Theatre needs to make more effort to support working class creative talent, says writer and director Kat Woods.
I'm always asked: "What do you really do?" or "What's an Irish person like you, doing working in an Indian Restaurant in London?"
My listening devices have regularly been assaulted with jokes about the famine, about potatoes, and with thick/drunk Paddy snipes. I've had my accent mocked to my face with the wrong region – some people don't quite comprehend that I'm from a county roughly 100 miles outside of Belfast. Belfastonian is not the generic Northern Irish accent.
Although my Irishness does offend some, at work it's not the biggest problem. Customers are more confused by the fact that I am a theatre-maker, subsidising my income in a job that falls into the lower class tier of acceptable employment for the educated.
"You've had success…no? Why would you need to waitress?"... Keep reading on What's On Stage
I'm always asked: "What do you really do?" or "What's an Irish person like you, doing working in an Indian Restaurant in London?"
My listening devices have regularly been assaulted with jokes about the famine, about potatoes, and with thick/drunk Paddy snipes. I've had my accent mocked to my face with the wrong region – some people don't quite comprehend that I'm from a county roughly 100 miles outside of Belfast. Belfastonian is not the generic Northern Irish accent.
Although my Irishness does offend some, at work it's not the biggest problem. Customers are more confused by the fact that I am a theatre-maker, subsidising my income in a job that falls into the lower class tier of acceptable employment for the educated.
"You've had success…no? Why would you need to waitress?"... Keep reading on What's On Stage