Since 2008 Whirligig has staged a range of works by Irish Writers such as Tara Maria Lovett (The Cut and The Tide), George Fitzmaurice (The Magic Glasses and The Wonderful Wedding), Flann O’Brien (The Bother with the Brother) and A Titter of Wit, an entertaining taste of the works of great Irish dramatists, poets and humourists and staged at the Irish Writers Centre.
In 2016/17 in a change from Irish writers, we had a great success with Canadian dramatist George F. Walker's comedy Risk Everything. This was performed at The New Theatre and The Viking in Clontarf.
In 2019 we returned to the work of Tara Maria Lovett with our production of The Tide. Directed by Pat Nolan this was staged at the New Theatre, Temple Bar and subsequently at The Dolmen and Whale Theatres. The planned 2020 National Tour was postponed because of Covid. We hope to re-schedule this in the near future.
In March 2022 thanks to Arts Council Project Funding, we developed and staged a Rehearsed Reading of a new play Susan, written by Ann Russell and directed by Gerard Lee. This play tells the story of Susan, an elderly woman who has been placed in a nursing home by her family. Susan is angry and resentful, she feels trapped, abandoned, powerless and ignored. She has a memory, elusive but persistent. Is it real or not? How can she be sure and what does she do with the rage it generates?
Our wonderful cast, led by Helen Roche as Susan, brought this play to life and the lively and engaged after-show discussion showed how the theme of the play resonated with so many people.
Sincere thanks to the Arts Council and the Irish Theatre Institute for their support for this project and to the Alzheimer's Society and Dr. Hannah Gogarty (RCSI) for their expert advice.
