Muireann in Gaiety's 'Translations' next week

Young Tara actor Muireann Bird, who appeared in the television series ‘Rough Diamond’, has returned to performing and will appear in Brian Friel’s ‘Translations’, directed by Adrian Dunbar , in the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, next week.
Muireann, who is 24, was doing her Leaving Certificate when she was chosen to play the role of Sheridan Carrick in Rough Diamond, a drama based around a trainer‘s stable. It was a first time role, straight out of drama classes, but her horse riding experience around her Rathfeigh home stood to her , and she was successful in auditions, at just 17.
After leaving Ashbourne Community College, she went to university in Galway to study English and French.
“I went to Galway because of the city, and the vibe and cultural buzz around it,” Muireann says. She graduated with an honours degree, and also found time to be involved in the drama society there.
But the acting bug was still there, and Muireann was off to London to study at  the Arts Educational School.
“Drama school was great crack and I was lucky enough to make plenty of friends there very quickly,” she says.
She graduated with her MA in acting last September, and by November had landed the role in Translations, directed by the well-known actor, Adrian Dunbar.
“I based myself in London, and got an Irish agent and an English agent keeping an eye out for work. You’re very freelance, but everyone in the industry keeps an eye on what’s going on and keeps in touch with each other on productions.”
She plays the role of Brigid in the Brian Friel play  set in a hedge school in ‘Ballybeg’ or Baile Beag, in Ireland in 1833, where members of the British Army have been tasked to translate place names in the area from ancient Irish Gaelic to the King’s English, and the subsequent clash of cultures, misunderstandings and misinterpretations.
“It’s one of three female roles,” she says. The company was rehearsing last week in Derry, where Translations was opening for the City of Culture celebrations, before travelling to Cork, and opens in the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, on Monday next 25th March, until Saturday 30th.
“I’m looking forward to the Dublin run, as a lot of family and friends will get there to see it,” Muireann says. She has a busy few weeks ahead of her, with the production also staging in Wales and Scotland, finishing in Belfast at the end of April.
“The themes of the play, of language and ideals, resonate greatly in Scotland and Wales, and there is a great interest in it there,” she explains.