Sheila, 81, is as Beezie as ever with acting

For 81-year old Cork-born actress Sheila Flitton ‘retirement’ is a dirty word. This energetic woman will perform her 30-year-old one woman show, Beezie at Powerscourt Theatre in Dublin from July 16-26.

She wrote it with the help of her son, David. Flitton (nee Aherne) was thrilled to be invited to perform an extract from it for President Michael D Higgins and his wife, Sabina, at a reception for Irish people living in England last year. As she says, for a working class girl from St Finbarr’s Road to end up in the Áras is quite a leap. The show is based on the life of Beezie Gallagher, born in the 1870s, who was the sole resident on an island off Sligo for over 60 years. In the play, Beezie talks about her youth, her friendship with WB Yeats, her brief marriage, her rescue during the great freeze of 1947 and her campaign to escape from a County Home.

BEEZIE - preview today at 1pm. Make sure you catch this great at performed by re known actress Sheila Flitton between now and July 26th.

— Powerscourt Theatre (@Powers_Theatre) July 14, 2014