New play set in West Clare to feature at Dublin Theatre Festival

IN A remote Airbnb at a farmhouse, a woman prepares to scatter her son's ashes while a visitor from America settles in for an idyllic break in West Clare. Soon enough, their weekend plans get turned upside down when an unexpected guest arrives looking for shelter.

The Loved Ones is the story Adare playwright Erica Murray has been working on with Rough Magic Theatre Company and The Gate Theatre.

Speaking of the play, Erica explains: “It's about four different women who meet in West Clare, by chance. They're all there for different reasons and they're all suffering with their own personal loss. Over the weekend, their opinions of each other change dramatically.”

The play was inspired by the women in Erica's life. Who does she look up to the most?

“My own mom,” she replies. “She's very easy going and takes things in her stride. I always try to be more like her.”

After seeing The Loved Ones, Erica hopes people will go back home with a new sense of resilience.

“I think that people are really strong. There's a lot of women I know that are really tough and they're dealing with really hard stuff but they manage to put one foot in front of the other. So, The Loved Ones is a hopeful play”.

Erica first became interested in playwriting in college. “There was a student drama society and two plays were on every week.

There was just so much going on there and I kind of realised that it wasn't just acting. There's more to theatre,” she recalls.

If she has one advice for aspiring playwrights, it's to always keep writing - no matter what.

“The main thing is to keep writing and try to finish a draft. Then, you can go back over it and think about it more. Just try to get to the end of it, then you can rewrite it,” she advises.

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Late September, The Loved Ones will be on in the Lime Tree Theatre. “Theatre in Limerick is so important and such a great part of the city. I'm really excited that the play is starting its life in The Lime Tree.”

The three performances of The Loved Ones in Lime Tree Theatre are previews ahead of its official opening at the Dublin Theatre Festival on September on September 29.

If Erica's life was a play, what would be the title?

“The ups and downs of Erica's life,” she concludes.