Reflections on a fishing village

When Shona McCarthy wrote her play ' Married to the Sea', she was determined to stage it herself. Now it's won a slew of awards, writes Sara Keating

THE TINY STAGE at the Seamus Ennis Cultural Centre seemed an almost impossibly apt setting for Dragonfly Theatre's production of Married to the Sea. The thatched-cottage-turned-theatre-space added an extra richness to Shona McCarthy's atmospheric play, which gently evokes the disappeared Claddagh community, a fishing village in Galway that was razed in the 1930s to make way for social housing. Told through the eyes of a young girl, Josie, whose fisherman father forsakes his family for his love of the sea, it is poetic piece of work, its understated storytelling quality relying on just three actors for elucidation.

The production's success since its provenance, however, is anything but low-key. Having begun life at the New York Fringe in August of last year, Married to the Seawon awards for best new play and best actress at the Dublin Fringe Festival, staged a successful two-week run in Galway's Townhall Studio, embarked on an ongoing national tour, and secured Culture Ireland support to go to the Edinburgh Fringe in August. Despite the overwhelming achievements of the past year, however, writer Shona McCarthy and lead actress Siobhán Donnellan have their feet firmly on the ground.

"To be honest," McCarthy says, "when we started this whole thing we really had no idea what we were doing. We had all just graduated from the MA in NUI Galway. I had written a play and we just wanted to put it on. So myself, Siobhán and Fiachra (Ó Dubhghaill, who gives an impressive multi-role-performance in the play) decided to set up our own company. I suppose the whole concept was born out of the fact that it is so difficult to get work in the theatre when you're starting out, and we decided we weren't going to wait for something to happen for us, that we were going to create our own.

"We put on a rough version in Galway during Project 07, and the reception was really positive, so we decided to apply for the New York Fringe." "Really we were just chancing our arm applying for the New York Fringe," Donnellan says, laughing. "We had looked at Edinburgh but it had just seemed too difficult - you had to do all the organising yourself: get a venue, do all the promotion. But in New York, you send in your script and there's a selection process, so there's a certain amount of clout there for you before you even begin. But we never even considered the financial implications. In a way that was better because we probably wouldn't have even bothered applying if we had known all that would be involved."

While McCarthy says, "we were really naive about the whole thing," she thinks this naivety helped them overcome any natural reservations when faced with the high risk factor. "At the time, we just thought 'oh, if we get accepted, we'll apply to Culture Ireland and that will be that'. But it wasn't going to be that simple. We were a new company. We had no track record. And we ended up having to raise all the money ourselves. If we'd known that from the start maybe we wouldn't have bothered. But, you know, we did and we managed."

Despite their success in the New York Fringe, where Donnellan won an award for best actress, they say it was the Dublin Fringe Festival that was really the measure of their achievement. "New York was great," McCarthy says, "but it was just blind success really. We weren't sure what we were doing at all. But then with the Dublin Fringe, well, everything that happened after - the touring, the publicity - wouldn't have happened without the Dublin Fringe. Maybe it was easier for us, because we had a good bit of hype from our success in New York, but there was no comparison in how enjoyable it was: there was a real sense of everyone pulling together."

Donnellan agrees, "New York was great from the point of view of winning people's interest over a bit, but the word of mouth and energy at the Dublin Fringe was incredible."

After their two-week run at the Town Hall Studio, producer David Teevan came on board and helped them to organise a national tour to run throughout the summer, including a one-night performance at the Seamus Ennis Cultural Centre in The Naul, where I saw the show. "Technically the Seamus Ennis centre was actually a disaster for us," McCarthy says, "because it's made for music more than theatre. But we're good at working with few resources. I mean, from the beginning I was writing knowing that we had no money, so the whole concept of Married to the Sea came without any demand on production values. We just had to go with what we had, and we just had to hope that the show stands up on its own without the technical effects."

Donnellan is convinced that it does. "Sometimes the show looks prettier, and sometimes the aesthetics aren't quite as good as you'd hope, but necessity is the mother of invention, as they say. We just arrive with our chest of props and hope for the best. It's exciting working on tour like this though. It's like the old fit-up style. We just throw everything into the back of the car and trundle around the country and stop and pitch ourselves down and then throw it all back in the boot again and off we go."

Apart from the practicalities of their ongoing national tour, it is the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August that is looming large in their minds, even above plans for a new production - of Shona McCarthy's second play Reptilian - which will premiere at the Dublin Fringe Festival in September. "We are a bit terrified about going to Edinburgh," McCarthy admits. "Even with all Culture Ireland's support - and it was very brave of them to take a chance with us this year, to help to nurture a company that is so new - even so, we still have a lot of fundraising to do. And then it's the mad, mad thing of Edinburgh. We're told that shows either sink of swim within the first week."

McCarthy and Donnellan hope that this aquatic metaphor is an omen for their continuing success; that Married to the Sea will stay afloat amid the Edinburgh scramble. "We've our fingers crossed," Donnellan says, "and hopefully it will go okay. And if it doesn't, there's still Dragonfly, and the security of making work with friends, the people that you trust. And it's great to know that. That's a safe place to be."

Married to the Searuns at the Clonmel Junction Festival, tonight and tomorrow; Friars Gate, Kilmallock, July 9; Cairde Festival, Sligo, July 10; Galway Arts Festival, July 20-24; and The Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Aug 1-25.

Shona McCarthy's new play Reptilian will be performed by Dragonfly Theatre Company at the Dublin Fringe Festival, Sept 16-21.

SARA KEATING