Jewel And The Gang

When asked about her latest play, actress Neili Conroy can’t resist a pun. “It is a little gem!” she laughs.

The piece in question is playwright Elaine Murphy’s award-winning Little Gem. Feel free to groan.
Little Gem is a slice of life drama, detailing the events of a year of a working class Dublin family. The story unfolds through monologues and is told through the voices of three different women, Kay, Lorraine and Amber.
“They are three generations, a mother, daughter and the granddaughter, and they are three very different characters. I play the mother of the 19-year-old. She is quite a nervous character; she’s had a bad relationship before and she’s a single mother.”
Conroy’s character Lorraine is having a difficult year. When she attacks a customer at work, her boss decides she needs to see a psychiatrist. If that wasn’t bad enough, her new paramour, a decidedly hairy man, can’t seem to, well, rise to the occasion.
Inspired by the women Elaine Murphy met while working part-time at a health organisation, Little Gem deals with some difficult and emotive themes – debilitating illness, abusive relationships, drug addiction, unwanted pregnancies and sexual frustration. This may sound like heavy going, but don’t let that dissuade you. The play investigates serious subject matters with a genuine delicacy of touch and is beautifully written, poignant and laugh-out-loud funny too.
“It’s the best-kept secret,” laughs Conroy. “It keeps going and going. People love it and come back to see it again and again.”
How much of a secret it truly is, though, is debateable. Having premiered at the 2008 Dublin Fringe Festival, Little Gem has been performing to capacity audiences ever since, including seasons in New York, London and Paris and a sell-out tour of Ireland. Reviews have been glowing and the play has received several awards including the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award, the BBC Northern Ireland Drama Award (Stewart Parker Trust Annual Awards) and an award for the Best Theatre Script by the Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters Guild. Before returning to the Olympia in April, the play is off to Australia.
“I love being on the road,” says Conroy.”I love that life. The only thing I miss is my children. We’re going to Sydney, Canberra and Tasmania. My kids are coming over for three weeks. It’s supposed to be thirty-three degrees out there – so lots of sun block will be needed!”
Having joined the cast last September, Conroy takes over from actresses Hilda Fay and Amelia Crowley. Stepping into a role, particularly one where previous actresses have been highly lauded must be challenging.
“Gelling with the cast is no problem. However, you’re always wondering if you are being compared or there’s the fear that someone will say ‘Ah you weren’t as good.’”
Having seen the play before accepting the part, Conroy was aware of different interpretations of Lorraine. But you can’t allow this cloud your performance, she says.
“You have to trust that you’re naturally going to be different. But there is always the fear... But I fear lots of things!” Conroy laughs. “I must sound very paranoid!”
An actress who works on both stage and screen Conroy is perhaps best known from movies such as Intermission and A Film With Me In It.
“You can’t really beat live. You get a real adrenaline rush being on stage and there’s that big fear factor as well. It never goes away. It gets less and less as you do more and more, but it’s still nerve-wracking when you first go on. It’s great to get the interaction with the audience.”
Even when you are doing the same play, performance after performance, for months on end?
“Luckily with this play they are all real meaty parts so you don’t get bored. You find something new most nights. You do have to keep yourself focused. Before you go on stage you focus on the part and what you want to achieve.”
Live theatre is, of course, not without its mishaps.
“I’ve fallen on stage before. And I’ve been on stage and people haven’t come on and you’re there going ‘Where are they?’ On this tour we were in Ennis and I got locked into the bathroom just before we were about to go on. I went into the disabled toilets and the lock went. I was like, ‘Help! I’m locked in!’ They tried a screwdriver and everything – but in the end they had to get a scaffolding pole to break the door down.
“We were late going on, but so far that’s the worst that’s happened in this run. It was an awful violent experience!”

Little Gem will be at the Olympia Theatre from 4 to 11 April 2011 and touring nationally until 28 May 2011.