Ailís Ní Ríain's Desolate Heaven comes to Cork's Everyman

THE Irish premiere of writer and composer Ailís Ní Ríain’s play, Desolate Heaven, opens at the Everyman in Cork in a co-production with the Granary Theatre on Feb 3. Directed by Tony McCleane-Fay, Desolate Heaven stars Mary McEvoy, who plays three eccentric women in their late 50s.

The drama centres around two young girls, aged 12 and 13, who run away from their homes. They are played by Irene Kelleher and Áine Ryan, two actresses in their 20s.

Desolate Heaven was inspired by Ní Ríain’s experience of having to care for her mother when she was a teenager. (Her mother is now recovered and will attend the play.) “While the idea for the play came from my own experience, it’s not about me. The genesis of the idea came from young people who are isolated within their homes with one parent. They have more responsibility than they should have as well as an odd connection to their parents whereby they’re almost in charge.”