Actress Aoibheann McCann has been on our televisions recently in a pair of acclaimed TV crime dramas, Blue Lights on BBC One and Clean Sweep on RTÉ One.
A winner of the Irish Times Theatre Award for her Blanche DuBois in the Lyric Theatre production of A Streetcar Named Desire, in recent years Aoibheann has been acclaimed in a variety of roles on stage and screen, from The Gate's immersive production of The Great Gatsby to global TV smash Vikings.
This month, she takes to the Abbey Theatre stage in Marina Carr's new play, Girl on a Altar.
We asked Aoibheann for her choice cultural picks...
FILM
An Irish Goodbye has won ALL the awards (including the Oscar) and it truly deserves them. It is charming, touching and a feat in short filmmaking. As part of a production company (Athrach), we have just picture-locked our first short film, The Last Harvest; that process taught me so much about the balance, collaboration and sheer determination it takes to make a film happen. In fairness, we didn't make it easy for ourselves as we made it as a sustainable pilot project too, so to say we’re learning so much would be an understatement.
MUSIC
Hannah Peel is a music genius. She recently won the Ivor Novello for her score for Sky’s The Midwich Cuckoos and it couldn't be more deserved. Her beautiful album Fir Wave will fire up your imagination and I dare you NOT to bop along to it!
Also, one of my recent 'on repeat’ tunes is George Fitzgerlad’s Burns. As a treat, make sure to listen to the long version and prepare for the most intoxicating drop.
I realise all my recommendations will have you making shapes in your living room - you are very welcome.
BOOK
My partner is from England’s West Country and, almost as a way to get to know that region while we live in Ireland, he recently gifted me with The Salt Path by Raynor Winn. It is an uplifting, heartening story about how the natural world can heal. As a lover of nature and the outdoors it thoroughly appeals to my sensibilities and I am truly learning about that stunning landscape.
I cannot wait to get stuck into the next book on the shelf Trespasses by Louise Kennedy. It comes highly recommended by so many people, never mind the prizes and rave reviews it has received.
THEATRE
It would be remiss to come here and not mention that we’re currently rehearsing Girl on an Altar by the persistently brilliant Marina Carr, at the Abbey Theatre. Our director Annabelle Comyn leads an innovative, passionate and excited room of actors and creatives and it is a privilege to be part of this incredible cast. I have always wanted to be in a Marina Carr play and to work with Eileen Walsh so this gig is a double whammy for me - I’m very lucky.
Dead Centre’s Good Sex goes on tour soon and it is not an understatement to say: do all you can to see it! Its execution is ridiculously clever and it allows audiences into the process of intimacy in our work, which is truly fascinating in its own right.
TV
If you can get your eyes and ears on the documentary series Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland you will not regret it one bit - I became addicted to it. It It is an insightful piece on The Troubles and even though I grew up on the border and Northern Ireland I learned so much from this expertly crafted programme.
GIG
I managed to see No Oil Paintings a few months ago in the gorgeous intimate venue The Courthouse in Bangor Co. Down. These guys' gigs are always the best craic and they have a banjo - need I say more?
I want to get to at least one festival this summer but our show runs until August 18th so I hope to squeeze in Another Love Story or Electric Picnic before the Autumn creeps in. In the meantime, the Irish contingent of our cast plan to bring the English cast members to some trad nights in Dublin. That should keep us sated for a bit.
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Listen to the Another Love Story 2023 playlist, via Spotify
ART
I was lucky to purchase a painting for the first time recently. It felt very grown up to have such a beautiful piece hanging on the living room wall, created by a real-life artist. Evan Dow creates impressive atmospheric, visually textured paintings and it is very exciting to watch his collections and acclaim expand and grow.
PODCAST
I am possibly addicted to the BBC Sounds podcast Uncanny. It is a ghost story podcast created by Danny Robbins and it somewhat manages to balance itself with the ‘sceptic’ viewpoint so the discussions feel balanced and worthy. I am a sucker for a good eerie story or the ‘unexplained’ and particularly enjoy creeping myself out by listening to the series on late night journeys.
TECH
As an advocate for sustainability in a world where our biodiversity and climate is at stake, there are a number of apps and websites that people can go to have some ownership over how they live. It is to feel empowered when we watch oil companies making record profit as temperatures rise. Every little helps with the mental strain so apps like Too Good to Go (food waste), Giki Zero (reducing carbon footprint) and Depop (second hand fashion) awards some opportunity to feel like part of the answer rather than the problem.
THE NEXT BIG THING
No Mow May. Seriously. My local primary school Mullaghbuoy NS in Co.Louth recently worked on a campaign to promote the joys and the incredible impact ‘not mowing your lawn’ can have on pollinators and, in turn, our food sources and biodiversity. I can feel more and more people smelling the daisies and abandoning the mowed grass throughout summer. What a dream to see manicured, desert lawns replaced with gardens and ledges brimming with native flowers, plants, insects and wildlife. Such a simple but effective way to play your part.
Girl on a Altar is at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin from 8th July – 19th August - find out more here.
