The first " In The Shadow or in the Shelter Festival" of new London Irish writing opens 10th October at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town.
This year is the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, a seminal moment in the story of Ireland's independence.
The six plays in the festival's first season examine the lives of Irish men and women who travelled to London in the decades of this last century: From Irish rebels in the Rising taken to Wandsworth Prison for questioning to a later generation who came over the Irish Sea to enlist in the fight against Hitler. Other plays deal with the post-war waves of migrants who came looking for work; young women escaping social repression and forced marriage at home and a contemporary stories of Irish struggling with dementia and depression.
The Festival is an opportunity to celebrate the talents of writers and actors of Irish extraction.
Here we talk to the two youngest performers in this year's plays.
Traitors Cads and Cowards by Martin McNamara
An Irish Volunteer, transported to the military wing of Wandsworth Prison following the Easter Rising, is bunked with a British army deserter and a conscientious objector. Can three very different 'traitors to the King' find common ground?
Aidan Casey plays Alfred, a deserter from the British Army in prison drama Traitors, Cads & Cowards
What is your connection to Ireland?
My mother is Irish, both her parents emigrated to England separately. Her father's family settled in Walls End in the 1920's and my grandfather join the Merchant navy during WW2 and participated in the evacuation of Dunkirk. Later in the war he was in a military hospital, where he met my Grandmother who was a nurse. She came to England early on in the war to work in the wartime hospitals.
My father is also an expert and teacher of Irish literature and its relationship to "The countries landscape and 'Sense of place'."
How long have you been acting for?
Since I was 5 years old.
What does being in the first London Irish Play Festival mean to you?
To me being a part of the festival is an opportunity to tell stories of our heritage, which are not often told, and in some cases wilfully forgotten about.
Has the character that you play or the play that you are in taught you anything about the history of the Irish in London?
Absolutely, growing up in family we all knew about the Rising, the executions and what followed back in Ireland but I never knew before what happened to the survivors of the Rising immediately afterwards. Imprisonment, internment and Sanky tribunal were for most the part all new to me
Women's Work by Anna May Nagle
80 year old Nora forgets that she comes from Ireland; London born grand-daughter Eilis doesn't, but think she does. Stuck in the middle is daughter and mother Moya. How will these three generations cope over the Easter weekend?
Helena Collins O'Connor plays Eilis.
What is your connection to Ireland?
My Family heritage is a mixture of Irish and English. My Nan from my mothers side came from Creeisler in Donegal any Dad is from Cashelin, Tipperary.
How long have you been acting for?
Since I was 11, I started off in school plays then moved into musical theatre and was performing in the West End when I was 17. I took a break to study and am now go using on branching into comedy.
What does being in the first London Irish Play Festival mean to you?
I feel like it's a massive achievement! Irish plays can be hard to come by in London so am pleased to say I'm a part of something which has such a significance as its 100 years from the Easter risings in Dublin.
Has the character that you play or the play that you are in taught you anything about the history of the Irish in London?
I would like to say so! Eilis, my character is very much a modern preacher of the turmoils of Ireland's past, so she tends to reference the history. I went to see Plough and the Stars at the National as part of my research and felt I could really understand Eilis and her personal feelings to her heritage. In terms of London I've definitely learnt about the significance that it holds in London for sure!
The festival is running from the 11th - 16th October.
For more information, visit the Lion and Unicorn Theatre's website
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