Unpacking the Attic in solo show

This March , Michelle Cahill brings her solo performance Thirteen Steps to the Attic to The Dunamaise Arts Centre as part of a spring tour across the country.

Exploring intimacy between Him and Her, connected by words on a page, interspersed with moments of tenderness and humour, Thirteen Steps to the Attic is a multi-layered montage of movement and text performed with a live sound-score and recorded tracks from the eclectic band Thieves of Silence.

In an attic, in a house, with only letters for company, a woman takes a precarious step into the vibrancy of her imagination. Based on a true story.

In 2015, Michelle returned to Yorkshire after a break of 14 years. She found herself standing in the house she’d once lived in. In an instant a life flashed before her eyes. Momentarily situated in the past and present. Memories of Him and Her, secrets, a box of letters. This experience was the impulse to create her first solo show with director Rowan Tolley.

Michelle studied dance-theatre and performance in Yorkshire, London and Limerick. She was awarded an Arts Council bursary and a scholarship to study at Trinity LABAN, London, graduating in 1999. She worked in the UK and Spain before returning to Ireland in 2001. Her performance work over the past 20 years spans theatre, dance and film. Thirteen Steps to the Attic is her first full-length solo show. Michelle is a producer with Rowan Tolley Company (UK) and works part time as the programme coordinator for Shawbrook, a bespoke dance studio space in Longford.

Thirteen Steps to the Attic premiered in Cork 2018, then went on to Galway Theatre Festival (May 2018) and Smock Alley Theatre, (Dublin 2019). This Spring, Thirteen Steps to the Attic will tour to Backstage Theatre, Longford, The Glens Centre, Manorhamilton and Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise.

Performed by Michelle Cahill, directed by Rowan Tolley, set design by David Carney, music composed and played by Thieves of Silence, re-lighter Blue Hanley.

Original production funded by The Arts Council Dance Project Award and supported by Shawbrook, Dance Ireland, Tipperary Dance Platform, FringeLAB and produced in association with Firkin Crane.

Thirteen Steps to the Attic comes to the Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise, on Thursday, March 5, at 8pm. The running time is 55 mins. Tickets are available now, priced €16/€14.

For bookings telephone 057 866 3355, or go online at www.dunamaise.ie