The story of Dr Katriona O'Sullivan’s journey from poverty and abuse in childhood to being a successful writer and academic in adulthood has been a bestselling book and is now a sold-out stage play. When Katriona joined Ray D’Arcy in studio, he asked her what it was like watching her story, Poor, re-enacted on stage. Her first thoughts were about her son John and her husband Dave who were both with her on opening night:
"Because John was there – I'm just his mam and he loved, loves my parents and hadn’t seen, hadn’t read the full book, read half the book, so, I was really conscious of him, so I was watching it through his eyes as well as my own, which was kind of very emotional."
The show is currently running at the Gate Theatre in Dublin and Katriona was very involved in the production, working closely with the writer Sonya Kelly who adapted the memoir for the stage. It was a very emotional process for her:
"There’s a part of me that’s watching it from a distance, but then, you know, watching my parents die on stage – I'm not really spoiling it here, like, they die – that's hard. That’s really hard."
Both the book and the stage play were intended to shine a light on how Katriona managed to escape poverty and the circumstances of her upbringing:
"My story’s very unique in a way because I’m one of the few people who actually has had the privilege of escaping that life and so I feel as if in some I have a responsibility to use that to help people, but I don’t want to hurt my family as well."
Ray wondered why Katriona would do something like write the memoir and allow the stage adaptation to happen – why expose yourself and all the things you’ve been through to public scrutiny?
"There’s a lot of reasons why. I think honestly, I’ve always been a storyteller, since I was a kid. My nickname as a child – not in a loving way – was Mouth, because I was always outward and always wanting to say what was going on because it was really terrifying and I felt like no one was noticing. So, I’ve always wanted to be heard. But that’s not a reason to tell a story and I would definitely say to people who’ve had trauma not to write a memoir if they haven’t had the time to process it."
Watching the show – Katriona has seen every preview, as well as the opening night performance – was moving, but not traumatic for her, she told Ray:
"It’s not traumatic for me to watch it. I actually am so aware of how much I’ve been through and how proud I am of myself and of my family. Like, last night when we were sitting in that row, there was just love, all down the row because I’ve built this loving home, because I was gifted education, I was gifted therapy, I was gifted childcare, I was gifted secure housing and so I actually don’t find it that difficult."
Katriona is passionate about the connections that lead to children who are born into poverty being caught in a trap that’s incredibly difficult to escape without proper access to help:
"You can’t leave my play or read my book and not realise that childhood poverty is connected to adult failure. Like, I failed as an adult many times because I lived in poverty and that poverty was not caused by my parents, it was caused by underserving of communities, by corralling poor people together, not giving them opportunities, not educating them. So, I think you can’t actually, you know, you can’t leave the story without going, 'Oh my God, these people need help. They actually need support. There’s reasons why they end up that way.’"
One of the unexpected parts of the play that brought a tear to Ray’s eye, he said, was when Katriona’s schoolteacher, Ms Arkinson, gave her a towel and some clean underwear because she’d been called smelly at school:
"My story is a call for kindness. Like, Ms Arkinson changed my life. We all have the power to do that. That woman, she placed a light in my chest when it was completely dark. And she didn’t shame me, and she gave me the strength, I think, to continue on. I always tell this story when I do public speaking. Before I met Ms Arkinson, I used to lie in bed in my house, which was pretty crazy, and the darkest feeling I had and thought was, ‘Nobody’s ever going to come for you. No one loves you.’ And after about a year of being with Ms Arkinson and that wonderful care, I’d have that thought – no one’s going to come for you – and then I’d have this really, really small thought: ‘Ms Arkinson thinks you’re somebody.’ We all need somebody to think we’re somebody. And it shouldn't be dependent on the way we act."
You can hear Ray’s full, deeply engrossing conversation with Katriona by tapping or clicking above.
Poor, a memoir by Katriona O’Sullivan is published by Sandycove.
Poor by Katriona O’Sullivan, adapted for the stage by Sonya Kelly, runs at the Gate Theatre, Dublin until 2 November (but it’s sold out).