March 21, 2013

COW!

By suehealy

Easter Monday, 11 a.m. (local Irish time), sees KCLR 96fm broadcast ‘Cow’, a radio drama set in Glenmore, Co. Kilkenny.

Made with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, ‘Cow’ tells the story of Agi, a beautiful Hungarian woman with a secret who arrives on Damien and Marie Cleary’s farm in Glenmore to work as a mushroom picker. The Clearys’ already strained, childless marriage appears under further threat by her presence. An unlikely friendship develops between Marie and Agi however, leading both women to a new world view.

In a light hearted fashion, ‘Cow’ views the rural South East through the eyes of a foreigner bemused by cultural mainstays such as hurling and camogie, D.J. Carey, pub culture and the power of Smithwick’s beer. The forty-minute drama also explores contemporary issues such as Eastern European immigration into rural Ireland and social perceptions of women, both immigrant and native.

Director Jim Nolan is a founder member of Red Kettle Theatre Company and a former Writer in Association with the Abbey Theatre. He is a member of Aosdana. ‘Cow’ was written and produced by Sue Healy, a native of Waterford City who has won seven national awards for her writing, including the Molly Keane Prize. Her award-winning play ‘Shellakybooky’ is one of six chosen for performance at the Contemporary European Drama Review, Norwich, UK, in April this year. ‘Cow’ features Waterford actor Michael Power, who recently shot an episode of Game of Thrones for HBO and is currently in rehearsals for Richard II with the Abbey Players. ‘Cow’ also stars BBC Radio 4 veteran Madeleine Brolly, an Oxford-born actor whose family hails from Clonoulty Co. Tipperary and Dublin-based actor Geraldine Crowley of Barrabehy, Co. Kilkenny. ‘Cow’ was edited by senior BBC sound engineer Eugene Sully – who is probably best known as the runner-up in Big Brother 6.

‘Cow’ will be broadcast by KCLR 96fm after the 11am news on April 1^st (Easter Monday). The play can also be simultaneously streamed live via the KCLR 96fm website.

Poster by Amelia Power Design.

About suehealy

From Ireland, Sue Healy is Literary Manager at the Finborough Theatre, London, a full-time Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader in Creative Writing at the University of Lincoln. "70 Years At The Court" is her upcoming book, due to be published in 2026 by Methuen Drama, which she is co-writing with Prof. Harriet Devine. Her previous book "The Literary Manager's Toolkit" is on theatre literary management is published by Routledge (2023). Sue is an award-winning writer for stage, TV, and prose writer. TV Her current project, a 6x60minute TV series, is under option. She is under commission with Lone Wolf Media, producers behind PBS’ “Mercy Street”, to co-write the pilot and treatment for a six-part TV series. Stage Her most recent stage-play, Imaginationship (2018), enjoyed a sold out, extended run at the Finborough and later showed at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. Her previous stage productions include Cow (Etcetera Theatre, 2017) and Brazen (King’s Head Theatre, 2016), funded by Arts Council England. Sue’s short plays have been performed at the Criterion (Criterion New Writing Showcase), Arcola (The Miniaturists) and Hackney Attic (Fizzy Sherbet Shorts). Radio Her radio work includes nine plays broadcast on BBC Radio 4 (Opening Lines winner), WLRfm and KCLR96fm. Prose Sue has won The Molly Keane Award, HISSAC Prize, Escalator Award, Meridian Prize and has been published in nine literary journals and anthologies including: The Moth, Flight, Tainted Innocence, New Writer, Duality, HISSAC, New European Writers. She has been writer-in-residence on Inis Oírr, Aran Islands, and at the Heinrich Boll Cottage on Achill Island. She has also benefitted from annual artist residencies at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, and at Ginestrelle, Assisi in Italy. An academic with a PhD in modern theatre history, specifically the Royal Court Theatre, Sue has presented her research internationally. She spent eleven years in Budapest, editing Hungary A.M. She has a PhD in modern theatre history (Royal Court Theatre) and is a UEA Creative Writing MA alumna. View all posts by suehealy

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