Actor and playwright Amy De Bhrun writes for Culture about her play I See You, celebrating the life of Lady Mary Heath, which hits Irish stages later this month.
Melanie Lynch from Herstory approached me in 2016. She had a vision to reclaim the stories of incredible Irish women that has somehow become lost in the walls of history.
She had seen my work, and had a feeling Lady Mary Heath’s story would resonate with me. To be honest, I was reluctant at first. The thought of writing an entire show about Lady Mary Heath was too overwhelming.
I agreed to an opening monologue, which I performed at the official launch of Herstory at The Rotunda in May 2016. Lady Mary was an instant hit, and this opening speech was called on for Culture Night, the Epic Museum and Illuminate Herstory outside City Hall in front of the RTÉ News cameras.
It’s a complete mystery why Lady Mary Heath’s story was never told. She was a Limerickwoman, the world’s first female commercial pilot, the first person to parachute out of a plane and the first person to fly the length of Africa. She was a prize-winning athlete who argued before the Olympic committee for the inclusion of women’s sports in the Olympic programme. She was married three times in early 1900’s Ireland. She served as a dispatch rider and ambulance driver in the war. She even trained up pilots who went on to fly for Aer Lingus!
If women’s stories remain untold, how can we possibly expect to learn, evolve and move forward?
She deserved to be seen. And no one saw her. No one remembered her. The fire burned inside me. I wanted her story to be told. In some form. In some way.
I began to look at the world around me. I started to question how far women had really come. I looked at the cyclical nature of female oppression. It is the oldest story in the book… If we don’t empower people with knowledge, it becomes impossible to break the cycle. And if women’s stories remain untold, how can we possibly expect to learn, evolve and move forward?
And so, I See You was born.
The play has two women at the helm: Modern Mary, who is stuck in an abusive relationship after falling pregnant, and Lady Mary Heath, who is stuck in the walls of history, desperate for her story to break through the cracks. I ran a successful Fundit campaign to raise the financing for the play's World Premiere last May in Theatre Upstairs, joined by a group of committed creatives who had an insane passion for the script and the intention behind it: Roxanna Nic Liam, Hillary Dziminski, Helena Browne, Jack Cawley, Jack Scullion and Shane Gill.
It’s a complete mystery why Lady Mary Heath’s story was never told. She was a Limerickwoman, the world’s first female commercial pilot, the first person to parachute out of a plane and the first person to fly the length of Africa.
We knew we had hit the right note, when after a read through with Karl Shiels (co-Artistic Director of Theatre Upstairs) – he rose to his feet and exclaimed it as "a call to arms". It certainly was.
At times, it hasn’t been easy. But what has kept me anchored is the knowledge that Lady Mary Heath is finally being seen. Because at the end of the day. Isn’t that what we all want?
I See You is on tour this month, with dates at Draiocht Blanchardstown on 22nd March, The New Theatre Dublin from 2nd - 6th April, and at Belltable Limerick on 26th April. Find out more about the HerStory project here.
