S4E5: Aedín Moloney – Saying “Yes!” to a Life on Stage
Growing up in a Dublin home with no TV, Aedín turned to books, reading them aloud, drawing out the characters, and letting the words wash over her, which is how at age ten she managed to read James Joyce’s intimidating novel Ulysses.
She was drawn to the rhythms and music in the words of the great writers, no surprise coming from a home with her avid reader mother and her father, Paddy Moloney of The Chieftains.
But she’d feel the lure of the stage and after early acting experiences in Dublin she ventured to London and found success, ironically, considering her upbringing, on television. But New York beckoned, where Aedín has acted in a string of Off Broadway plays often at the famed Irish Repertory Theatre. She has also worked to amplify the voices of women on the stage through the Fallen Angel Theatre Company she founded, focused on Irish and British plays by and about women, which she often performed, directed, or produced.
We talked to Aedín as she was concluding her successful Irish Rep run of Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom, which she and Colum McCann adapted from the closing section of Ulysses, directed by John Keating, with music by Paddy Moloney. It’s a one-woman show where Aiden never leaves the stage for 90 minutes, electrifying for the audience, exhausting for Aedín.
But not so exhausting that she doesn’t want to stop channeling the spirit of Molly Bloom as she and Colum are working to take the show on tour to Ireland and the UK.
And for the second time, Aedín gifts Irish Stew with a passage from Yes!, so be sure to stay to the end when she brings Molly to vibrant life performing the “Mulvey’s Letter” section of Molly Bloom’s Soliloquy.
Links:
- Website: http://www.aedinmoloney.com/
- Fallen Angel website: https://www.fallenangeltheatre.org/homeofficialsite
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AedinMoloney
- Fallen Angel Twitter: https://twitter.com/FallenAngelNY
- Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom: https://irishrep.org/show/2021-2022-season/yes-reflections-of-molly-bloom-3/
Aedín Moloney
Actor and Producer
Aedín Moloney is an award-winning actress who has performed extensively in theatre, film, audio, and TV, here in New York, London and Ireland. She is founder and producing artistic director of New York’s Fallen Angel Theatre Company. In 2017 she released an unabridged audio recording of Molly Bloom’s Soliloquy from Ulysses by James Joyce, “Reflections of Molly Bloom,” with music by her father, Paddy Moloney (The Chieftains). Yes! Reflections of Molly Bloom was her 10th production with Irish Rep and her first adaptation. Previous performances at the Irish Rep include: The Dead: 1904, Dancing at Lughnasa, Playboy of the Western World, The Shadow of a Gunman and Airswimming (a co-production with Fallen Angel). She originated the role of George Eliot in the acclaimed production of A Most Dangerous Woman (Best Actress 2013 NJ Footlights). Other recent roles of note include Women Without Men (The Mint), The Alchemist (STNJ), When I was a Girl I used to Scream and Shout (Fallen Angel), Under Milk Wood (Hartford Stage). Her TV credits include: “The Exorcist,” “The Knick,” “The Bill,” “The Moth,” “Ballykissangel” & “Law & Order SVU.” Film roles include the role of James Joyce’s sister, Eva, in the movie “Nora,” “Far & Away” and “Agnes Browne.” She has produced and directed several successful Off-Broadway hits with Fallen Angel Theatre, including My Brilliant Divorce, starring Melissa Gilbert. Aedín was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland.
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