind the gloss, true friendship proves the only solid foundation.

This play has just finished a run in the Gaiety Theatre Dublin and is currently playing at the New York City Center Stage II under the title Party Face directed by Amanda Bearse and starring Hayley Mills  – tickets NYCityCenter.org until 8 April 2018.

Boom?

March 30, 2018

by Chris O’Rourke – The Arts Review

***

Secrets and Lies

Secrets run rampant in Isobel Mahon’s comedy “Boom?” where five women discover that keeping things hidden is a lot harder than you think. With some incredible comic moments, wonderfully observed humour, and some stellar performances, “Boom?” often delivers big on the belly laughs.

Set over the course of a single evening, “Boom?” sees tales of disappearing husbands, psychiatric hospitals, old affairs, and new friendships gathering for a party in Selma Mae’s newly constructed extension. Mum Carmel, a wannabe Yummy Mummy at sixty three, prances about in her leopard print leggings finding fault with everything and everyone, especially her two daughters. Only Chloe, Selma Mae’s tasteful neighbor from two doors down, is above reproach. As ephemeral as she is pretentious, Chloe from Cork is the height of sophistication in Carrickmines in 2006. Mother of a suburban terrorist, her art appreciation might not be all it could be, but Chloe knows everything about anything, from the proper way to judge wine, the dangers of allergens, to guided meditations to find your inner door. Selma Mae’s wine swilling, no nonsense sister, Maeve, thinks Chloe is for the birds. But that privilege might have to go to Selma Mae’s newest acquaintance, Bernie, an MDOC (manic depressive obsessive compulsive) with a penchant for cling film. As the night progresses, and alcohol flows, pipes are not the only things to burst, as the lies that disguise give way to secrets untold and decisions will have to be made about what happens next.

Mahon’s script is laced with observational humour of such finesse that you simply want to bask in it.   “Boom?” is at its most engaging best when it lets its five women just be free to talk wine, talk spiteful, or to talk behind one anothers back. Isobel Mahon as Selma Mae, a woman with some thinking to do, forms the gravitational centre around which everything revolves. As well as playing straight woman to a delightful Maria McDermottroe as her eternally judgmental, socially ambitious mother, Carmel. Claudia Carroll as the paragon of pretension, Chloe, and Aisling O’Neill as the under used, straight talking Maeve, are pure comedy gold. Carroll sets them up and O’Neill knocks them down every time with the timing and precision of seasoned comedy veterans. A scene stealing Rose Henderson as Bernie, Blowly, Bunty, or any other B name you can probably think off, is simply fantastic as a kind of Lear’s fool, as wise in her madness as the others are mad in their apparent wisdom.

There’s a reason why “Boom?”, entitled “Party Face” in the US, has proven to be hugely popular in New York. And it’s not just because it stars Hayley Mills. It’s because Mahon’s comedic script provides some smart commentary on boom, and post boom, Ireland. On mothers and daughters, and the fads, failings and friendships that exist between five wonderfully engaging women. And of the pressures, self inflicted and otherwise, they struggle with. This production provides generous amounts of laughter, some exquisite comic performances, and an enjoyable evening out with the girls.

 

RUBY TUESDAY by Rose Henderson

Performed by Helen Norton (Fair City, The Heiress) and Rose Henderson (Fair City, Father Ted) and Directed by Deirdre Molloy

Viking Theatre, Clontarf 8 May – 20 May

Tickets €12 Booking 087-1129970 / www.vikingtheatredublin.com

Bewley’s Cafe Theatre at Powerscourt Townhouse 24 April 24 – 6 May 

                                                                   Tickets €10-12, Booking 086-8784001 / www.bewleyscafetheatre.com

 

The Dolmen Theatre, Cabinteely, Preview 6 Feb, Opening Tue 7 Feb – 18 Feb

Tickets €15 Booking 087-1018202

In her gilded cage in the leafy suburbs of Dublin, Mrs. T has managed to hold onto her middle class lifestyle but at what cost?  Filling her life with writers’ groups, yoga holidays, school reunions and obsessive cleaning is not quite enough. Her marriage is a sham, and her daughter wants to get away as far and fast as possible.  She has to pick up the pieces or succumb to depression.

Her husband may control her spending, but she does have a cleaning lady, Ruby, who calls every Tuesday to clean the house and blow away the cobwebs of Mrs. T’s life with sarcasm, wit and common sense.

This keenly observed comedy brings together two women who come to depend on each other for laughter and sanity, while their home life disintegrates around them.

As their stories unfold we see how banter and laughter help them to deal with the betrayals of children, the cold indifference of a failed marriage and the domestic catastrophes behind the double-glazing, spit and polish.

 

Emer O’Kelly, Sunday Independent 30 April 2017

IF YOU WANT CHARM, YOU’LL GET IT IN SPADES FROM RUBY TUESDAY …

GOOD OBSERVATION…

THERE IS A CONSIDERABLE AUDIENCE FOR THIS MATERIAL AND HENDERSON HAS HIT IT SUCCESSFULLY…

THE CHARM TRUMPS ALL.

 

No More Workhorse – Review by P McGovern

Anyone expecting from the title that there’s a Rolling Stones angle will have to settle for Peter Skellern and a bit of ragtime piano.  The world presented in this revival of Rose Henderson’s 2008 play is not rebellious or even vaguely Rock ‘n Roll. It is the staid, mundane and uneventful world of two women – at least it appears so, on the surface. Like most lives, however, when you glimpse beyond the surface there are all kinds of hidden personal dramas, involving relationship difficulties, the onset of ageing, and the grief of bereavement. Henderson has reworked the piece significantly from the original version, developing the relationship between two women, Mrs. T and Ruby, the woman who cleans for her. Yes, on Tuesdays.

The characters are well delineated: middle-class Mrs. T, all smiley, open, bubbly charm, warm and empathic; Ruby a no-nonsense working class woman, good-natured but clear-eyed, with a very realistic sense of the world around her and her own place in it.  As the two settle into their weekly routine of laundering, dusting and cleaning, it seems as if we are in for a straightforward, slice-of-domestic-life and girl-talk piece. However, all is not as bland and cosy as it first appears. Both women have encountered serious problems in their family lives and, in their respective crises, each has thrown the other “a lifeline”, reinforcing the bond of friendship beyond the boundaries of employer/employee. The seriousness of the play is leavened with a lot of fun and the plot is enlivened with time lapses into girlhood and recapturing a few serious moments too. Colm Maher’s lighting design readily signals the shifts in time, place and character and, like Deirdre Molloy’s sympathetic direction, it does so without fuss.

Both Rose Henderson as Mrs T and Helen Norton as Ruby are excellent.  Henderson’s wreathed, beaming smiles and fluttering movements and her eagerness to please at her schoolgirls’ reunion somehow belie an underlying anxiety to fit in and a need for affirmation.  Norton’s Rose doubles as Mrs. T’s teenage sister of 30 years ago, effortlessly changing from inner city working class to solid Dublin middle-class, giggly school girl on holiday and later to the neighbour who calls in a misguided but well-intentioned effort to be helpful. When the darker side of Ruby’s life experience surfaces, it is deeply affecting, all the more so for the restraint in the acting and direction.

An odd weakness in the production is the stage set, not explained by the restricted space.  Two cream-coloured, leatherette dining chairs of an “apartment fit-out” type and an odd-looking table draped with a cloth that reaches the floor. A €5-type of printed image of a cow as the only picture on the walls.  The whole impression sits uneasily with the image of a couple that goes on golfing trips to South Africa.  However, the strength of the performances means that such minor issues don’t really take from an enjoyable and worthwhile lunchtime performance which continues at Powerscourt Theatre, South William St, daily at 1 pm until May 6th

 

 

 

John McKeown Irish Daily Mail 11 April 2008

Cleaning Lady makes a Fine Agony Aunt…

Verdict:  Spunky comic two-hander ****

Writer Rose Henderson has come up with something fresh and often very funny.  There’s the class reunion where Mrs. T assures her friends that she won’t say a word about her wonderful children, but can chatter about nothing else.  That’s followed by a demonstration of Mrs. T’s ability to slip into her ‘yogic state’ at will.  The personal griefs she unburdens on Ruby are treated more seriously, but there’s an irrepressible quality to Mrs. T’s laments, lit by unsettling flashes of honesty.  Henderson’s first play, deftly directed by Deirdre Molloy, is a lively, irreverent piece of writing.

 

 

Lucy White Metro 22 April 2008

Initially threatened by loud drumming from Grafton Street, Ruby Tuesday found its own rhythm, weaving real-time conversations between the two women with seamless flashbacks – a pile of laundry was fashioned very convincingly into a bawling babe in arms when new-mother Mrs. T recalled a touching phone call with her own mum.  Rose Henderson wrote and stars, playing Mrs. T down to a, well, tea.  Inspired by women who work in the home, Henderson has mingled her own personal experiences with poetic license for a heart-warming tale of friendship in unlikely places.  Helen Norton meanwhile plays the pragmatic Ruby without ever resorting to working-class caricature.  Mrs. T might be just another middle-aged wife/mother/daughter trying to reclaim her identity after the kids have flown the nest but her plight is touchingly handled.  Issues of dieting, absent husbands, miscarriage, moody children and self-help books may point towards a very specific demographic, but the performances ensure Ruby Tuesday is a little gem anyone can enjoy.

 

 

Gerry Colgan Irish Times 4 April 2008

Mrs. T is an upper crust suburban housewife whose life has been difficult, leaving her vulnerable to introspection and neuroses. Ruby is the cleaning lady who adds dollops of common sense and realism to her routine chores.  Rose Henderson’s play juxtaposes these two characters to some effect.  Their short soliloquies and exchanges provide pleasant entertainment for the audience.  The author has much to offer.  There are neat alter ego tricks to exploit the possibilities of theatre as when both characters become Mrs. T, fending off false friendship in contrasting ways.  The actors – the author and the ebullient Helen Norton – hit the right notes to generate the laughter of recognition.

 

 

Sara Keating Sunday Business Post 27 April 2008 ***

Henderson plays the self-obsessed Mrs. T, whose secret weaknesses for cream buns and old-fashioned crooners make her more of a fallible heroine than a martyr.  Norton gives a delightfully physical performance as the dogged cleaning lady, Ruby.  The more difficult scenes of Henderson’s play are comprehensively executed, such as the scene where Norton becomes a stand-in for Mrs. T’s conscience, embodying Mrs. T’s inner voice to comic effect.  Some of the acerbic social observation in the play is penetrating and acute, such as the peculiarly female habit of celebrating other people’s problems while pretending to sympathise.  A packed house revelled in Henderson’s biting take on domesticity.

 

* * * * *

Is Daniel a Registered Gas Installer?

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Unfortunately not!  The new RGI safety advert is making waves on all TV channels.  Rose aka “Mary” is a big Daniel O’Donnell fan and thrilled to be welcoming him to her home.  Her room is adorned with Daniel paraphernalia: albums, mugs, embroidered fire guard, hand-painted painting, home made iced cake, cushions.  She is his number one fan.  Serving him hot water out of her best china (Daniel does not drink tea), she apologises for the cold room.  “The boiler is acting up.”  He very kindly offers to take a look at it for her, but I’m afraid he has overstepped a very important safety line!!  Mary asks him to leave – throws him out.  He’s perplexed, but as she pulls down the blind in her drawing room to shut him out, we see it has his lovely face on it, but she is devastated.  Her hero was not a Registered Gas Installer.

Now.

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“BOOM?” by Isobel Mahon

Directed by Caroline FitzGerald

Next performances:  Mermaid Theatre
Fri 2 December – Sat 3 December, at 8pm
Tickets e15 Booking 01-2724030

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Selma Mae (Isobel Mahon) is riding the boom, or so it appears to friends and family. She has a perfect husband, perfect kids, a perfect home.
But, when her social-climbing Mother, Carmel (Maria McDermottroe), ‘helpfully’ organises a bash to celebrate her new state-of-the-art extension, Selma begins to wonder who’s life she’s living after all. As the odd assortment of guests; glamorous neighbour Chloe (Claudia Carroll), career-girl sister Maeve (now played by Clelia Murphy), and the eccentric Bernie (Rose Henderson), begin to assemble, it becomes obvious that Carmel’s dream of an elegant ‘do’ is fast descending into chaos.
The night unfolds, old secrets are shared and facades begin to crack. The Boomtime girls are forced to recognise that behind the gloss, true friendship proves the only solid foundation.

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Maria McDermottroe, Rose Henderson, Aisling O’Neill, Claudia Carroll and Isobel Mahon, in rehearsal.

Sunday Independent

It’s a comedy that’s light and fun, but which packs a razor-sharp edge, says Emer O’Kelly

Isobel Mahon’s Boom? is set 10 years ago, at the height of (you’ve guessed it) the mythical economic boom.  Yet it could as readily be contemporary, and that’s in its favour.  She is setting out to satirise the pretentious vulgarity of suburbia, specifically areas of south County Dublin in 2006, but both her characters and the situation are as much of today as a decade ago.

Forty-something Selma Mae’s husband has walked out on her, plunging her into a nervous breakdown, an abortive attempt to slash her wrists, and a successful attempt at wrecking her brand new kitchen.  Now she’s out of hospital and having a drinks party to “celebrate” her return to normality.

But with a mother like Carmel, obsessed with appearances, that’s not going to be easy.  And then there’s Chloe from down the road, mistress of all things trendy, and the possessor (in her own mind) of the solutions to everyone’s problems.  Add in Selma Mae’s older sister Maeve, ahead of her in the separation stakes, cynical and with a tongue like a razor, and you have a lethal mix even before you add in Bernie – the obsessive compulsive neurotic who Selma has met in hospital, but who is definitely not the class of person Carmel wants her daughter to be associating with.

This production at the Dolmen Theatre in Cabinteely in Dublin is as light as a feather, thanks to Mahon’s sure ear for dialogue.  But she also has a good touch with reality checks, and there’s a real sense of empathy with the trials of modern life, even when cushioned by designer takeaways for parties, golf club membership and the latest mod-con gadgetry.

Director Caroline FitzGerald has assembled a first-class cast and handles them with a deft touch.  The author herself plays Selma, with Maria McDermottroe as Carmel, Claudia Carroll as Chloe, Aisling O’Neill as Maeve, and Rose Henderson as Bernie.

All are terrific, but O’Neill does slightly edge the lead as the unapologetically vicious Maeve.

Design is by Conor Neville with lighting by Ben Downey.

 

Sunday Mail

Michael Moffatt show of the week

WHAT REMAINS WHEN THE GLITTER FADES…

Isobel Mahon’s play comes as a follow-up to that day of wrath in the Abbey last year when the Waking the Feminist movement took over the theatre for a day to bemoan the sad lot of women in the theatrical world.  So to balance things, here’s a play written by a woman for herself and four other women, about women’s problems, directed by Caroline Fitzgerald.

The theme of family difficulties is certainly up-to-date but there’s a problem balancing the comic and serious elements of the story, whether to go for breezy comedy or for a satirical look at the pretentious and flamboyant lifestyles of the Celtic Tiger boomers.

Selma Mae, married to an architect, with a nice home sweet kids, and a new super house extension to show off, has some friends and relations over to celebrate.  There’s one snag – not everyone knows that she recently spent time in a psychiatric hospital.  Why that happened is central to the story.

When her pushy mother takes over the job of managing the evening, and the friends turn up, cracks appear in the apparently glittering lifestyles, secrets are uncovered, and celebration declines into disintegration.

The comic element needs a sophisticated touch to keep the serious aspects in focus, but often, especially in the case of the mother, Carmel (Maria McDermottroe) an ignorant interfering monster, the comedy comes across as having all the delicacy of a sledgehammer wielded by a pantomime dame.

Which is a pity because, in general, the characters and the situation are full of possibilities,

Aisling O’Neill as Maeve, the embittered sister with a waspish tongue is a credible creation, the sort who can bring a sharper comic edge to a serious role.  She’s well contrasted with the fashion-conscious, allergic-to-everything Chloe (Claudia Carroll) full of psychobabble and instant empathy, but not quite as gormless as she appears.  Maeve’s big dramatic bust-up with Chloe is one of the play’s stronger scenes.

Bernie, Selma’s former psychiatric inmate pal, very nicely played by Rose Henderson, is a genuinely interesting character, but she’s lumbered with rather obvious neurotic tics and traits spelling out everything.  Isobel Mahon’s own role as the doleful Selma is all the better for being understated.

There’s potential here for the exposure of shallow lives and shattered dreams, and some crisper editing and firmer direction might sharpen the comic elements.  But nonetheless, the audience clearly enjoyed itself.

“You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” by Stuart Thomas

Directed by Ronnie McCann
Producer: ZAC Group

Tivoli Theatre

IMG_1452Watch as Katherine leads an exceptional cast including Rose Henderson (Fair City), Seamus Moran (Fair City), Noella Brennan (Fair City), Emma Barry (Fifty One Shades of Maggie) and Karl Bowe (Mr Ireland) through a story of family ups and downs in the way only Katherine Lynch can. This is a show guaranteed to have you laughing all the way home. A night not to be missed!

Middle-aged Barbara’s broken-hearted when hubby Henry dumps her. But soon she’s having the best sex of her life with hunky Zak, the much younger handyman who’s artexing her box room.

Mags, Barbara’s sister, played by Katherine Lynch is a serial singleton, who is addicted to Tinder and one night stands. What will Mags and Marie say when they find out about Babs and Zak? And is Zak too good to be true? And what if Henry changes his mind?

Crammed with laughs, tears and songs like ‘I’m In the Mood for Dancing’, ‘I Will Survive’, ‘Happy’ and of course, ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers’, this heart-warming, raunchy comedy about love will be your best night out this year!

 

Friday and Saturday nights at the Tivoli for the month of April, 2016
Booking Ticketmaster

Presented by the Zac Group.

All Sorts of Wild Reports – Women of 1916 – Findlater’s Church

Dublin: One City One Book

‘All sorts of wild reports have been circulated about the enemy. We met a detachment of the Veteran Corps marching to Greystones who told us: ‘bad news from Dublin. All the wires cut, street fighting already in progress, and very few soldiers about’ From the Diary of Monica Roberts

On Wednesday 20th April at 7 p.m. a special evening featuring dramatised descriptions of the 1916 Rising will take place in Abbey Presbyterian Church (Findlater’s) on Parnell Square. In what promises to be a highlight of the Dublin: One City One Book Festival, the experiences of a diverse group of women during the fighting of Easter week, will be brought to life by actors, complemented by singers and musicians from the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

We will hear the voices of women who recorded their experiences of the Rising. It is the story of women as soldiers, nurses, cooks, gun-runners, gossips, hostesses and writers. Excerpts are taken from the diaries and letters of volunteer nurses Nora and Jean Fitzpatrick, visiting opera singer Elsie McDermid, labour activist Rosie Hackett and diarist Monica Roberts.

Dublin: One City, One Book is an award-winning Dublin City Council initiative, led by Dublin City Public Libraries, which encourages everyone to read a book connected with the capital city during the month of April every year.
This year’s Dublin: One City One Book choice is Fallen by author Lia Mills and the setting in Findlater’s Church for All Sorts of Wild Reports is significant as Katie, the main character in Fallen, lived in Rutland Square (now called Parnell Square).

Show created and produced by Rose Henderson.

Actors performing at the event: Catherine Byrne, Rose Henderson, Isobel Mahon, Jennifer O’Dea and Kerrie O’Sullivan.

RIAM singers performing are Lorna Breen (soprano), Eimear McCarthy Luddy (mezzo soprano) and Peter Manning (baritone).

RIAM pianist – Keith Stears

Admission is free, booking is essential.