Curtain up for Detroit
David Hennessy catches up with the Irish stars of Detroit, which has just begun its run at The National Theatre…
Lisa D’Amour’s Detroit has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and is now showing in its first UK production. Austin Pendleton, the same director who brought the play to life at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre, is bringing the contemporary drama/comedy to London audiences with two Irish actresses in the leading female roles.
Clare Dunne plays Sharon, a recovering drug addict, while the character of Mary, who is struggling with alcohol demons, is played by Justine Mitchell. The story centres around the friendship that develops between two couples after Sharon moves into the area with her partner.
“It’s a play about friendship but terribly funny,” Justine begins. “We’re the couple more of the straight world. I hold down a job, we have a house, we have a mortgage but my husband has just lost his job so things are a little bit strained and I am drinking a lot more than I normally do. Mary’s a very lonely, needy, good person. It doesn’t become a play about class or people being snooty about each other.”
Agreeing with everything Justine says, Clare adds: “It’s almost about recession bringing people closer together in some weird way because we all end up on a similar plateau. It’s current but I don’t even think that matters. It’s universal.”
“I think a lot of people can relate to job insecurity and falling back on drugs and alcohol to make yourself feel better, avoiding reality,” Justine reflects. “Friendship is always important but in times of crisis like this, it’s so much more important.”
“You need it a little bit more,” Clare agrees. “Having company is so much better than thinking about how to keep that business going if you’re self- employed or trying to get a job if you’re unemployed. It’s so hard so your friends suddenly become a much stronger focus in your day to day life.”
Clare points out the similarities and differences between Mary and her character: “Sharon’s like Mary, very honest. Well, honest to appoint. You could argue some of the things she says are white lies but that’s all up for grabs: Audiences will take certain things as true and certain things as false. I think she thinks she’s a really good person, she genuinely is trying a fresh start in her life. It’s just been so long, she’s been doing drugs since she was a teenager and she’s early 30s so half her life has been drugs. It’s hard to step into this ‘straight world’ as Justine calls it but in the play you’ll see her trying to be this new good person.”
If you attend The National Theatre regularly there is every chance you could have seen one or both these actresses, as Clare was recently there sharing the stage with Ciaran Hinds and Sinead Cusack in Juno and The Paycock.
“I was really proud to be in that,” Clare enthuses. “I’ll never forget the moment before the first curtain went up, it was just like: ‘We are on the National Stage’. It’s a huge leap as an actor, you just feel: ‘Wow, this is it one of the best theatres in the world’.”
Justine has similar memories of her first play in National Theatre, The Night Season: “My first play was with Susan Lynch and Sarah Jane Drummey in 2003: A long time ago but it feels like yesterday. I have really happy memories of my first play here aswell.”
Of course, Clare and Justine are not the only Irish thespians to be caught currently at The National Theatre. Cillian Murphy is currently wowing audiences in Misterman. I wondered had they bumped into each other while rehearsing their separate productions and find there’s a little story there. “I met Cillian before briefly so we’ve had a couple of conversations. I wouldn’t say we’re mates or anything,” Clare sets the scene. “He knows my face and I know his, which is saying something. Cillian Murphy knows my face, that’s enough for me.
“Anyway, I went up to the hair and make- up department a couple of weeks ago and I was only sitting down for five minutes when this sheepish looking stage manager comes in going: ‘You have to leave the room now. Cillian Murphy and Enda Walsh just want to use the room for a few minutes, I can’t really turn around and say no, ya know?’ But it was alright and then they came in and it was like: ‘Cillian, how’s it going?’ And we had a big ole chit chat and everything, it was really nice. It was really funny because we came out and then we were working on my hair and Sarah (the make- up girl) was like: “For God’s sake, why should we have to leave? Who is that guy?’ She just didn’t realise who it was. I was like: ‘It’s Cillian Murphy, you just… whatever’.”
For the full story, pick up this week's Irish World...
Add a commentMade in the East end
By David Hennessy
Any soap fans would instantly recognise Madeline Duggan from her time as Lauren Branning in BBC 's Eastenders. But the young actress, with Waterford roots, will soon be seen in a harrowing episode of Silent Witness that will definitely upset Max Branning if he happens to be watching. Madeline plays a young teenager who has fallen into the clutches of evil paedophiles.
The part could not be further from anything we have seen her in in the past but also allows
this young actress the chance to spread her wings. The seventeen year old admits to having doubts about taking on such a dark subject matter: "I play a 15 year old girl who is being groomed by a group of men who sell her for sex. I was reading the script beforehand and thinking: 'Oh my God, I can't do this, what am I going to do?'"
To do such a part justice, the actress undertook special research and preparation: "My character was doing drugs so I actually went and spoke to a drugs counsellor. I've never been around a drug situation so I wanted to know how to act that. I can't go into that blind because there is a lot of people in that situation."
How did it feel to get as far away from stroppy Lauren as possible? "It was quite draining," reveals the girl from Bermondsey, South London. "I was literally crying for four hours a day but it's definitely the best thing I've done. I was really lucky to play a part like that. I can't wait to see it."
The BBC thriller is not the only exciting project Madeline is involved in, as we can also look forward to seeing her in the forthcoming feature film, Everyone's Going To Die. "I think it's
going to look really good," Madeline enthuses.
The film stars Stirling Gallacher (formerly of Holby City, Doctors and The Office), and Madeline plays her daughter, Laura: "Laura's quite sarcastic, she thinks she knows everything. But her dad dies and her uncle, that she's never met before, comes back to a little seaside town and they click straight away because she is exactly like her dad."
Along with Madeline and Stirling, the cast include a German superstar and a man who has only recently quit his job as a carpenter for full-time acting, so quite a mixed bag. How did they all get on? "Very good," the young actress answers. "We were all living on a farm in Folkestone so in between takes, we were sitting in a kitchen with these chickens! We got on really well. I had my mum and dad so it was really nice. Nice little holiday."
The German superstar mentioned is Nora Tschirner, who has starred in many successful films back home: "She's massive in Germany," Madeline informs. "She walks down the street and people are calling her name. When she told me what she had been in, I was like: 'Wow'."
Of course, Madeline herself is no stranger to attention from the public, as soap stars are among the most recognisable of famous faces: "When I was on Eastenders, I couldn't go out on my own. Going to the shopping centre on a Saturday was not a good idea. You're in people's living rooms every single night while they're eating their dinner and because the storylines are close to reality, understandably people watching feel like they know you.
When Lauren ran over Max in 2007, people were coming up to me in the street saying: 'You're a horrible person'. I was like: 'It wasn't me'." But now I am quite happy it has settled down a bit. I still get the odd: 'It's Lauren from Eastenders'."
Madeline spent four of her teenage years on Albert Square and misses her on-screen family since leaving in 2010: "We ended up almost like family. I still get texts from Jo Joyner (Tania Branning, Lauren's mother) saying: ‘How's my first born?’ Jake Wood (Max, her father) is friends with my dad so we're all still in contact, which is great."
Since Madeline's departure, Lauren has flown off the rails due to some out of control drinking, now played by Jacqueline Jossa. "I think she's great," Madeline says of her successor. "I think she's doing really well."
For the full interview, please pick up this week's Irish World...
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