This week's RTÉ Drama On One production is Frizzy Lizzy by Ceara Carney.
Frizzy Lizzy is an original and beguiling story of a young woman's search for her mother. We follow Lizzy as she traces the clues of her mother's London life with all the charm of a teenage detective, in a play that uses magical realism to convey the depth of love in the mother-daughter relationship. The play is directed by Jessica Dromgoole.
Below, Ceara describes both the magic and the realism that inspired Frizzy Lizzy...
Growing up in the country-side of Wexford, my childhood fears of the darkness around our house were eased by my mother telling me that our garden light was powered by fairies who would keep us safe. This immediately ceased any worries, knowing such magic was there.
I originally wrote Frizzy Lizzy in 2016, inspired by a TV programme where people searched for their long lost family members, most often parents. I could only imagine the conflicting emotion such a search would invoke in someone. I wanted to explore a character who was devoid of a supportive parent, let alone one that created magic. Lizzy’s story came to me like a bolt of lightning. Over the course of several months, in between theatre jobs and working in retail, I penned Lizzy’s search for her mother.
Originally written for stage, the fear – "What if this is terrible?" - set in once I completed the first draft. My debut piece was to stay tucked in a folder on the cloud, awaiting a day far in the future when I would be brave enough to sling this story into the world. Then in 2022, the PJ O’Connor Radio Drama award opened for submissions and I remembered the advice I received when I asked my own Dad for feedback on the script: "I think this would make a good radio play..." And now I’m here, a brilliant team having been pulled together by RTÉ, to bring Lizzy’s story, and a little bit of magic, into people’s lives.
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Listen: How we made Frizzy Lizzy
As with most dramas, inspiration is drawn from real life situations. Lizzy, an 18-year-old who was raised by an extremely controlling father, was thankfully not inspired by my own situation! While elements of her experience crisscross with mine (I eventually learned to control my wild ginger hair), I am grateful to have two parent figures who’ve been a constant in my life.
There are however, emotionally manipulative parents in existence, as Lizzy’s father reflects. In her story, there is an uneasiness felt about the lack of information about her mother’s absence. The media also reiterates again and again how the mother should be the primary caregiver. If this is the case, how could Lizzy’s mother leave? It all weighs heavy on her mind. So, when an uninvited guest upturns some boxes in the attic before disappearing again, Lizzy finally finds some information she can use to find out the truth. Armed with this little piece of the past, she embarks on a journey across the Irish sea, to find the woman who left her.
Jessica Dromgoole and Drama On One producer Kevin Reynolds
On the bed of this dark subtext, Lizzy is still nothing but bright and hopeful. The audience has an intimate experience as we travel through her thought patterns with her. Pondering all the reasons her mother may have left, we also hear what it's like to be a young woman in London for the first time. The excitement of such an adventure, and the high stakes of this quest needing to go in her favour, will hopefully have the audience as invested in Lizzy’s journey as she is.
The most enjoyable aspect of creating this drama was weaving some magic throughout, even if Lizzy is unaware of it. So often, magic is kept purely for children’s entertainment. As someone with a parent who sprinkled fairy dust into my life, I couldn’t plead the case for adults to do the same for each other more. Call small miracles in your life a coincidence if you wish, but it’s much more exciting to believe it was magic.
One such magical moment happened even behind the scenes of writing this. Unlike Lizzy, I am lucky to have wonderful mother figures in my life such as my own mother, my sister, and my godmother, Karen. Karen unfortunately passed away during the pandemic after a long battle with cancer. When I began adapting the play for radio, I decided to skip ahead to a moment where Lizzy meets a woman who she decides will be the perfect person to adopt her, if her search ends in vain. In memory of my godmother, I wanted to name that woman after her. The feeling I felt, to read what I had written 6 years earlier, was only magical. I had already named her Karen.
Adults need all the extra help to believe magic exists, especially when everything seems so dark. So hopefully you’ll enjoy Lizzy’s search in unknown territory, and keep your ears peeled for signs that are pointing her in the right direction…
Frizzy Lizzy, written by Ceara Carney and directed by Jessica Dromgoole will be broadcast in the Drama On One slot on RTÉ Radio 1 at 8pm on Sunday, 23rd April, with a cast that includes Kitty O’Sullivan, Helen Norton, Stephen Hogan, Lucy Cray-Miller and Imogen Allen, with Scott Smith, Ellie Brosnan Corkery and Sam Buckett. Listen to more from Drama On One here.
