Cork actor features in new Enda Walsh play

CORK actor Orla Fitzgerald is a star of stage and screen. She is currently appearing in Enda Walsh’s The New Electric Ballroom in Dublin, but she is looking forward to bringing the show home to Cork when it opens in the Everyman on April 4.

The play focuses on three insular sisters, Breda (Barbara Brennan), Clara (Jane Brennan), and Orla’s character, Ada, whose introverted lives are changed when Ada makes a discovery. The play also stars Marty Rea.

The New Electric Ballroom brings Fitzgerald back to the work of Walsh. Her professional career began when she took to the stage in Walsh’s Disco Pigs over 20 years ago.

“I remember seeing the first run of Disco Pigs; Eileen [Walsh] and Cillian [Murphy] were starring in it, and it was in the Half Moon Club here in Cork,” recalls Orla.

“It was like rock and roll on stage. It was exciting, intense, funny, and fresh. 

"I had never seen anything that alive before; it really spoke to me as a young person. I couldn’t believe I was cast in the second run of it with Kevin O’Leary.”

Fitzgerald says The New Electric Ballroom is a very different play, but it still has those qualities that Walsh brought to Disco Pigs.

“As a writer, Enda’s plays are always fast- paced,” she explains. “As an actor, you need to attack them with high energy, but the pace is slightly less demanding.

“In Pigs, the characters are just on the cusp of adulthood and so full of energy, whereas in Ballroom, we are older, so the pace changes to reflect that, but without ever slowing down fully.

“I love that about Enda; his work is demanding but always fulfilling.”

As an actor, Fitzerald says she enjoys the rehearsal process as much as being on stage and says that rehearsals for Ballroom, in particular, are an essential part of understanding the character.

“I love being in the rehearsal room; having time to find things that help you play a character is great,” she says.

“This play is like Beckett; you have to go around the houses to get what it’s about. I enjoyed that process, but then it is brilliant to bring it to an audience because they add another dimension, and their reaction gives buoyancy.

“You’re always discovering new things, even though rehearsals are done.”

“When you leave the rehearsal room, it doesn’t mean that you have it sorted; I’m still working on things and trying new things; the process doesn’t stop, it doesn’t ever stop.

“You were always within the structure of what you did in rehearsals, and you’re not veering too far beyond what you’ve rehearsed with other actors; you don’t want to surprise them too much, but you have to keep it fresh so you can do the same play each night.”

The actor says playing Ada is challenging because the character has little empathy, which is caused by her circumstances.

“It is hard to explain why without going too far into the play, but Ada has arrested development,” says Orla. “She doesn’t feel empathy, so that has been hard to get my head around as an actor.

“Unlocking a character’s emotions is so important, feeling empathy is important, so it has been interesting to navigate that aspect of her.”

As a stage and screen actor, does Fitzerald prefer one form? She says no, each form has its pluses and minuses.

“I love them both in different ways. Theatre is instantly satisfying, you feel your audience’s reactions, but it can be a slog because it is every night. I love it, but you need a lot of energy to sustain it.

“I love TV and film; the early mornings can be hard, but you work in short bursts. It’s nice to dip in and out of them.”

Fitzgerald’s big break came with Ken Loach’s award-winning The Wind That Shakes The Barley, filmed in Cork and released in 2006.

“That experience was one of my highlights. Ken Loach is a true gentleman and a true artist. I loved working with him. We had a lovely summer in Cork filming it. It was hard work, and the subject matter was intense, but it was an amazing ride. It went on to win the Palme d’Or, and I’m very lucky to have been part of it.”

It is impossible to talk to Fitzgerald and not press her for some inside information on The Young Offenders season four. She plays Orla Walsh, wife of harassed principal Barry (PJ Gallagher) and grandmother to the show’s real star: Baby Star.

“I can tell you I am back in the show, but they’ll kill me if I say anything else,” says Orla. We are keeping our lips sealed.

“I’m glad it’s back, though; when we ended season three, we were told that was it, but people love it, much like we do as a cast and crew.”

Fitzgerald says that Cork audiences have always supported Walsh’s work, and she can’t wait to see the home-ground response.

“I am very excited to be back home. I have a big gang coming to see the show on the last night. Getting that support is brilliant, but it’s not all for me! It is for Enda; he has such an affinity with Cork, he spends a lot of time here, and local people are familiar with his work.

“It is always great to perform in Cork, but with Enda’s work, it feels like a real homecoming.”

The New Electric Ballroom runs in The Everyman, Cork, from April 4 to April 7. See everymancork.com