The Sligo Champion

Margaret’s play at the Abbey

- By EMMA GALLAGHER

A young writer with strong ties to Ballymote has seen her play being staged by the Abbey Theatre later this month.

Margaret Perry, who is a niece of former Fine Gael TD John, is a successful writer based in London.

The 27-year-old’s father, Ivan is a native of Ballymote who married a Cork woman, the city which Margaret grew up in.

She told The Sligo Champion that having her play, Porcelain, being staged in the Abbey was a dream come true.

“I was working on it for about four years on and off, I kept putting it away and going back to it while working on other stuff.

“It’s about two Irish women from two different time periods, one is Bridget Cleary from 1895, who was murdered by her husband as he thought she had been stolen by fairies and replaced with a changeling.

“The second woman is Hat, who is of our time.” Porcelain is directed by Cathal Cleary and weaves together the tale from the past and a tale from the present day, in a tense, harrowing thriller.

The tale from the past is that of Bridget Cleary – the last witch burned in Ireland – whose husband murdered her in Tipperary in 1895, believing that she had been taken by the faeries and replaced by a changeling.

The tale from the present is that of Hat, an Irish ex-pat in London in 2017 and a new mother, who secretly wants to disappear completely.

It is a dark and devastatin­g tale that mixes myth and fact to tell the story of two Irish women living parallel lives years apart.

Its run at the Abbey starts this week, February 16 th and runs until March 10 th.

Margaret said a lot more time goes into writing plays that might surprise people.

“They do take quite more time, even though they can be short enough.

“I’ve written two plays so far and Porcelain has also been published as a play text.”

She said her dream is to write a novel further down the line.

“I would love to write a novel or write for television.

“I’m working on a new play at the moment about the Irish water debate, I’ve got a few things in the pipeline too.”

In terms of Porcelain, it’s running in the Abbey from February 16 th until March 10 th.

“I’m really excited about it. I’m going over for the last weekend of rehearsals. There are six actors in it.”

Margaret said she was thrilled when she got word that her play was going to be staged in the theatre.

“They told me at the end of October. Normally it would take a year before they show it but they said they were showing it in February.

“I had sent them the script and was waiting by the phone. It’s all very exciting, my family are thrilled.

“The Abbey are producing it but I would love to bring it to London and to Cork, so who knows.

“There’s a big crowd coming from Sligo, I’ve a lot of extended family there and I try and get to Sligo at least once a year if I can.”

Margaret said writing was always something she wanted to do once leaving school.

“I always had a big interest in it and I studied Drama & Theatre in UCC for four years and as part of that spent a year in Berkeley, California, which was brilliant, there’s so much creative writing over there.

“I did a Masters in Dramatic Writing too and have been based in London since 201, where there are definitely lots of opportunit­ies.

“My dad is really good at academic writing, he runs Public Health at UCC, while my mum is a consultant doctor, so there’s writing in the family,” she added.

 ??  ?? Above: Margaret Perry
Above: Margaret Perry

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