Consumed comes to our Courtyard Theatre from 10-13 September

Tell us a bit about Consumed.

Consumed is a pitch-black comedy, which starts as a domestic, kitchen-sink drama, and transforms into a surreal piece of magical realism.

Eileen, Gilly, Jenny and Muireann are reunited for Eileen’s 90th birthday party in the family home in Bangor, Northern Ireland. Through these four generations of women, the play explores the divisions within families, the trauma passed down through the generations in the North of Ireland, and attitudes towards violence and mental health.

What inspired you to write it?

Consumed was written in the confines of lockdown after I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It took me until my 30s to understand what was going on, but essentially, OCD can serve as a mechanism of control when you feel powerless. I decided to investigate where my OCD had originated, and I started by looking at my ancestry. Northern Ireland has one of the highest prevalences of OCD in Europe, with 20% of the population on anti-anxiety meds. I’d also battled with an eating disorder in the past and discovered that this can be yet another way to gain a sense of control. Through my research, I went on an interesting journey around Northern Irish trans-generational trauma; how that has impacted on my mental health today, and what is passed down through genes.

When I first wrote the play five years ago, what I was exploring felt distant and nebulous. Now, it feels more pertinent than ever. Ultimately the play urges us to consider – how do we end cycles of violence; how do we find hope amidst repeated trauma; and, more importantly, how do we find our way back to each other?

Consumed won the Women’s Prize for Playwriting in 2022. What did that achievement mean to you?

The world! I had been seriously considering quitting writing and retraining. It was in the depths of lockdown where the government was telling ballerinas to retrain in tech. Winning the award was the boost of validation I needed, right at the time I needed it the most. It has opened so many doors for me and elevated my career immeasurably. I’ve been writing for 14 years, but self-producing, so this is my first professional production, which feels incredible, and very pivotal for my career.

The play includes a lot of dark comedy. Why is that important to you?

It’s how Northern Irish people function. I think the darkest humour arises out of trauma as a coping mechanism. My mum always says “You’ve got to laugh, haven’t you?”, and I think the rest of that sentence probably goes “otherwise you’ll cry!”. People in the North are so quick-witted and hilarious and love to “sleg” each other (tease) and that’ll usually be done in a playful, funny fashion, so you have to keep your wits about you. To be authentic to Northern Ireland, although the play handles quite dark subject matter, it was always going to be done with dark humour.

What did you set out to say in the play about family dynamics?

That repression and not talking about things doesn’t mean that difficult feelings go away, they just get buried within us and passed down to the next generation. Famed psychiatrist Gabor Maté says, “children swim in their parent’s subconscious”. The body really keeps the score, and that trauma comes out in obsessive and addictive behaviour and mental ill health.

The main aim of this play was to encourage people to feel all the difficult feelings and to talk. We have to feel it to heal it. The North has a real knack of turning away from anything related to the Troubles, or wanting to face difficult truths. It was a coping mechanism that was needed to survive, but now is the time to look at the thing we all refuse to look at. We have to confront what’s going on if we want to heal it.

What are you most looking forward to on the UK tour?

I just can’t wait to see the audience response. I write plays for them. I’m so looking forward to discovering the parts they laugh at, where they feel uncomfortable, and where they’re moved.

What do you hope audiences take away from their night at the theatre?

I hope they laugh, I hope they’re moved, I hope all the mothers and daughters in the room feel seen and validated. The characters are all incredibly cruel to each other, but who hasn’t been cruel to a family member? I hope that it sparks conversations around trauma and addiction and mental health. I hope that it leads people to research trans-generational trauma. Perhaps they’ll be able to better make sense of themselves.