New production challenges Uniform view of women

Award-winning Galway theatre company, Eva’s Echo, will bring a new one-woman show, Uniform, to the Town Hall Theatre Stage this Saturday May 22. The performance will be livestreamed.

This one-woman play written by and starring award winning playwright Hazel Doolan explores self-identity, coming of age and loss of agency.

Through the stories of nine very different women, it asks what it is to be a woman. Is it what you wear? Your vocation? If you don’t wear heels or a skirt are you less of a woman? And if you like to dress in pink, does that make you less professional when it comes to work? Uniform is a mixture of comedy, drama and moments that many women will relate to.

Eva’s Echo is a young company, producing new work that aims to “express the modern soul of Ireland”. Its name comes from the legend, The Children of Lir, and refers to the children’s mother Eva, who seems to have been forgotten after her death. The company strives to support up-and-coming artists by staging new plays, collaborating with emerging artists and taking part in community events. The group won the Galway Fringe Best Emerging Artists award in 2017 for it  first production, Match, and has gone on to stage several other dramas.

Support from Galway City Council, the Town Hall Theatre and the group’s campaign on the funding website GoFundMe has allowed the latest show, Uniform, to be staged – at last. The pandemic resulted in two postponed performances and three rehearsal periods, but everyone involved has shown resilience and determination to ensure the show goes on.

Rena Bryson is directing Hazel Doolan. Hazel Stanley, who designed the set and costumes, is also stage-managing while Cornelius Dwyer is the lighting designer and technician.

Uniform will be streamed from the Town Hall Theatre Studio this Saturday, May 22, at 8pm. Tickets for the 90-minute show cost €10 and are available from the Town Hall at https://tht.ie/.