Touring Ireland this May
Written and performed by Carol Moore
An empowering story of a woman who decides to take back control.
On her 60th birthday Cathy should be celebrating but it rapidly goes downhill.
“In the shop they didn’t see me.
They saw a warm cardigan and sensible shoes woman. An insignificant woman.”
The Experience of Being is a funny, absorbing and moving one-woman play about dwindling power, how to challenge it and why ageism makes growing older far harder than it needs to be.
Written and performed by Carol Moore
Directed by Patrick J. O’Reilly
Development choreography by Oona Doherty
Music score by Conor Mitchell
Saxophone – Kevin Lawless
Produced by An Grianán Theatre
Duration: 60 minutes*
Post show Q&A available at some venues.
Tour Dates 2019
Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda
Tuesday 14 May at 2pm
041 983 3946
www.droichead.com
Abbey Arts Centre, Ballyshannon
Thursday 16 May at 8pm
071 985 1375
www.abbeycentre.ie
An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny
Friday 17 May at 8pm
074 912 0777
www.angrianan.com
Holy Trinity Parish Hall, Dunfanaghy
Saturday 18 May at 8pm
074 912 0777
www.angrianan.com
Hawk’s Well Theatre, Sligo
Wednesday 22 May at 1pm
071 916 1518
www.hawkswell.com
The Glens Centre, Manorhamilton
Saturday 25 May at 8pm
071 985 5833
www.theglenscentre.com
Mullingar Arts Centre, Mullingar
Wednesday 29 May at 8pm
044 934 7777
www.mullingarartscentre.ie
Mermaid Arts Centre, Wicklow
Thursday 30 May at 8pm
01 272 4030
www.mermaidartscentre.ie
An Táin Arts Centre, Dundalk
Friday 31 May at 8pm
042 933 2332
www.antain.ie
The Playhouse Theatre, Derry/Londonderry
Saturday 1 June at 8pm
028 7126 8027
www.derryplayhouse.co.uk
More about the show
On reaching 60 in 2016, actor/writer, Carol Moore didn’t see herself reflected in contemporary Irish theatre, nor was she being offered challenging roles for her own age-group. She felt invisible as an older woman and redundant as an older artist. For 18 months Carol has been writing and developing a one-woman play titled “The Experience of Being”.
The Experience of Being:
The play straddles two worlds. One is memory where conflict, religion and power from many sources limited the choices of girls and young women growing up in Belfast, while in the present Carol is holding up a mirror up to society’s obsession with youthfulness and where power can so easily be stripped from older citizens. The play examines power and gender stereotyping, age myths and the challenges of ageing facing us all.
It is an original, funny and absorbing interdisciplinary production which uses text/physicality/music to tell a powerful story that connects and resonates with a 50+ age-group but also engages with audiences across all age-groups.
Supporting Carol is a critically acclaimed creative team. Director, Patrick J. O’Reilly, is Artistic Director of Tinderbox Theatre Company, composer Conor Mitchell is Artistic Director of music/theatre company, Belfast Ensemble, choreographer, Oona Doherty, is an internationally acclaimed dancer/choreographer and saxophonist while Kevin Lawless is a highly skilled Irish musician.
It has been produced by An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny to to tour nationally during May 2019. A showcase of the production was performed at Prime Cut’s theatre symposium in January at the Mac Theatre, Belfast.
About Carol Moore
Carol Moore has maintained a freelance career across four decades in acting, theatre directing, film directing and drama facilitation.
Carol was co-founder/co-Artistic Director of Charabanc Theatre Company 1983 –’95, their adoption of research and oral interviewing, taking people’s life-experiences and transforming those into theatrical experiences, then delivering it back in non-traditional theatre venues was ground-breaking in reaching new audiences. Charabanc brought Northern Ireland to the attention of international academics and gained both a national/international reputation.
Carol’s acting career includes work with many leading Northern Irish companies including Charabanc, the Lyric, Tinderbox, Brassneck and Kabosh as well as international touring to North America, the former Soviet Union, Germany, South Africa and Rwanda.
Carol has directed a number of plays including at the Lyric Theatre in the early 1990’s and was one of a number of directors on Convictions (Tinderbox) which won ‘Best Production’ at the Irish Times Awards, 2000.
As a writer her work includes a book about Charabanc Theatre company, a monologue about the first Irish women trade unionist Mary Galway, Shrieking Sisters with Maggie Cronin and one-woman play The Experience of Being (previously titled Dangerous Female).
As a filmmaker she won ‘Best First Time Director’ at Celtic Film Festival,1997, for Gort na gCnámh, History Unfinished, was Northern Ireland regional winner of BAFTA 60 sec film competition (2007) and feature film Pumpgirl (2008). She received a NESTA fellowship (2003 –
2005) making a series of documentary films around cultural diversity, which screened at International festivals. She received a Best Actress nominaton in Reefer and the Model at the European film Awards, 1989.
Carol was a Creative Consultant for arts/heritage organisation Red Lead Arts (2003/6) curating Belfast as it Used to Be and directingThe Iceberg and The Liverpool Boat.
