'Natural Woman' show celebrates inspirational Cork women

WELL-KNOWN Cork singer/songwriter Fiona Kennedy is stepping on to a stage of a different kind to celebrate the influential women in her life.

She has written a new show, which for the first time will include readings as well as music, which she’ll perform in the Cork Arts Theatre (CAT) Club.

And despite working for over 30 years in the music industry, Fiona admits this new departure is a ‘huge stretch’ out of her comfort zone, and is completely terrifying!

The show is called Natural Woman and will see Fiona perform original songs about Cork women from her personal and professional life, including Caitriona Twomey (Penny Dinners), Mary Crilly (Cork Sexual Violence Centre) and Mary Elmes, who is credited with saving the lives of hundreds of Jewish children from Nazi death camps, among many others.

Readings will be performed by Cork author Ethel Crowley, who unknowingly helped spark the idea for the show.

I had been thinking about doing a show like this for some time, telling stories about my songs, but to be honest the idea of doing it scared me silly. Then a chance encounter with Ethel in the English Market was what got me going.

“She was telling me about her book , Life at Full Tilt; The Selected Writings of Dervla Murphy. I’ve been reading travel writer Dervla Murphy since my 20s – my mum gave me her books when I was going to the US on my own in my 20s back in the ’80s, and I’ve always felt a connection with her.

“Ethel asked me to write a song about Dervla for the book launch which I did, called The Maverick,’ and that made me realise I had other songs in me about other inspirational women, and the whole project started,” said Fiona.

Fin Flynn, manager of CAT Club, was also hugely supportive, she said.

“I rang up and she was on board with dates and so the show was born, there was no going back!”

Pirate Grace O’Malley, campaigner Vicky Phelan, and her late mum Aileen also inspired other songs for the show.

“My siblings and I looked after mum at home in her final years and I learned so much from her during that time, and about myself. She had two wonderful carers and their dedication sparked the song Angels On This Earth.”

Fiona hopes audiences, male and female, will leave the shows feeling ‘uplifted’.

“It’s a celebration of people who have brought goodness into the world, so I hope people will leave feeling inspired to not give up. Despite all the sadness that’s around us, I’d like people to realise that we’re surrounded by a lot of good here in Cork,” she said.

And it’s also about celebrating all the wonderful work done by women which can sometimes be overlooked.

She’ll be joined on stage on both nights by Billy Kennedy (guitar) and Paul Seymour (piano). As well as Ethel, Donal Hayes will be a guest reader with projections created by Cormac O’Connor.

Natural Woman is of course the tile of an infamous Carole King song. Fiona met Carole during her years in the US, and that’s a story she’s saving especially for her audiences.

“Stepping into the theatre world is something new for me, but it’s very exciting! I’m very glad to be pushing myself to do it because, honestly, I don’t think all the great achievements of women are celebrated enough,” she said.

Natural Woman runs on Thursday, March 28, and Saturday, March 30.

For tickets see https://corkartstheatre.com/event/natural-woman-fiona-kennedy/