AMY Conroy says her acclaimed play I Heart Alice Heart I tells a niche story but shouldn’t be confined to a niche audience.
The play concerns two older women (Alice Kinsella and Alice Slattery) who fall in love in the aisles of a supermarket and then, documentary-style, recount their life and times.
After receiving rave reviews on its debut in 2010 for its heartfelt, moving, humorous and universal portrayal of a loving couple, the show has been all around the world and is now being performed in Belfast.
“It’s been a massive journey. We’ve been to Australia, New Zealand, America, Iceland, France, Croatia – everywhere,” says Conroy, writer, director and co-star of the play (alongside Clare Barrett).
“Nobody was more surprised than me that it seemed to resonate on such a level for people. I’m so proud of it. I think it has lasted so long because it is as much the audience’s show as it is ours.
“It seems crazy that it has been all over the world but we’ve never taken it to the north of Ireland. It’s high time and I’m really chuffed to be bringing the show up.”
Conroy is from Cahirsiveen in Co Kerry but is based in Dublin, where she recently performed her new play Luck Just Kissed You Hello.
“We also played the Alice show in Dublin earlier this year to coincide with the Marriage Equality Bill and it sold out and it was a roaring success,” she says.
“It’s a simple love story but one with a difference in the sense that it’s between two women – which you don’t often see – and more importantly it’s between two women of a certain age, which you certainly don’t often see.
“Women are so under-represented [in theatre], gay women are under-represented but older gay women are absolutely and utterly invisible. So it’s obviously a niche show but it’s not for a niche audience; I think it’s a very human story.”
:: I Heart Alice Heart I is running at the Lyric (Naughton Studio) in Belfast tonight, tomorrow and Saturday at 8pm (plus 3pm Saturday matinee), as part of the Outburst Queer Arts Festival. Tickets £12/£15 (www.lyrictheatre.co.uk / 028 9038 1081)
