Zoe Ní Riordáin

I am a theatre maker and musician from Dublin. I have been working professionally since 2010. I am a trained theatre director and classical musician. I co-founded an alt-pop band in New York in 2009 called Maud in Cahoots along with long-term collaborator Maud Lee. In 2018 we developed the band into a theatre and music company called One Two One Two, housing all of our artistic projects. We are interested in creating heartfelt experimental work that brings music into a theatre context. I am also a freelance director, associate of Pan Pan Theatre Company and One Two One Two are Resident Artists at Project Arts Centre, Dublin. 

One Two One Two 

One Two One Two is the new name for work created by Zoe Ní Riordáin and Maud Lee. They have written, directed and produced highly acclaimed The Well Rested Terrorist, Recovery (Romilly Walton Masters award), and Everything I Do (Best Performer Fringe awards). Resident Artists at Project Arts Centre. They have toured nationally, to Paris and Edinburgh Fringe 2019 supported by Culture Ireland. They have received Arts Council development, Dublin City Council Arts grant, DCC Incubation Space and Centre Culturel Irlandais residency 2020 (Zoe Ni Riordáin).    

Éist Liom

Éist Liom is the story of a love triangle that ends in murder. The piece is an experimental new work in Irish, set in contemporary Dublin that fuses new writing (by Shaun Dunne) with music and song. I am focused on the theme of aggression in relationships, and how this can escalate into violence. I am interested in the mark violence leaves upon our identities and how violence can change our view of ourselves and others.

This new work is riffing on the characters and dynamics found in the opera Carmen. I am writing the songs for the show, and putting together the ideas for the staging of the piece, which I will eventually direct for the company. The songs are in Irish and I am giving each character an idiosyncratic style. I am delighted to be in residence on Cape Clear to immerse myself in island life and in the Irish language. 

Róisín Foley

Róisín Foley is an artist and researcher based in West Cork, she is originally from Cork City. Róisín is interested in the subject of landscape. The many ways in which landscape can be represented and investigated in both the natural and human world and the ways in which both can become blended are explored in her work. Róisín is a multi-disciplinary worker and so projects have been realised through her interests in sculpture (metals, glass and materials), drawing, performance, sound, video, photography, writing and exhibition making. Projects have led her to places such as The Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Allihies copper mines on the Beara Peninsula and Cúil Aodha near Ballyvourney. She collaborates and works with artists, makers, organisations and the public across a variety of disciplines.

Language is another way to experience the landscape of a certain area. The way words are applied and spoken tells us about a place. How can we truly understand any place without having knowledge of the language? I would like to explore the relationship between the Irish language and the local landscape whilst working on Oileán Air. I would like to do this through a range of community focused activities and in my own personal work. The island and the Irish language is part of a larger ecosystem of social and economic activity in West Cork, where I live. I hope that my time on Oileán Air provides the necessary time and situations I need to consider and research more ways to utilise the Irish language in my work which is largely focused on my local area and with the people who live there.