Finding Love in an Abattoir
Development workshops 2022-2023
Theatre maker Melissa Nolan is working with Director Matthew Ralli to develop a new play set in an Irish abattoir. In response to the continuing issues regarding poor animal welfare and subsequent threat to the environment, this project aims to provoke thought by bringing the often secretive inner world of a slaughterhouse onto the Irish stage. Irish abattoir employees, mostly immigrants, work for low pay, in gruelling physical and psychological conditions, in order to kill and process live animals into packaged meat we buy from our local supermarkets.
The action of the play revolves around two characters: Ivo, a Latvian settled in Ireland, and Oona, an Irish woman local to the rural abattoir. Both are struggling to find their way in life, together they help each other discover a pathway toward a place where hope and treachery await in equal measure.
Finding Love in an Abattoir is a sometimes humorous and powerful study of our changing relationship to meat production and consumption, and the possible risks and rewards of fighting for something you believe in.
Members of the creative team working in development workshop November 2021
Funded by The Arts Council, Kildare County Council and UNESCO Dublin City of Literature
Creative Team:
Writer/Producer: Melissa Nolan
Writer/Director: Matthew Ralli
Workshop actors: Alexandra Conlon; Matthew O’Brien; Toms Liepajnieks; Noni Stapleton; Sodiq Ajibola Abiola; Deji Adenuga; Marcus Lamb; Michael McCabe; Anthony Kinahan; Jim Roche; Fabiano Roggio; Shadaan Felfeli
Dramaturg: Eoghan Carrick
Sound Designer: Carl Kennedy
Movement Director: Sue Mythen
Multimedia Artist: John Galvin
Specialist Consultant: Aenne Barr
Videographer: Ciaran McGlynn
