Emma O’Grady is returning to the Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise, with her one woman show – ‘What Good is Looking Well When You’re Rotten on the Inside?’
One month before his death, retired civil servant and man of few words Paddy O’Grady had a sudden urge to talk. Using a portable cassette tape recorder, he recorded 15 hours of material: stories about leprechauns, aliens and lonely pharmacists, absurdist political satire, musings on life, love and death, radio shows with advertisements for products that never existed, and memories of life as a civil servant.
Putting words into life
Paddy’s granddaughter, Emma O’Grady, later discovered he had written plays, poems and short stories in the 1950s and until now his work has been without an audience.
The Portlaoise native then created this one-woman show – created with multiple directors – examines the fractured and fragile personas we present to the world. It examines who we might be behind these and the potential of what we could be instead.
‘What Good is Looking Well When You’re Rotten on the Inside?’ is a fascinating piece about emotional inheritance and grief for wasted creativity, that serves as both a tribute and a warning.
This unique and compelling show is beginning its first national tour and Emma hits the Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise, on Saturday, August 18.
The Portlaoise native is a theatre-maker, production manager and lighting technician. She has an MA in Drama & Theatre Studies (NUIG) and was co-founder and co-artistic director of Mephisto Theatre Company 2007-2014.
‘What Good is Looking Well When You’re Rotten on the Inside?’ is directed by Jonathan Gunning, Caroline Lynch and A. Smith. Costume design is by Triona Lillis, sound design by Rob Moloney and lighting design by Eoin Winning.
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