• Emma O’Halloran & Mark O’Halloran
  • August - October 2024
  • Kilkenny Arts Festival & Nationwide Tour

Trade / Mary Motorhead

Two searing one-act operas. 

Irish composer Emma O’Halloran has turned two of her uncle Mark O’Halloran’s plays into a critically acclaimed double bill.

Mary Motorhead
Mary Motorhead has been locked in a prison cell after stabbing her husband in the head with a 12-inch carving knife. While he lies in intensive care, Mary reflects on the events that have brought this turbulent rural marriage to such a crisis.

Trade
In a guesthouse in Dublin’s north inner city, a vulnerable and confused young rent boy sits with a middle-aged client. The older man has blood on his shirt. A lot has happened since the two last met.  

Running time is 2 hours including one interval.

Sung in English.

Join the conversation online with #TradeMaryMotorhead.

Contains themes of an adult nature.

A co-production with Beth Morrison Projects.

European premiere co-presented by Kilkenny Arts Festival.

Content Warning: Please note that this production contains: Strobe lighting effects and theatrical fog/haze.


“vivid … daring … the intensity never flags” - The New York Times
“Rarely, if ever, does every element — score, text, singers, instrumentalists, conductor, director, sets, costumes, lighting, sound design — all come together. This is that rarity” - LA Times
“It’s 21st-century verismo, using psychological revelations instead of physical violence as dramatic catalysts” - The Wall Street Journal on Trade

Cast & Creative Team

Mary Motorhead | Cast

Naomi Louisa O’Connell Mary Motorhead

Trade | Cast

Oisín Ó Dálaigh Younger Man
John Molloy Older Man

Creative Team

Elaine Kelly Conductor
Tom Creed Director
Alex Dowling Electronic Sound Designer
Jim Findlay Set Designer
Christopher Kuhl Lighting Designer
Montana Levi Blanco Costume Designer
David Sheppard Sound Designer
Aoife Moran Répétiteur
Brian Dungan Répétiteur (electronics)
Chris Kelly Assistant Director

Discover More

Trade / Mary Motorhead | Trailer

Trade | Musical Insights

Trade | In rehearsals

Mary Motorhead | Trailer

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