Maeve O’Mahony: ‘Theatre transcends time — it’s always been here and it always will be’
Actor, theatre-maker, and founding member of MALAPROP, Maeve O’Mahony is magnetic on the stage and a true force behind the curtain. Currently touring Ireland in HOTHOUSE, she shares with us her cultural life.
When I saw Maeve O’Mahony performing her opening number on stage at The Everyman in Cork, I was transfixed. A splash of the most vibrant orange wielding plumed feather fans and a burlesque headpiece, her presence on stage filled the theatre hall and made it clear we were in for a good time.
Taking on a number of roles in the production of HOTHOUSE on its ongoing Irish tour, from the Flycatcher at the start to Ali in Act 2, Maeve is not just one of the show’s stars, but a founding member of the theatre company behind it, MALAPROP.
“We’re a collective of artists who have been making shows together for ten years,” Maeve tells me, “HOTHOUSE is our seventh production. Our shows have a sensibility in common, if not a process, we like to take on big topics in a playful way.”
And that’s just what they do with HOTHOUSE. A tragic-comedy set aboard a cruise ship on a journey to bid farewell to the ice caps, the part-play, part-musical show is a fast-paced story of love, loss, and legacy written by Carys D. Coburn. It’s heartbreaking and hilarious in equal measure, and deals with the climate crisis through the lens of intergenerational trauma. As Maeve puts it: “it’s about needing to change but not knowing how.”
Other recent credits of Maeve’s include Guest Host Stranger Ghost as part of Dublin Theatre Festival, Club Salty with THISISPOPBABY, and An Octaroon at The Abbey Theatre. When it comes to taking a story or character from the page and bringing it to life on the stage, music plays a huge role for Maeve. Many Spotify playlists, and a lot of writing. “I like to write out moments from their past, probing questions, timelines, and then you build in the room,” she tells me. “A great director, like Claire O’Reilly, can pull so much character detail out of you.”
Surprisingly, a career in the theatre wasn’t always in Maeve’s eyeline, first pursuing a degree in science before quickly realising she was made for the stage. She made the decision to restart college and begin her drama and theatre studies, which has served her well in her role as performer and devisor for MALAPROP.
“The ratio of these roles changes show to show,” she tells me. “Sometimes I’m doing lots of research and taking on a more dramaturgical role, other times I’m a performer in the room, working on a new script, sometimes I’m both.”
Following on from the company’s Off-Broadway debut in 2024, the Irish Tour of the award-winning production, HOTHOUSE, has been touring across ten Irish venues since the run began back in April. Of its reception, Maeve assures me that it’s been nothing short of amazing. “We presented the work in Dublin Fringe 2023, toured to New York last year, and are now on a ten venue tour around Ireland. It’s very special when a show gets to grow legs like that. It’s a testament to how wonderful our audiences have been.”
Maeve O’Mahony’s life in culture
The last thing I saw and loved… Last weekend I went to a talk from writer Shon Faye about her new book Love In Exile. She was astonishingly articulate about the intersection of love and politics. I was hanging on her every word. Also when we toured to Tralee we visited the Kerry Museum. In the basement was a walk-through of a medieval street in Tralee. I absolutely loved it.
The book I keep coming back to… My new obsession of the past year has been a series by Tamsyn Muir called The Locked Tomb. It’s about queer necromancers in space. As the series goes on it’s formally really exciting, with each book recontextualising the last. If you have any grá for sci-fi or fantasy then please enjoy.
I find inspiration in… Every September, Dublin Fringe Festival, which is by far my favourite time of year. I was lucky enough to be a judge last year and got to see about 15 performances in two and a bit weeks. Incredible cabaret, dance, theatre, comedy. It reminded me that there is an audience there for live art, people need this.
My favourite film is… For comfort, Practical Magic, for art, The Love Witch, and for nostalgia, The Craft.
My career highlight is… My Abbey Theatre debut in An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. It was such a pinch me moment. Perfect script, perfect cast, perfect show. I loved every second of it. Also, taking HOTHOUSE to the Irish Arts Centre in New York was a dream come true. We were so well looked after, and because the run was a month long we all got to live out our New York fantasies.
The song I listen to, to get in the zone is… Before every show I listen to a Mitski song called ‘Bug Like An Angel’. It has this line in it—“when I got older I learned I’m a drinker, sometimes a drink feels like family”—it helps me feel connected to Ali, a character I play in the second half of the show in HOTHOUSE.
The last (book/film/show/piece of work/artist etc.) I recommend is… Everything that THISISPOPBABY do. Their show RIOT is on this July at Vicar Street and if you haven’;t seen it I would immediately snap up some tickets. It is not to be missed.
I never leave the house without… Headphones, I walk everywhere and I simply have to blast music in my ears.
The film/performance/piece of work etc. I still think about is… Patsy Ferran’s performance as Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire, it was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen. It managed to be both earth shattering and effortless at the same time. I remember watching it and thinking, okay there’s the new top standard.
My dream role would be… I enjoy the work so much that honestly any role I’m cast in is a dream role! But if we’re talking silly dreams, I would love to play Joan Crawford in a big old Hollywood adaptation.
The best advice I’ve ever gotten… is from my good friend actor Peter Corboy: Don’t be cool, be warm. It’s kinda simplistic but I do genuinely try to live by it.
The advice I would give to someone hoping to have a career in the arts is… Invest in your friendships, they will be the people to keep you sane in your down time.
The art (book/film/performance/show etc.) that means the most to me is… If I answer this honestly I have to say the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. I recently had a Lord of the Rings themed hen, thank you to my glorious friends. But a theatre piece that I think is the reason I’m an actor now, was Corcodorca’s production of Woyzech in 2007. It was a promenade theatre piece that took over the whole of Haulbowline Island in Cork. I was 16 when I saw it and utterly mind blown, I can trace that as the moment I latched on to theatre.
My favourite moment in this show is.. My opening song in HOTHOUSE. It used to be the moment that terrified me the most, but now I look forward to being feral every night. I love how it’s its own stand-alone cabaret piece. Definitely the most fun opening to a show I’ll ever get to perform.
The most challenging thing about being on stage is… Forgiving yourself for messing up. I think often performers are perfectionists, but you need to be able to lie alone in the dark at night and not be haunted by past mistakes.
After a show, I… Eat snacks and empty my mind, which I do by watching complete trash, currently Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Below Deck.
If I wasn’t an actor, I would be… It’s hard to imagine not staying in theatre so I guess I would say dramaturg, but I sort of already do that… Maybe I’d go back to science. Honestly my dream is to be a retired teacher turned mystery writer who solves murders.
The person I look up to in the world of Irish theatre is… I’m obsessed with Derbhle Crotty, watching her on stage is a dream, and she’s so kind.
One thing I wish everyone knew about working in theatre is… That almost all of the time it’s incredibly unglamourous.
The magic of theatre/acting to me is… That it transcends time. It’s always been here and it always will be. Of course it’s constantly changing, and the tech is always developing, but mostly it’s people standing in front of other people trying to entertain them. Without getting too soppy, I find that really moving.
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