When The Elders first discovered Teresa Deevy and her plays they puzzled at never having heard of her before. Dismay led to fascination, then research, then astonishment at Deevy’s fame and success at the time, as well as the crises that life threw before her.
Irene Gunning, Elder, Andrew Parkes, Elder, Cathy Leeney, Dramaturg
Led by playwright Michelle Read and producer / director Andrea Scott, material for a script was devised by the group and transformed into a play by Michelle. Part documentary and part imagination, The Elders’ performance creates a playful kaleidoscope of 1930s Ireland, of Deevy’s life, her Abbey achievements and, in the 40s, her plays written for the “wireless”.
Irene Gunning, Elder, Andrew Parkes, Elder, Cathy Leeney, Dramaturg
In ‘The Somewhat Imagined, Partly Historical, True Story of the Forgotten Irish Playwright, Teresa Deevy’, Deevy’s main characters are vividly reborn, straining for life. Each Elder playing multiple roles – observers and characters, real and imagined – in a play, described by Andrea our director as being, “in conversation with the audience and with itself”.
Irene Gunning, Elder, Andrew Parkes, Elder, Cathy Leeney, Dramaturg
A note on characters, casting and the process…
During our development period as the team researched Deevy’s life and plays we came across a lot of contradictions and assumptions so that as with any real person we didn’t have a complete idea of the truth of her. We don’t really know what Teresa Deevy was like and we all have different interpretations of her personality and how she operated in the world as a deaf woman. So we made the decision to have many of the ensemble play her. We also believe in equality of casting!
Deevy’s characters, as all characters, have been and will be played by various actors so again we made the decision to swap these roles around constantly throughout the cast.
Throughout Autumn 24 Michelle collaborated with the group on writing this piece, she then took that material as a basis to write this wonderful original play. The Elders used their scripts throughout to ensure they didn’t forget any of it.
The Ensemble
The Elders performing
Aileen O’Connor
Nuala O’Connell
Brendan Supple
Andrew Parkes
David Ingoldsby
Irene Gunning
Margaret Casey
Eithne Casey
Eimear Berry
Hughie O’Byrne
Mary Cate Kelly
Maureen Shakespeare
Lucille McDonald
Joan Nolan (part of the creation – not performing)
Angela O’Rourke (part of the creation – not performing)
Shabnam Vashist (an Elder not on this particular project)
Written by Michelle Read in collaboration with The Elders
Produced & Directed by Andrea Scott, Floating World Productions
Original music composed and performed by Brian Keegan
Dramaturg Cathy Leeney
Assistant Director Astrid Linney
Lighting Designer Conleth White
Lighting Operator Heather Hennessey
Photographer Thom McDermott
Sign Language Interpreter Amanda Coogan
Thanks to:
Kate, Shona, Kris and all at dlr Mill Theatre for their unwavering support.
Roisín Berry at The Deevy Archive.
Lianne Quigley and all at Dublin Theatre of the Deaf.
Anna Bielenberg and all at the Research Collections reading room, TCD Library.
Teresa Deevy (1894–1963) was born in Waterford, the youngest of thirteen children in a devout Catholic family, much encouraged by her mother. Aged 19 she lost her hearing due to Ménière’s disease; however, she was “late-deafened” and she must have retained a strong sense of speech in her imagination. Deevy went to London, mastered lip-reading and was encouraged to go to the theatre because of the clear diction of the actors. She drew inspiration from Chekhov, Ibsen, and Shaw. As a playwright she aimed to "put the sort of life we have in Ireland into a play."
At home, her republican political leanings led to her critical views on the narrow conservatism of the 1930s. At the Abbey Theatre she became a leading dramatist with successes like Temporal Powers (1932) and the acclaimed Katie Roche (1936). When the management of the Abbey changed and two of her plays were rejected in 1939 and 1942, she turned to writing for radio. She made a great success of this despite being profoundly deaf, and loved to be at the Studio during rehearsals or broadcasts, at Radio Éireann or BBC Northern Ireland.
For the Elders Teresa Deevy stands as a beacon of resilience and creativity in Irish theatre.
The Elders Dundrum
The Elders have been creating original theatre since 2018. They are a group of people at a stage in life some call ‘the beige age’ where people seem to disappear into the background of life. We challenge ageing! We aim to be a beacon to people aged over 65 and show them that, ‘is féidir linn!’ We use improvisation techniques; our collective talents; our imagination; and local folklore, to create our dramatic performances. We count ourselves lucky to have reached this stage in our lives - with our memories intact, we all have a story to tell. We have performed indoors and outdoors on front of large appreciative audiences. Everyday surprises us with newfound knowledge. Some of this knowledge is about nature protecting our environment. As a group we are not in decline - on the contrary - our aim is to contribute - to be reflective; to be active in the community; for our work to be valued, and for our deeply considered opinions to be heard. We are motivated by values beyond our personal selves - to freely serve the community in which we live. We educate - we create awareness of topical issues; we encourage conversation and reflection on the themes in our presentations.
Please see www.floatingworldproductions.com for images and films of our previous work!
What We Do…
We Elders meet each Tuesday for 3 hours. Coming towards show time, it is more frequently and for a longer period. Our diary is organised at the start of each season by Andrea our director. Andrea could be the facilitator, or we might have a puppeteer; an actor; a dramaturge; or a dance choreographer to facilitate us.
We generally meet in the Mill theatre, but we have had our sessions in The Dance Studio, in Ballaly and in Mount Merrion park, and for our eco drama, in the beautiful woodland of Kilruddery demesne. We learn from different experts how to compile, write, edit and perform our pieces. This enhances our skills, particularly our cognitive and memory skills. Our mobility, our flexibility and our mindfulness are addressed by movement and relaxation techniques at the start and often throughout each session. We develop the courage to perform on front of a live audience and to display our skills and talents.
We welcome new members!
