Louise O'Neill among writers pushing the boundaries of theatre at Cork Midsummer Festival

O’Neill is busier than ever, and completed her Theatre for One piece while also working on not one, but two books, a novel and an eagerly anticipated memoir, which will be out next year. She also hasn't ruled out writing a full-length play at some point

Louise O'Neill: "I just adore the theatre. Wherever I am, I’m always like ‘what play can I go and see?’." Picture: Anna Groniecka

She may have made her name as an author but it turns out that Louise O’Neill’s true love is the theatre. When I chat to O’Neill, she is in London, where she has seen two plays in quick succession — Conor McPherson’s new play The Brightening Air and the buzzy Broadway transfer Stereophonic by David Adjmi.

"I just adore the theatre. Wherever I am, I’m always like ‘what play can I go and see?’. There is something about being in a dark room with a few hundred other people and you have all signed this covenant that you are going to suspend disbelief for the next couple of hours.”