MY CULTURAL LIFE
Tara Egan Langley, actress
Tara Egan Langley was born in London and grew up in Wicklow. She lives in Dalkey with her partner, actor Rory Nolan. She trained at the Gaiety School of Acting and The Royal Irish Academy of Music, and since graduating has written and recorded two albums as Tara Blaise. Her theatre work includes The Constant Wife, and her TV work includes The Fall (BBC). She loves exploring forests, swimming in the sea, and though an “appallingly bad dancer”, loves to get up on the floor. She’s a member of Mothers Artists Makers which aims to give a voice to mothers in the industry. She’ll appear in The Heiress at The Gate Theatre from Saturday.
Author: Milan Kundera
I first read The Unbearable Lightness
of Being, right, by Milan Kundera in my early 20s and was absolutely blown away by it. Kundera writes boldly about love, sex, infidelity and truth, and even the very phrase “lightness of being” completely captured my imagination — the idea that everyone lives only one life and everything happens just once, as opposed to Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence. The book’s protagonists are all terribly highbrow and Bohemian, but human and flawed. At a time when I was young and clueless and unsure of just about everything, this book inspired me with its passion and really made me question my attitude towards relationships.
TV: Game of Thrones
A fantasy show about dragons and fighting and noble families and White Walkers (an ancient race of humanoid ice creatures, naturally). I just thought it sounded like complete nonsense. I was convinced I would hate it. But more and more people raved about it. These were people who I thought would not enjoy stories of flying magical fire-breathing creatures and children of the forest and battles. Finally, curiosity got the better of me and I gave in and agreed to watch one episode. I have been hooked ever since. It’s magical and emotional and exciting and out of this world and utterly compelling.
Artist: Oliver Jeffers
I’m choosing art that has most recently captured my imagination and that is the picture book A Child Of Books. Oliver Jeffers is the artist. He is an artist and illustrator and a bit of a genius. For years he has been casting spells over children and adults alike with books such as How To Catch A Star, Heart And The Bottle and Lost And Found. He is a really big deal in our house and we just recently got A Child Of Books which is a homage to the power of stories.
Film: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
It’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels directed by Frank Oz, simply because it’s the last movie I watched, and yet again it left me giggling like a fool. Steve Martin, Michael Caine (right) and Glenne Headly are each absolutely bang on. The chemistry between Caine (playing a British con artist) and Martin (a fairly mediocre hustler) is fantastic — they are hilarious and one imagines hours of out-takes while they make each other
corpse over and over!
Band: The Evertides
Recently I’ve been listening to The Evertides — Ruth McGill, Alma Kelliher and Ruth Smith (below), an Irish musical trio influenced by close vocal harmony and folk song. Their music is really beautiful and they are remarkably talented. They are each professional music makers, working every day with the technical, classical and theatrical aspects of music. I love discovering new music, and if it’s Irish, that’s a bonus. gatetheatre.ie