MONDAY morning and a trip across the city to the old Belfast Metropolitan College on Tower Street ,whose beauty and hair salon is proving the perfect rehearsal space for Patricia Gormley’s latest work ‘Is That Too Hot?’
Set in the world of hairdryers, rollers, straighteners and all things beauty, the hilarious sequel to ‘I’ll Tell My Ma’ is heading to The MAC stage this month to lift our spirits during the post-holiday slump.
West Belfast scribe Patricia, who has performed her work across the city on many stages from the Cultúrlann to the Lyric, in her new play traces the antics of Granny Eileen, Davina Carina and Chelsea Marie as they stumble their way through another year in their ever turbulent lives as they pop in and out of their local hairdressers for a cuppa, a ‘curly blowdry’ and a catch-up.
Starring Christina Nelson, who brought Patricia’s work and characters to life on the Lyric stage last year, and Roisin Gallagher, both actors told Daily Belfast how audiences are in for a treat when curtain comes up.
“I play the character of Olive, in whose salon the stories of each character unfold in,” explained Roisin. “Olive has her own drama going on which the audience find out about throughout the piece. It is based on a real life person and hairdressers in the heart of West Belfast. It’s a brilliant observational piece and it’s a story about what happens at the heart of any community that has people who are lonely, struggling, having relationship problems and maybe don’t have anyone to speak to and are coming to this place for their own needs once a week. As Olive says in the play, “This place is like a psychiatrist’s couch, only they get to sit in a swivel chair. The character of Olive hears more about what is going on than the priest,” she laughed.
Fresh from her stint as the white rabbit in the Lyric’s Alice the Musical, Christina Nelson is preparing to transform once again into a variety of roles for this sequel. “Granny Eileen, feisty as ever, is back, bless her, back from Turkey where she had a great old time. Chelsea Marie is back and Patricia has written a new character, Mrs Hughes, who is a bit of a prickly one and worth a watching.”
Christina continued: “The energy with Roisin is brilliant, we are working brilliantly together and we are working our socks off to make sure those coming to see us will be laughing in their seats.
“So much of everyday life is heard and discussed in the hairdressers, some people even just go to sit under the dryer to get a bit of heat, get a cup of tea brought to them. It’s very much a social thing and they are very much embedded throughout communities.”
When asked about plans for a trilogy, Christina revealed that Patricia is “writing as we speak.” “Granny Eileen will definitely be back and there is more to come for these characters.”
The new production will reunite Roisin with her recent Bah, Humbug! co-star Alan McKee, who this time will be sitting in the director’s chair. The former St Genevieve’s High School pupil will also be bringing her own work to The MAC stage in March with the self-penned Natural Disaster. “I wrote this piece, it’s what I would call a creative documentation, after my daddy passed away last Christmas. It’s like a journey through grief and I had documented things during that time that were said whether they were funny and sad. It’s not all doom and gloom, though, it’s how we look at grief, how we carry it with us and it will be great to perform it at The MAC following our run with this show.”
“You can’t help but fall in love with these characters,” said Roisin. “It’s the perfect tonic for people needing a lift in January to put their worries away for an hour or two and come and see the show.”
Is That Too Hot runs at The MAC from January 23 until February 10. For ticket information visit www.themaclive.com or telephone 02890 235053.
