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In the past year, two of the most successful Irish TV shows have undoubtedly been The Young Offenders and Derry Girls. As both focus on teenagers of a school-going age, fans have often probed the idea of a crossover between the two.
The probability of such a combination remains to be seen. After all, they’re set in different eras. But none the less, a link has been established. Jennifer Barry, who plays Siobhan in the Cork-based The Young Offenders, and Jamie Lee O’Donnell, Michelle from Derry Girls, have come together to star in Girls and Dolls, a play by Derry Girls writer Lisa McGee.
Girls and Dolls is set in Derry and in terms of Irish accents, Cork and Derry couldn’t be further apart. But sitting down with Irish Country Living ahead of the play’s opening at the Gaiety Theatre next week, Jennifer says that she’s transitioning from south to north quite well. Listening to her co-star and also her mother, who is originally from Belfast, has helped to get her ear in tune.
The 17-year-old lives with her family in Kilbrittain, about 10km outside Bandon in west Cork. She was originally born in Dublin but insists that she’s a rebel through and through. As Siobhan, Jennifer plays quite a comedic character. Clare in Girls and Dolls, on the other hand, is a much more mature role for the young actress and will likely open even more doors for her.
“There’s just something about the theatre that’s really exciting and I’m thrilled to make my theatre debut in Girls and Dolls,” smiles Jennifer. “Considering I’m going into Leaving Cert, I did have to think about it a small bit.
“But you know, I wasn’t going to turn down an opportunity like this. It’s huge – to be able to go across the country with a play as well is something that doesn’t happen to 17-year-olds at all. So I grabbed the opportunity with both hands.”
School days
Jennifer is attending Bandon Grammar School and despite her success her plan is to finish out her Leaving Cert year while also getting in some acting jobs. It was during transition year that the teenager sent her audition tape to The Young Offenders (look it up on YouTube, it’s hilarious) and this proved to be the catalyst for her acting career.
Jennifer thinks that being a real school girl from Cork very much benefited her in landing the role of Siobhan.
“I think if I had lived anywhere else other than Cork, I wouldn’t have been able to get that real feisty Cork attitude towards everything and anything.”
From a young age, Jennifer wanted to be an actress, reflecting that she always loved entertaining and making people laugh. It was only in recent weeks she learned that her grandfather, whom she never met, was in an amateur theatre company and feels maybe that’s where her love of acting comes from.
“I never, ever, considered anything else apart from acting. For a while I thought I wasn’t going to be able to do it, I just didn’t think I was cut out for it,” she explains. “That lasted maybe a day. I think I might have wanted to be a teacher for maybe a day and then I was like, no, I actually do want to be an actress. This is all I want to do, so I stuck with it.”
Young Offenders
It’s a good thing Jennifer did stick with it as the country is eagerly awaiting season two of The Young Offenders. She is keeping tight-lipped about when filming will start, just saying that she can’t wait to get back at it.
Siobhan is quite a sassy character and Jennifer admits that she wouldn’t want to be friends with her if she were real. When asked how she gets into “Siobhan mode” every day, the actress is quick to retort that getting up at 4am does the trick.
“There were times when we got tired, but it never felt like actual work,” remarks Siobhan of filming the show. “I remember our base during one of the weeks was a go-karting track, we went go-karting at lunch and everyone had a huge competition. All these little things, it’s not like work, it’s too enjoyable to be called work.”
Although her acting is now taking her further afield, to Derry and possibly beyond, Jennifer’s roots will always be firmly in Cork and she feels the programme that gave her a start is definitely a good showpiece for the place she calls home.
“The Young Offenders shows Cork’s emotions, it shows its craic, its heart. It shows poor enough sides as well, but I think you have to see the bad to see the good.”
Girls and Dolls will run from 11-15 September at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin.
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