‘Huge loss to the theatre’

A CLASSICALLY trained actor, Kathleen Barrington began to find herself sidelined as soon as she reached 30.

She said; “Most female actors when they reach beyond their 20s have to start scrambling around looking for work, it’s as if suddenly they are not a person anymore.”

In Ms Barrington’s case she was “lucky” — as a full-time Abbey Theatre employee she turned to promoting acting, becoming the Dublin theatre’s first education officer.

She recalled: “All the time I was only getting little parts in the Abbey I was still involved in theatre in schools, in the community and bringing people back into the theatre again.

“Other actors don’t have that opportunity, you have spent four or five years training then working very fruitfully for maybe 10 years then suddenly you’re not in demand anymore. This is a huge loss to the theatre.”

She added: “There is a need to get writers to start writing challenging roles for women. Unfortunately very few writers see the woman as the main protagonist, normally we are the sidekick or romantic interest.

However Ms Barrington said opportunities were emerging with television writers in particular creating more leading roles for women.

In Ireland, she said playwright Brian Friel stood out for writing “fabulous roles for women”.