Plume Theatre exists to stage the play Aoife, Eve and the Volcano.
About
'Aoife, Eve and the Volcano'
Two young women are stranded at an airport because of the Volcanic Ash incident of 2010.
Allies in a storm, they find comfort in their common heritage in a foreign country.
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But how much do they really have in common? And do they ever want to go home?
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'Aoife, Eve and the Volcano’ is an intimate two-hander set in an airport that addresses the ripple effect of the troubles in Northern Ireland on a peacetime generation.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu said that the Truth and Reconciliation commissions in South Africa were akin to ‘lancing a boil’: painful, but necessary and worthwhile. There has been no official truth and reconciliation commission in Northern Ireland since the ceasefire.
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I would like ‘Aoife & Eve’ to be a cathartic experience as two young women come to terms with personal and political conflict.​
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About Creative Risk
Northern Ireland can still be classed as a divided society so a writer must be aware of their inherited position in relation to the conflict. Achieving a balanced political perspective is difficult, and the audience also bring their own preconceptions based on their knowledge of the writer’s background.
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Maeve Ryan invited two playful, talented actors from either side of the Northern Irish divide - Anne-Marie Gailliard and Holly Wilson Quinn - to play out detailed Object Exercises, in order to help her create the first act of ‘Aoife & Eve’. The characters and situation were imagined by Maeve based on conversations with her Northern Irish compatriots as an Irish person whilst living in London following a long research period. Holly and Anne Marie generously drew on their own experiences to bring their truth and subtlety to the characters. We are grateful to Anne Marie and Holly, and to Uta Hagen for the Object Exercise method, and to Dr. Adrian James for teaching it to Maeve.
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With this slightly more democratic writing process, we were able to celebrate some of the cultural trends and behaviours common to many Northern Irish people - the dark, extremely funny, almost harsh sense of humour, and a willingness to laugh in the face of adversity.
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The second act was devised by Maeve Ryan under lockdown, as Brexit threatened to derail peace.
