Playwright Eva O’Connor told David Hennessy about the new play For Dolores as it comes to Edinburgh Fringe fresh from being lauded in Ireland.
Eva O’Connor’s For Dolores is having its UK premiere at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh as part of the Fringe festival.
For Dolores comes fresh from Irish runs at Lime Tree Theatre, Limerick, the Mick Lally Theatre where it was part of Galway International Arts Festival and then the Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire.
The production comes from Fishamble: The New Play Company.
Eva O’Connor is the award- winning London- based Clare playwright. Her previous work includes Maz and Bricks, Chicken and the Scotsman Fringe First winner, Mustard.
Director Jim Culleton directs the cast of Lara McDonnell and Catriona Faint.
Lara McDonnell’s screen credits include Artemis Fowl and Belfast. She also played the title role of Matilda in the West End, Mary Warren in The Crucible at the Gaiety Theatre and was part of Sam Mendes’ Jez Butterworth play The Hills of California on both Broadway and the West End.
Catriona Faint has been heralded as a rising star of Scottish theatre and played Sebastian in an all female/non-binary cast of The Tempest at Tron Theatre.
McDonnell and Faint play Mo and Réaltín, two friends, who partied, played and blazed their way through the Edinburgh student dream.
Set in Glasgow a couple of years later, For Dolores is about friendship, motherhood and coming to terms with your worst mistakes.
Playwright Eva O’Connor took time to chat to the Irish World ahead of the play coming to Edinburgh.
You’ve taken For Dolores to Limerick, Galway and, as we chat, it is at the Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire. Has it been good to see how it’s landing? I see some great responses…
“Yeah, it’s been amazing.
“Our first week was in Limerick in the Belltable and that’s a great theatre.
“That’s kind of my home theatre because I’m from Clare.
“Then we had our week in Galway Arts Festival which was quite nerve wracking because we had lots of press in but all that went well.
“And then last night we had a big house in the Pavilion, full house.
“The reaction has been amazing really and I just feel so relieved.
“I’ve been working on this play for about five years and when you put your heart and soul into something, it’s so nerve-wracking when it actually comes to fruition because you just never know how it’s going to go.
“I think it’s really landing with people.”
You say you are working on this show for five years, where did it come from initially? What inspired you to write it?
“I think I’ve always wanted to write about female friendship and the intensity of those friendships you have in your early 20s: The people who you meet who become your chosen family.
“It’s often before you have jobs, before you have partners.
“You go out with those people, you get drunk with those people, you’re hungover with those people, you go to the library with those people.
“You do everything together and often that can be kind of toxic and also unsustainable because it means if one person gets a boyfriend, the whole thing is thrown off kilter.
“Or if there’s a betrayal.
“We have this guidebook for how you break up with someone in a romantic relationship but what happens if a friendship that has really defined who you are as a person ends because of a betrayal?
“In COVID, Fishamble commissioned me to write a new play.
“I was really depressed at the time because it was COVID and everything was closed but they were like, ‘We want to commission you to write something new’.
“I started on this play but I just didn’t know if I could do it because of my headspace at the time.
“I always remember when I sent the first draft to my agent and to Fishamble, and they both loved it.
“That was the first time I believed in it so it’s just been a series of leaps of faith and now to sit in the theatre and watch it go on, it feels amazing.”
The characters Mo and Réaltín have come to an important point in their friendship and lives..
“Yeah, basically something happens at a party that goes really badly wrong and there is this rift and this betrayal that happens.
“The play is about these two girls figuring out whether or not they can still be friends.
“It’s called For Dolores because there’s a baby.
“One of the characters, Réaltín, has a baby and they’re trying to raise the baby together.
“The baby is their reason for attempting to stay together as friends.
“They’re in this nondescript therapy room and they’re talking to the audience and also hypothetically talking to their therapist.
“Then all these things are revealed and secrets that they haven’t told each other and everything that happened at this terrible party but actually more things come to the fore during the play so it’s actually also quite twisty turny.”
The Dolores in the title refers to the baby at the centre of things. She is the emotional heart of the story, isn’t she?
“Exactly.
“Dolores, the baby, kind of gives them a reason to fight for a better future.
“I guess that’s the thing I was interested in: How children really change everything because it gives everyone a bigger picture or a reason that’s bigger than themselves to get their sh*t together.
“That’s kind of what the girls are doing.
“They’re trying to make sure that she grows up in a more stable way than they did, I guess.”
You were talking about reactions to the play, I hear audible gasps can be heard…
“It’s amazing.
“It’s always a bit nerve wracking when you’re not in the play and you’re just watching.
“I think it took me a while to settle down and actually be able to enjoy watching it with an audience because you’re always thinking, ‘Oh, maybe I should have made that scene better’ or, ‘Is that line as good as it can be?’
“But, like I say, we’ve had a few runs now and it really feels like they’ve hit their stride and now I’m just really trying to enjoy the ride rather than be the critical playwright in the back row.”
Let’s talk about the cast and wider creative team..
“The casting’s so perfect.
“Lara McDonnell is Réaltín, who’s Irish, and Catriona Faint plays Mo, who’s Scottish.
“They just have this amazing electric chemistry on stage and you just really believe that they’ve been friends for millions of years.
“There’s something about their dynamic.
“They’re so sure-footed on stage and they’re just a pleasure to watch.
“And everyone who sees the play says it.
“They’re really, really different but it really works on stage and it’s just been amazing to work with Jim (Culleton, director) as well because he really has understood this play.
“As soon as I gave it to him, he always got the essence of it and I think he’s really brought out the best in it.
“Obviously plays are always a team effort but this feels particularly like that.
“The cast are so good.
“Jim did a great job.
“Sometimes it just feels like you almost need a perfect storm of everything to align for a play to be good and that’s kind of what happened.”
Another thing that comes up in the play is addiction..
“Yeah, Mo is trying to deal with her drinking a bit and trying to decide how much of a problem she feels like it is.
“That’s the interesting thing about being a student.
“We all drank a lot in our early 20s and no one ever put a label on what was healthy or unhealthy drinking.
“It’s kind of only when it starts to affect your life and almost like when you decide it’s affecting your life that you might think about doing something.
“The play’s not openly about addiction but it’s also about the things we do to cope and when those coping mechanisms stop working for us, I guess.”
Your previous play Mustard also touched on addiction or certainly obsessive behaviour. Is there some overlap there?
“Yeah, you’re right.
“I was watching it last night and I was like, ‘Wow! I feel like there’s like a bit of every single one of my plays in this play’.
“I guess you’re always writing what you know or what you can’t help writing about and you’re also, I guess, hopefully becoming a better writer all the time as well.
“I think there’s strands of loads of my plays kind of running through.
“I guess I always want to write for my age group as well.
“I’m always going to write messy women, I suppose.”
For Dolores has been described as ‘funny’, ‘filthy’ and ‘devastating’, I’m sure it’s all of those things..
“Yeah, I hope so.
“I really hope so.
“That’s the other thing about sitting in the audience: You don’t want to hear the audience’s response but sometimes you do and it’s amazing when you can hear them saying that they loved it or that they loved how the whole play is just about two girls and their lives.
“I feel like very proud that it’s connecting with audiences because a play lives or dies on whether an audience can connect with it.”
It’s about to come to the Edinburgh Fringe, would you like to see it get another life beyond that? Perhaps come to London?
“Oh yeah, it would be great if it comes to London.
“You’re always getting the text saying, ‘When is it coming to me?’
“That’s a great thing about working with Fishamble as well is that they always have a plan for where it will go next.
“I don’t know what will happen in the immediate future but I think it’s had as good a start as I could have hoped for so we have to just hope that the stars align and we get to tour the world with it.”
What’s next for you?
“I had another play called The Kerryman which just actually finished in Dublin a few weeks ago so I’ve had a busy year.
“I’ve got things in the pipelines and deadlines that I need to be meeting but I also I’m really trying to be in the moment and enjoy For Dolores because you put so much work in and you tour for quite a short time so I’m really trying to soak it all up.”
For Dolores is at Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh until 30 August as part of TravFest, presented as part of the Culture Ireland Showcase.
For tickets and more information, click here.
