New theatre group offer an outlet for female writers

"Huge," says Deirdre when asked if there's a gender gap in local playwrights. She says her fellow-Moogles have bemoaned the scarcity of roles written from a female perspective; however she doesn't appear to blame anyone other than women for it. "I know because we've talked to women who say, 'Aw yeah I have a little piece at home but sure I couldn't. And you're going - 'Come on!'" Deirdre hopes that Moogles will provide an outlet for new female writers: "It's to help writers who are only starting out but who have a flare for it and maybe some time in the future would want to see their play put on the stage - we'll do that." She's eager to add that they want men to join in staging their plays too - hence a notice in last week's Celt looking for males aged in their 30s and 40s to audition for parts in their forthcoming production. The trio had previously put out a request for female writers to come forward some months ago and while they were impressed by the scripts they received, for their first play they decided to go with Shooting Stars, penned by Catherine, who hails from Cavan Town but now lives in Mullagh. The play was first performed in Dublin's Focus Theatre last year, where it was, as Deirdre describes, "a roaring success". They felt that when it plays for five nights in the Orchard Bar's function room in Drumalee during the All Ireland Fleadh this August, it will strike the right tone as the opening gambit for their new theatre group. See this week's paper for full article