Older, Wiser and Worth It: Barbara Scully’s new comedy hits the Civic

FOLLOWING on from the success of her one-woman show – ‘Older Bolder Wiser’ – Barbara Scully has a new show for 2026 called ‘Because I’m Worth It’.

Building on the themes of ‘Older Bolder Wiser’ and continuing to tell women to embrace getting older and to ignore the nonsense about ‘fighting ageing’, Barbara will once again regale her audience with stories and comedy.

Although the broad theme is ‘on brand’, Barbara says the focus is slightly different: that being older is “delicious” especially as people realise what makes them happy, and you can “indulge yourself a bit more than ever before”.

But it can make life unexpectedly complicated and Barbara will regale audiences about the times that this new found sense of her own worth and zero tolerance for stuff that irritates her has gone very wrong

This week, The Echo sat down with Barbara to discuss ‘Because I’m Worth It’, which performs in the Civic on August 27 at 7pm; booking details are on civictheatre.

What can you tell us about ‘Because I’m Worth It’ without giving too much away?

‘Because I’m Worth It’ is my second one-woman show, which I am touring at the moment around Ireland.

The basic premise of the show is that as we get older (I am 64) we need to realise our value and our worth.

I think this is especially true for women who have possibly spent decades putting themselves at the bottom of their priority list while they put kids, partners, careers and elderly parents first.

I want to tell women (and men too) that now is your time.

Once you are past menopause, you are into what can be a delicious phase of life, full of freedoms and a chance to do what you want.

I say to women, “this is your time now… make the most of it.”

However, that is easier said than done, and a lot of the show is my recounting anecdotes from my own life when my attempts at ‘being worth it’ and indulging myself in things I love go wrong.

roast too… because we have been married for centuries and I am a saint.

Anyway, my aim is two-fold… I want the audience to go home with a sore face from laughing and also feeling better about getting older than perhaps they did when they came in.

If I can do that (and reviews tell me I can)… I will be a happy woman.

This follows on from the success of your previous one-woman show, ‘Older, Bolder, Wiser’ and builds on the themes of it; what was it that inspired you to do a second show to expand on the themes of the first?

Doing my first show, ‘Older, Bolder, Wiser’, which toured last year, was a hugely enjoyable experience, nerve-wracking but ultimately enjoyable.

Once I get on stage and the audience starts to laugh, well, it’s like rocket fuel, and the show changes from something I “perform” to something that is more akin to a conversation with the audience.

And I love that.

I also love meeting people after the show.

My audiences are wonderful.

They are mainly women, but I am getting increasing numbers of men coming along too…and their feedback has been great. In fact, a man who was at my show in Dun Laoghaire in June messaged me.

He said, “I brought a female work colleague to your show in The Purty Kitchen.

While the place was 90% women, there were a few brave men there too.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and would say to all intending women, bring your fella. He might understand you better afterwards.” Isn’t that brilliant?

I also get cross-generational groups – mothers and daughters, mothers and grandmothers and groups of sisters.

And they are giddy as hell. The energy is always great.

Would you say that your experience on ‘Older, Bolder, Wiser’ has influenced how you approach production on this new show? If so, why do you think that is?

I am very new to comedy. The first time I stepped onto a stage was in late 2023 and was by accident, but I got bitten by the comedy bug. Making people laugh is just such a buzz.

So, taking ‘Older, Bolder, Wiser’ on the road taught me a few things…

One is that I am serving an audience that isn’t always well served by comedy. Older women and men who truly identify with what I am saying. In fact, I regularly get told that my stories are so relatable, and I really appreciate that.

I learned that I could deliver comedy and that I love it.

That said, I am still learning, and as the cliché goes, you are only as good as your last show!

What has been your favourite part of working on ‘Because I’m Worth It’? It’ so far, and why?

Meeting people is my favourite part, along with the opportunity to visit different parts of the country.

I also love that I hope I have lightened the load for people.

Life can be hard; the world can seem very dark, and if I can bring some light and laughter… well… that’s very cool.

What have been some of the biggest challenges you have encountered so far in this production, and how have you navigated them?

The biggest challenge and one that I never once anticipated is finding accommodation in my budget that doesn’t scare the bejaysus out of me when I am away from Dublin.

Many hotels are way out of my budget. Like, I am not playing to large rooms… and so I can’t blow everything I earn from my show on a hotel… even if I am worth it! is my biggest challenge.

I understand this performance is part of a tour; do you have any other projects or plans for the rest of 2026?

Once the tour is over, will you be taking a well-deserved rest?

Well, I plan to continue this tour into next year. But before I was doing comedy, I was a writer and broadcaster.

So I will still be writing. I contribute opinion pieces to the national papers; I occasionally contribute to RTÉ Radio One’s Sunday Miscellany, and I am putting the finishing touches to my first novel.

And of course, I hope that I will continue to amuse listeners to Newstalk’s Moncrieff Show every Thursday as, along with my radio husband, Declan Buckley, we tell people how to be an adult as we tease out the conundrums they send us.

Who would you like to thank for helping with this production?

I want to thank the people of Tallaght. I did two sold-out shows in the studio of The Civic Theatre in February, and the audiences did two things I love.

They bought their tickets early (which lowers my stress levels considerably), and they were giddy and great fun on the night.

I also want to thank The Civic Theatre, who are just brilliant to work with.

We are incredibly lucky in this country to have a magnificent network of theatres all around the country who are just wonderful.