From Cahersiveen, Co Kerry, Amy Conroy is both a playwright, responsible for celebrated works like I ♥ Alice ♥ I, Eternal Rising of the Sun and Luck Just Kissed You Hello, and an actor of note, seen recently on the small screen in the adaptation of Graham Norton's Holding.
This June, she stars in a revival of Duncan Macmillan's worldwide smash Every Brilliant Thing, playing on the Peacock Stage at the Abbey Theatre.
Amy Conroy and director Andrea Ainsworth, reunited in the Abbey rehearsal room for the first day of rehearsals for Every Brilliant Thing today. The uplifting, one-person play is back by popular demand, making a triumphant, post-pandemic return: https://t.co/1lOHZId5Fn pic.twitter.com/vCXnNPp4Ss
— Abbey Theatre (@AbbeyTheatre) May 22, 2023
We asked Amy for her choice cultural picks...
FILM
Triangle of Sadness, Ruben Östlund's recent film dismantling social expectations and taking down the pretentious upper echelons, really floated my boat. It has influencers, oligarchs, a luxury yacht and pirates. It’s fascinating, grotesque and really very funny
I’m also looking forward to seeing Sinead O’ Shea’s film Pray for Our Sinners, investigating the history of control by the catholic church and the resistance of the woman in her community. Powerful stuff, no doubt.
MUSIC
I can’t get enough of Lisa O’ Neil’s new album All Of This is Chance. We worked together as writer and songwriter on a beautiful show, The Boy Who Talked to Dogs with Slingsby Theatre Company in Australia. So if you’re a fan of Lisa’s music make sure to catch it on its debut Irish run - soon to be announced. It’s hard to choose a favourite track from the album, but Old Note always hits me right in the solar plexus. I really think she’s a genius.
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BOOK
I read Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead and loved it, I’ve been recommending it to everyone I know. It’s a novel twisting through time about a fictional lost pilot Marion Graves and a modern-day disenfranchised celebrity who plays her in a film adaptation. It straddles both worlds with great humour and beautiful prose. It’s also just brilliant storytelling.
PLAY
I re-watched The Patient Gloria recently by Gina Moxley. It was back in Project Arts Centre from its hugely successful New York run where it swept up rave reviews, narrowly missing a Tony nomination. It’s a visceral, viciously witty crack-back at the male-dominated therapy industry that took advantage of a divorced woman in the 1960s, and seamlessly cuts through to an audience today. Liv O’Donoghue and Gina Moxley’s performances are beautiful and cutting, and Jane Deasy rocks on the bass. I laughed and screamed along to 'Gloria’ following Moxley’s mic-drop moment at the end. Glorious.
TV
I’m a little late to the party but I’m finally binge watching Bad Sisters, and absolutely loving it. It’s a proper well-structured story that makes me laugh out loud at its cracking Irish-family-isms, and screaming at some horrific characters. The synergy between the actors playing the sisters is palpable and it’s brilliantly written. Hats off to Sharon Horgan and all involved.
I am also really enjoying Succession… but then again, who isn’t.
GIG
I have been waiting to see Chris (Christine and the Queens) since November 2018, when I stood among the crowd in the RDS only to find out that they had laryngitis and couldn’t perform. Chris, you owe me a whopper show in September. I’m also dying to see Boy Genius and Muna this summer.
Christine and the Queens a repris le mythique "Stayin' Alive" des Bee Gees pour l'émission Canne chante le cinéma 🎬 pic.twitter.com/DzgDSVyuKj
— Chris News (@CATQnews) May 27, 2023
ART
I’m sitting under a Margo Banks painting as I write this: a hauntingly beautiful and sparse depiction of a wolf, massive and chilling. Her animal impressions are magnificent, particularly her pieces of running hares. She has deep connections to my hometown in South Kerry, and her work really captures the wildness of that landscape.
PODCAST
My taste in podcasts usually depends on what I’m working on at any point in time, I listen to lighter and more contemplative meanderings when I’m writing. More entertaining and narrative podcasts when im performing. I’m currently listening to Criminal and American Scandal.
And of course, I always tune in to Aedín Gormley’s Movies & Musicals on Lyric for the feel good factor.
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TECH
I recently discovered an app called LineLearner that is so niche and simple, I can’t believe it hasn’t been done before. It a lifesaver for any actor, costs about 1 Euro, and saves you all the times you need to go asking friends and family (yet again) to run lines with you. My loved ones are very grateful.
I would speak about AI, but I think at this stage AI can speak for itself. I find it fascinating and terrifying. I don’t even want to comprehend what Chat GPT et al means in the future for writers. We’ll wait and see.
THE NEXT BIG THING...
I recently worked on the Abbey’s production of Tartuffe, directed by Caitríona McLaughlin and adapted by Frank McGuinness. We had absolutely gorgeous cast, and in particular some stunning young actors: Emmanuel Okaye, Emma-Rose Creaner, Naoise Dunbar and Darragh Shannon. They were hugely impressive and great craic to work with. I reckon they’ll all be massive, watch this space.
Every Brilliant Thing is on the Peacock stage at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin from 9th June – 1st July - find out more here.
