WHO says gap year adventures are only for young people? Pack your bags as it's time for castles, coffee and craic as three women in their sixties go on the adventure of a lifetime.
The Gap Year, a Lyric Theatre production in association with Commedia of Errors, sees newly widowed Kate (Carol Moore), childminder-in-chief Roisin (Libby Smyth) and their best friend Oonagh (Marion O'Dwyer) decide enough is enough. Life is too short and they're going to follow in their children's footsteps and take a gap year.
Thailand? Europe? Australia? No, they're visiting every county in Ireland; sure there's a few they've never even heard of...
Written by Carrickfergus playwright Clare McMahon and directed by Benjamin Gould, The Gap Year was commissioned in 2019 and developed through the Lyric New Writing department.
Having had a staged reading at Origin 1st Irish Theatre Festival in New York at the start of 2020 and an audio performance as part of Listen at the Lyric reading during lockdown, Clare is delighted to finally see her play on the main stage.
"It's been on quite a journey, but I'm delighted that Marion O'Dwyer has joined Carol and Libby, who first worked with me on the idea as part of the New Playwrights Programme," she says.
The ensemble cast is completed by Frankie McCafferty, Keith Singleton and Meghan Tyler, who play multiple roles.
Clare's inspiration for the play was "the mummies, grannies and aunties of Ireland" who have dedicated their lives for caring for others.
"The story focuses on three women in their 60s who leave behind their childminding, granny and ironing duties.
"I was excited by that whole idea of women being selfish for a change and what would happen if they put themselves first," explains the 34-year-old.
As Co-Creative of Commedia of Errors, Clare has been working with older audiences in their Plays Aloud project and witnessed the thirst for the arts within that age group, as well as a wealth of ideas that life-experience brings.
"That has definitely fed into wanting to write stories that show the spectrum of life here. I think a woman in her 60s has just as much of a story, if not more, to tell."
Clare also believes the "playful" and "theatrical" aspect of The Gap Year will speak to younger audiences as well. But alongside the fun and friendships that are explored in The Gap Year, there is also the more serious topic of loss.
"It's about transforming and taking an adventure, but it's also about dealing with different types of grief - loss of a loved one but also loss of self in different stages of life," she says.
"One of them has lost their husband, another has been separated a long-time but her ex-husband is marrying again. The third friend has been babysitting for the past six years and has had no time for herself."
Clare trained as an actor in London's Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and has worked in theatres across Britain and Ireland including making her West End debut in Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan opposite Daniel Radcliffe. Television credits include The Woman in White and Agatha and the Truth of Murder.
In 2017 Clare's debut play Shakespeare's Women sold out its run in the Lyric's Naughton studio.
She has continued to write since, gaining an MFA in Playwriting from Dublin's Lir Academy and starred in her one-woman play I Am Maura at the Lyric in 2019.
Clare describes herself as "an actor-writer", although over the past two years has concentrated more on her writing, with a forthcoming commission with Kabosh and being one of the Abbey Theatre's Commemoration artists, developing work set in 1921.
She saying her training in both areas helps her writing. "Acting is a route a lot of writers come via," she explains. "It helps to see both perspectives."
Although regretting not taking a gap year herself after finishing uni, she doesn't rule it out in the future, and as her play proves, it's never too late.
The Gap Year audiences will see the trio leave Co Antrim in their campervan and explore the six counties in the north first before convincing each other to keep exploring.
So, as they leave the history of their past lives behind and try something new, what kind of antics do these women get up to?
"There are adventures in Carlingford, Dublin, Donegal, excitement in Tipperary, a campsite in the Ring of Kerry and let's just say there is a magical air in Dingle," adds Clare hinting at some possible romance for one of the women.
"They do have their phones on when they leave but they get less attached to them as they travel and learn to abandon them in the glove department."
Clare is aware that Covid has meant many been exploring their home country more, including her own parents who took a campervan trip in the south of Ireland last year.
"We always went on a holiday down to Co Mayo, but since the pandemic everyone has got a big appreciation of what is on our doorstep.
"You never know maybe after this show you will seem more 60-year olds take to the roads," she laughs.
:: The Gap Year, a Lyric Theatre production in association with Commedia of Errors runs at Belfast's Lyric Theatre from September 3 to 25. Lyrictheatre.co.uk.
