REINVENTING yourself isn’t all that easy but some people have the knack. Needs must as my granny used to say and Carol Moore is a fine example of someone who had adapted to the ups and downs of life in the theatre. Now she has written her one-woman play The Experience of Being, funny and moving, as she looks at the ageing process and asks, does it need to be so difficult?
“Two years ago I became 60 and I began reflecting on age, I had a sense of what it’s like to be an older woman with dwindling power, dodgy health and of social isolation. I decided I wouldn’t accept it.”
Regardless of age, there are some days when you just don’t want to look in the mirror but Carol did bite the bullet and examined her life physically, mentally and emotionally and the result is a fascinating piece of writing and acting.
It’s all about Cathy who asks herself, what’s to celebrate about reaching 60? So she downs a bottle of Prosecco and a family-size packet of crisps and considers how women become invisible after a certain age, how the world seems to revolve around magazines celebrating thin young women with perfect hair, perfect teeth and perfect make-up.
It’s easy to feel 'what’s the point?' It’s a positive, youth-driven society, old age is negative. But, she asks, does it need to be like this? She sets out to find out.
Writing the play when she as was the MAC theatre’s artist in residence, Carol discovered that ageism in general is endemic in our society but especially for women; at a certain age people don’t even see you anymore, you loose your identity, you're just another cardigan and flat shoes.
Cosmetic surgery is a booming business
I’ve met perfectly attractive women who have gone under the knife but is the pain and the short-term gain worth it? Even 20-year-olds are resorting to Botox; they believe to remain attractive you must be youthful.
I know a woman who did supply teaching and she was the life and soul of the party in the staff room. The young ones included her in their outing to the pub on a Friday after work and she was happy. Then the day came when she invited them to join her for a drink to celebrate her birthday. "What age?" they chorused. Sixty three came the reply.
Everything changed; she was old enough to be their granny and they began treating her like their granny. They were suddenly polite around her, held her chair when she sat down, invitations to join their fun dwindled, afraid their antics and language would offend. She began to feel awkward and she was glad when her time with them came to an end.
For actresses in the 1980s it was a similar story of being ignored, although not because they were of an age but because they were women.
When a group of five actresses took the initiative to write their own material they made their mark. The Charabanc company presented around 20 plays, most of them as the result of researching their stories by talking to people directly involved in the subject matter.
Lay Up Your Ends was their first and featured the experiences of women who worked in the linen mill in York Street.
They have all gone on to careers in theatre
Eleanor Methven, Brenda Palmer Winter – who is about to open in her one-woman show, Keep Telling Me Lies, at the MAC, Maureen McAuley, playwright Marie Jones and Carol, who has had a remarkable career since Charabanc disbanded in 1995.
From primary school teacher in 1980 through a busy stage and television career to directing and producing and touring in South Africa, Rwanda, Russia, Ireland and the UK. She directed the feature film Pump Girl to critical acclaim but when it came to acting it was settling for small roles.
“As I got older I didn’t see myself reflected on the Irish stage, bit parts but nothing challenging. so I decided to create my own part. I talked to women between the ages of 60 and 95 about their hopes and fears, their experiences of growing old. I soon realised you have walk in an older person's shoes to see if it will fit down the line.”
Although it’s 'Cathy’s' story, a lot it is based on Carol’s own life and indeed it relates to any woman’s life.
“I want the audience to feel what Cathy’s feeling. Typically she goes into a room and forgets what she’s there for – but is that age related or something more sinister? She goes to a birthday party the night before and can’t remember what happened, she feels her power is dwindling. It’s not only the ageing, it’s the discrimination. It’s how people perceive you, women of age, a figure of fun where dignity has no currency where pity replaces respect.”
Carol’s message
Don’t look in the mirror and cry – do something about it. In your 20s all your life is ahead, the future is optimistic but it rushes through – keep up with it, she advises. Don’t give in to the stair lift and keep your lipstick handy. Treat maturity as a challenge, have fun and don’t look at the numbers.
After the show, which is just over an hour long, there will be a discussion when guest will include Baroness May Blood and Siobhan Casey of Age NI.
This one-woman band is a dynamo. She crowd funded to enhance Arts Council and Lottery grants, recruited Patrick O’Reilly to direct, Malcolm Smith on lighting, Conor Mitchell wrote the musical score and Kevin Lawless plays the saxaphone.
When they finish their May 8-10 run in the Baby Grand at Belfast's Grand Opera House the play goes on tour. Details and booking at
