Arts Events Archive

Behind Every Hospital Screen lies a Story...

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and, at Riverbank Arts Centre on Saturday October 9th, Kildare-based theatre group Ealu Productions will explore the personal yet universal stories of a group of women as they sit in a hospital waiting room in a new production, Chambers of the Heart.

Ealu Productions present a collection of interweaving monologues representing a diverse group of women. Here they explore the fragility of the heart both physically and emotionally at pivotal moments in these women’s lives.

As six women wait in a female health screening clinic the characters invite the audience to listen to their most private fears and truths. Chambers of the Heart shows that appearances can be deceptive; the public mask worn by a young mother, a chatty receptionist, a newly wed may hide many insecurities and heartache.

There is a deliberate focus on breast cancer as these women wait recognizing the fact that breast cancer does not respect age or status. The annual average number of newly diagnosed breast cancer cases from 1994 to 2007 inclusive was 1,971....1,957 females and 14 males. (National Cancer Registry). Chambers of the Heart seeks to explore some of the lives behind the statistics.

Based in South Kildare, Ealu Productions came together in June 2010, this is their first production. Future plans are to expand the group to include male and female members aged 19 and over. Proceeds from the sale of programmes on the night will go to Cancer Research.

Humourous, honest and compelling, Chambers of the heart is a collaborative production by Deirdre Callaghan, Deirdre Burke, Lisa Woods, Elaine Tomlinson, Niamh Corcoran and Claire O Neill, directed by Leish Burke.

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