Based on Katriona O’Sullivan’s best-selling memoir, Poor charts her extraordinary journey as she emerges from her childhood in Coventry and Birmingham marked by poverty, addiction and homelessness.
Moving to Dublin as a teenager, Poor follows O’Sullivan as she overcomes seemingly insurmountable obstacles to earn a PhD from Trinity College Dublin and inspire a generation through her writing, teaching and speaking. This unforgettable story is vividly and movingly portrayed through her close relationships with family and friends, and thrums with the music that has resonated through her life.
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| Photo by Ros Kavanagh |
This Gate Theatre and Belgrade Theatre world premiere will be a beacon of hope, resilience and community, and will be a catalyst for discussion and change around the most critical social issues of our time.
Aisling O’Mara stars as Katriona in the stage adaptation. We sat down with her to learn more about the piece.
What can you tell me about Poor and your role as Katriona?
Poor is the story of Katriona’s life, from being a child raised by parents who were active addicts, to being homeless, pregnant at age of 15, to being an addict herself then turning her life around with the help of brilliant teachers, and facilitators that didn't give up on her. It's an astonishing story of bravery, honesty and love.
How did you approach the process of portraying a living person whose life story is so raw and well-known to the public? Did you feel a particular weight of responsibility to her or her family?
Absolutely, and when you meet Katriona, like she's a power house, she has this electricity to her that pulls you in. She’s highly intelligent and incredibly in touch with her feelings and all around her, she can read a room very quickly. I was lucky she was very open to meeting me, and chatting about her life, with no bourndaire, that's not always the case. She is extremely open to me.
My job is to tell the truth of all that, the rawness, the hurt, and the love. I'm lucky were very good friends now
The play travels from deep trauma and homelessness to academic triumph. How do you manage that emotional whiplash as a performer night after night?
Good question, and if I'm honest, I'm not 100 percent sure. I trust my process and that I've done the hard work it’s in me now. I can feel that, and I'm particular about my physical warm up before the show. I need to be grounded, and I trust myself it's there, and hand myself over once the play starts.
The play thrums with music. How has the soundtrack of Katriona’s life helped you find her voice or her rhythm during rehearsals?
It is the heart beat of the play for me, and music is huge in her life, and in my own one too. We share music too, we send each other's songs on the regular.
If you had to pick one song that perfectly captures Katriona’s Dublin arrival energy versus her PhD graduation energy, what would they be?
When she arrives in Dublin it's THE PRODIGY BREATHE.
When she graduates PhD its SELF ESTEEM FOCUS IS POWER.
Poor is a deeply internal memoir. What was the biggest challenge in translating Katriona’s internal thoughts and resilience into a physical, outward performance?
We have an incredible play adoption of the book by Sonya Kelly that moves so brilliantly, so it's there, and Roisin McBrinn the director of POOR her vision for this world we were building is really beautiful and thorough so I'm lucky there was lot of the building steps to get there from the get go.
The story moves from Coventry and Birmingham to Dublin. Did you find that changing the setting—and perhaps the accent or dialect—helped mark the shifts in her personal identity?
We have made the choice to keep Katriona’s in my voice, because what we feel is the story is the driving force at the heart of this piece not the placement of accent. Because if I'm honest, Katriona's accent changes with who's around, like for family from Dublin, from her brothers in Coventry. Tonally Katriona and I are a like, and our energy is matched and that's what's important for me.
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| Photo by Ros Kavanagh |
Much of the story is anchored by her relationships. How did you and the cast build the chemistry needed to portray the village that helped her survive?
I always feel kindness is key. We physically warm up together every rehearsal and before the show and a vocal warm up, it's good cause we all get little chats in and see how we all are.
We're close which is really great. I feel very lucky with this cast. Also, I'm working with Hilda Fay which is a dream, cause like years ago, while I was in theatre training, she came into Topshop, and I was working on the till serving her, telling her how much I admire her and giving a discount. full circle moment.
As a world premiere between two iconic theatres (The Gate in Dublin and The Belgrade in Coventry), how does it feel to perform this story in the very cities where these events actually took place?
Ahh like incredible, it's a gift. When the audience has been where you're talking about there delighted, it's like their ears perk. They get it, I'm really excited to see the Coventry response.
Without giving too much away, what is the one moment in the play’s staging that still gives you goosebumps during rehearsals?
It's one I watch, with a teacher Mrs Arkinson and young Katriona, when she was in school and this teacher saw this child needed intervention, kindness and care. It's the moment of change for me.
Poor directly addresses addiction and poverty. How does this production challenge the stereotypes often seen on stage regarding the working class or people experiencing homelessness?
It brings humanity. No one wakes up an addict, it's much much deeper than that. It's generational, I feel this play is opening up to understand that when homelessness happens it's complicated. No one is a bad person, we're all trying to survive in a space that doesn't serve us.
What was the first piece of theatre you remember having a big impact on you?
A play called Saved by Edward Bond at the Peacock Theatre in Dublin, it was an incredible production. Very Raw. I was jaw-dropped, crying, angry. It was an overload of feeling in this one experience that I will never ever forget.
This play is described as a catalyst for change. What do you hope an audience member - perhaps someone currently facing the obstacles Katriona did—takes away from your performance?
Well I'll tell ya I’ve changed from doing this play, I look at the world differently. I began to work with brilliant women from SAOL project, an organisation in Dublin for women dealing with homelessness and addiction. It's been inspiring, and I don't think it would have happened if I wasn't in poor. I think if you see it you can't help but see the injustice we live in.
Poor will be showing at the Belgrade from Friday 1 May - Saturday 9 May. For tickets visit https://www.belgrade.co.uk/events/poor/
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| Photo by Ros Kavanagh. |
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