Jody O'Neill Commission

Mermaid Arts Centre will commission a new full length play from Bray-based playwright Jody O’Neill in 2021, with support from Rough Magic and the Abbey Theatre and made possible with generous support from the Arts Council.

There exists a longstanding relationship between Jody and Mermaid Arts Centre. Most recently, Mermaid supported Jody in the production and presentation of her play What I (Don’t) Know About Autism. We’re thrilled to have the resources to offer Jody a significant commission, and to have directorial and dramaturgical support from our partners at Rough Magic and the Abbey Theatre.

The play will explore family dynamics, memory, abuse and the ripple effect that abuse can have, generation to generation, parent to child, sibling to sibling. Jody will draft the play in the early part of 2021 and Mermaid will produce a workshop development week for the piece in the Spring, with a view to bringing a final draft to fruition later in the Summer.

The initial development of this work was supported by Irish Theatre Institute through a workshop facilitated by Javier Daulte.

Speaking about the commission, Jody O’Neill said: 'I'm really excited about embarking on this commission with Mermaid. Particularly at this time, it means so much as a freelance artist to be supported by the Arts Council in setting out to write an ambitious new piece of work, with the hope that very soon all our theatres will be able to open their doors to audiences again.'