Limerick Profile - Joan Sheehy Limerick-born actor/director

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Written by Rachael Finucane

Wednesday, 10 June 2009

   WELL-known actress, Joan Sheehy, is back in her native Limerick to direct a new comedy and the first play in the innovative 'Elements' series by Limerick Theatre Hub.
   'Excess Baggage' is an modern adaptation of Chaucer's 'The Wife of Bath', written by Mary Coll, and it will run at the Belltable from June 15 to 27.
   Originally from Granagh, Joan has starred in 'Ros na RÃºn', 'Killinascully'; 'Father Ted' on television and in films such as 'The Boxer' and 'The Field'.
   She has also graced the stage with many acclaimed productions and companies including Druid and Corcadorca. This play is her third outing as a director.
   “I'm mostly based in Dublin but visit Limerick and work here a lot. My brother and his family live in Granagh so it's great to be back. I had a great experience here last summer directing 'Buck Jones and the Body Snatchers'. It was a good script and The Georgian House venue was amazing. Limerick audiences are great. Once they take something to heart, they're very supportive,” she said.
   “I love new work but it's harder to get people to come along because they're inclined to go for what they know. New work is the lifeblood of the theatre and 'Excess Baggage' is exciting, really funny and about an experience that most of us can relate to-being stuck in an airport departure lounge. It's about the way women talk and how they meet a stranger and suddenly start revealing things. The conversation turns to men and love and marriage and sex.”
   She added that the 21st century equivalent of 'The Wife of Bath' is as bawdy and fun as the original.
   “Mary Coll has a wicked sense of humour and we're having great fun working on it. The characters are very real; they're not sad about things but rising above them. It's quite poignant in parts and it's hard to know how audiences will react until they are watching. The cast-Monica Spencer and Gene Rooney-are excellent,” she said.
   “We've just started working with the puppets. We have two as airline staff. It lifts it out of reality and into another realm. The passengers are looking to the gate like it's the gate to heaven. Maybe it leads to the next part of their life. It's interesting and chaotic bringing it all together-the writing, the actors, the puppets and the sound recordings.”
   Joan said that “there is a huge buzz around the Limerick Theatre Hub”-a collective of local theatre professionals, which will stage four plays this year.
   “It's great that it got funding from the Arts Council because it's a tough climate. It's always been tough. Companies are doing less plays than before, touring less and the film industry isn't as buoyant. Budgets are strict. We're talking 'we can't use these lights because they use so many batteries' but you get used to it. A lot of companies had nothing starting out. In this case, we're doing something the way it should be done.”
   Joan began acting in secondary school before training as a national school teacher in Mary Immaculate College and working in Clarina and Ballybrown.
   “I still wanted to pursue acting so I started working backstage and got small parts. It was a recognised way of breaking into it; now a lot of people go to college but then it was like an apprenticeship. I still see myself as an actor but I'm a long time in the game so I've built up some other experience. I used to watch directors at work. It's easier with good material but it's hard work and scary when something isn't right and everyone looks to you for the solution! All I want to do is try and make good theatre. I've been working on 'Excess Baggage' for a few months now and the play feels almot part of me. I'm really excited for the previews.”
   For information and tickets, call 061-319866.

   Name: Joan Sheehy.
   Occupation: Actor/director.
   Location: Cecil Street.
   Favourite thing about Limerick: I love the river.
   Worst thing about Limerick: I can't think of anything.

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