Mary-Lou McCarthy

Mary-Lou participated on the Migration lab in Dublin in February 2017.

“At its core the Lab is focused on the development of the Artist and how they can be inspired and galvanized to broaden the type of work they create, and the way in which they create it. I for one have left the Lab feeling pro-active, inspired and privileged. I continue to reap the benefits of the Lab in my current work, now considering Migration as an avenue to explore in all my work.”

Mary-Lou is an Irish Actor, Writer and Producer based between Dublin and London. She works across a broad range of art forms including Theatre, Dance, Television, Film and Radio both in the English and Irish language. One week she will be an Actor hired to research a new multidisciplinary project and the next week she will be filming a soap opera. Mary-Lou loves to collaborate and play and she has worked across hundreds of projects at different levels of development. Mary-Lou is currently developing her first play The Dead Letter Office and in 2019 will be Artist in Residence at Le Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris supported by Draoicht.

Mary-Lou is passionate about Theatre for Young Audiences and is a member of TYA Ireland. She has worked freelance with the Community and Education Department at the Abbey Theatre, Ireland’s National Theatre, as a performer and facilitator over a number of years. In 2013 she originated the role of Mollser in the Abbey Theatre’s one-woman show Me, Mollser by Ali White. The show toured to primary schools throughout Dublin and toured nationally in Ireland and in the USA in 2016. With Mary-Lou’s support and passion for the Irish language the production was translated into Irish and toured to Gaeltacht regions in 2017. Other companies Mary-Lou has collaborated with as a performer includes The Ark, Willfredd Theatre, Monkeyshine, Spraoi, Curious State and The Gate.

In 2016 Mary-Lou received an Artist Bursary Award from Cork City Council Arts Office to further her skills and expertise in the area of Theatre for Young Audiences. Mary-Lou is a past participant of Theatre Lovett's Time To Play initiative and a past resident of Branar Theatre’s Tiny Shows.

Mary-Lou has also created her own theatre productions, including co-producing and performing in the immersive comedy-drama Life Behind The Venue at the Everyman, Cork and The Project Arts Centre, Dublin. As a writer Mary-Lou is a regular contributor to the comedy sketch show Funny Friday on RTE Radio One, Ireland’s National Broadcaster.