Often in life, a catalyst is needed to help us make the decisions necessary to follow our dreams.Maria McDermottroe always wanted to be an actress, but she had been a teacher in her native Sligo for a number of years before realising it was time to follow her passion.
Often in life, a catalyst is needed to help us make the decisions necessary to follow our dreams.
Maria McDermottroe always wanted to be an actress, but she had been a teacher in her native Sligo for a number of years before realising it was time to follow her passion.
“God be good to my poor mother, she tried to dissuade me every way possible,” says Maria lightly. “My ambitions were to go into theatre and my mother said: ‘Would you not get a degree first, just to back that up?’
"I did the degree and then: ‘Would you not do a HDip, just to back up the degree?’ So I did the HDip.
"‘You have gone this far, you might as well get a bit of experience just to back up the HDip’. So I taught for three years.”
Actress Maria McDermottroe
Actress Maria McDermottroe.
Sadly, it was the tragic death of Maria’s best friend while volunteering overseas that gave her the push she needed to pursue acting.
It jumped out at me that this is not a dress rehearsal and that’s why I went for it.
"I just said: ‘That’s it.’ It was absolutely a road to Damascus moment, I just decided I can’t come back and do this again.”
Maria headed for the bright lights of Dublin and “walked the town looking for work”, which she eventually got as a relief assistant stage manager at The Gaiety Theatre.
Unsuspectingly, she ended up taking the position full-time and it was not long after that she made her big break onto the stage playing Jessica in The Merchant of Venice.
Boom?
The rest, as they say, is history. The actress has gone on to a number of high-profile roles in film, TV and theatre. But aptly, Maria’s latest venture, Boom?, is taking her back to where it all started – The Gaiety.
Boom? features a stellar all-female cast and director. The hit comedy is set during the Celtic Tiger and tells the story of tensions between Selma Mae and her social-climbing mother Carmel, whom Maria plays.
Carmel arrives to help Selma Mae organise a party to celebrate the completion of her new state-of-the-art extension, but cracks in their relationship subsequently begin to show.
Both on stage and screen over the years, Maria has played a variety of roles, including being the first woman to appear nude on Irish stage in Equus and also portraying Venetia Crosby for six years in Glenroe.
John Gilligan’s wife Geraldine in Veronica Guerin was what she describes as a “standout experience”.
“That was a big deal. It’s one that I remember very fondly because my youngest daughter Gina was in it as well. It was her first part – she played Traynor’s girlfriend,” recalls Maria.
Repeating myself
Throughout her career, Maria has shown versatility – from crime to comedy, she has it all covered. To this day, people still come up and ask her to “say the line”, as she played Mrs Gilhooley in Killinaskully, an exceptionally stern woman with the catchphrase: “I am not in the habit of repeating myself.”
When asked if Killinaskully was good fun, her simple reply with a laugh is: “Too much fun!”
“I loved Killinaskully,” explains Maria.
It was great fun and for God’s sake, there I am with the one outfit for the entire run with my catchphrase: ‘I am not in the habit of repeating myself.’ The craic was great.
Maria is now based in Dun Laoghaire and having grown up in Sligo, she says that this country-city mix has helped greatly in playing the diverse range of characters she has: “Mrs Gilhooly was intrinsically country, whereas Venetia Crosby was intrinsically townie. It does help you.”
“You do get attached to your characters, particularly when you end up doing them for quite some time.
"I got very fond of Venetia Crosby and I got very fond of Mrs Gilhooly, despite the fact that she was a mad cow, I loved her.
“In Veronica Guerin I played Gilligan’s wife, I did enjoy her. You do enjoy them and you start to like the character. Now with Carmel in Boom?, I adore her. She’s desperate, she has got notions beyond notions, unbelievable notions,” chuckles Maria.
The word ‘notions’ is a firm favourite with this actress: “It sums up everything. I have some English friends who utterly adore it. They actually wrote it down.”
Undoubtedly, Maria has played some characters with serious notions and although she has great affection for them, it is clear that none of their notions ever rubbed off on the woman herself.
Boom? runs at the Gaiety Theatre from 27-31 March. For bookings, see www.ticketmaster.ie. All tickets are €25.
Read more
Once the Musical returns to Dublin
Valerie O'Connor: When people say hello to me in the street, I think I know them
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: