‘It’s about time the Abbey had a black director’

Three of the young rising stars making their national theatre debut in the Abbey’s staging of An Octoroon, its first play to be directed by a person of colour, talk about the play’s challenges, inequalities in Irish theatre and the impact of Black Lives Matters on the arts

Loré Adewusi, Patrick Martins and Jeanne Nicole Ní Áinle, who are performing in 'An Octoroon' at the Abbey Theatre. Picture: Steve Humphreys

Kirsty Blake Knox

Loré Adewusi is a dynamo of energy. “Helllllo!” the 23-year-old actor waves enthusiastically, flashing a green manicured hand. It’s a recent addition to his look, he explains, courtesy of one of his castmates, Umi Myers. “It was Paddy’s Day, and she had it, and I thought, ‘That looks pretty cool.’” Fashion is important to Adewusi. “It’s a way of saying something about yourself without saying anything at all.”