The Only Way Is Up for cousins bringing play to Civic

CALLED The Only Way Is Up!, a new play honours the amazing relationship of female friendship, laughter and personal growth – and promises to bring audiences on a touching and hilarious adventure, writes Ryan Butler.

Come along with two energetic cousins as they devise a wonderful idea to build a network of “Sister Sheds” where women from all walks of life get together once a week to celebrate, inspire, and have a great time.

What began as a tiny concept has grown rapidly into more than 20 thriving havens run entirely by women.

‘The Only Way Is Up!’ promises to take you on an exhilarating journey through the pleasures and tribulations of femininity, complete with hilarious skits about the crazy adventures of menopause and profoundly moving moments of personal growth.

Get ready for a mix of hilarious tales that will have you in stitches and touching pieces that highlight the amazing power of women coming together.

Get your tickets now and join the sisterhood—it promises to be an exuberant, inspirational, and life-changing event!

Save yourself the love and joy by reserving a spot right away!

This week, we sat down with Sherin Hughes, co-founder of the ‘Sister Sheds’ charity, with her cousin Rachel, to discuss the show, which will be performing February 6 and February 7 in the Civic Theatre, as well as the charity.

What inspired the show?

The charity was inspired by coming out of lockdown and how important it is to reconnect after that, especially for women in Dublin.

In a way, the show is inspired by the charity, which is also inspired by that idea.

Rachel [Hughes] and I wanted to create a support network for these women and just provide any resources and help they may need coming from lockdown, as they were hard and lonely times, and as women ourselves, we can relate to and empathize with the experience of many members.

How much time has been dedicated to it?

We started working on it around October; we contacted Eilish O’Carroll, and she was up for the idea and even asked if she could direct, which we accepted!

However, since the day we founded the charity in October 2021, we have always wanted to put on a performance in some way.

So it’s great to finally see it come to fruition!

What kind of work has been involved in preparing for this show?

There has been a lot of work involved! Since we started working on the show in October 2023, we have been meeting up every week, having rehearsals and line-reads for acting.

The show will also feature dancing, so we have been choreographing and practicing dance moves and routines.

The performance also includes writing contributions from members of the ‘Sister Sheds’ charity, as it will feature scripts by them based on their own experiences.

We have also had to hire rooms to rehearse in. So it has been a lot of hard work, but it will all be worth it in the end!

Even just the vibe around the group as we heard that the tickets for those two shows had been sold out in two weeks was unreal.

The group has made it a really lovely experience as well; we all get along with each other and just have the craic!

They’ve been amazing! Thanks to these talented people, this performance is shaping up to have a lot of comedy with some real emotion.

Were there any challenges involved in this production?

Well, we didn’t have much funding to put on a show, so that was a bit of a problem.

We also had to hire rooms, and we weren’t very familiar with how to do that.

Also, not everyone involved in this show lives in Tallaght, so it was tricky to get everyone into the one local spot.

Thankfully, we had the help of a great director, so these obstacles were easy to overcome!

What are the plans for the ‘Sister Sheds’ charity after this string of performances is over?

We are definitely having an awards night!

This charity has always been about the wellbeing of women and helping them become their true selves, and this goal can only be reached thanks to the fabulous work of the women who have come into this charity.

Thanks to them, there are now 22 Sheds set up around Dublin; they all deserve to be recognized and acknowledged for their efforts in helping this organisation become as big as it has.

We are also hoping to perform at a summer festival this year!

Who would you like to thank for this show as well as for helping the charity reach this point?

Way too many! First off, I’d just like to thank all members of ‘Sister Sheds’ for being themselves and helping make the charity what it is; Eilish O’Carroll for her incredible support with both the show and charity in general as well as being a great director; Rachel, my co-founder and partner-in-crime, without whom none of this would’ve been possible; Pat Sullivan for also providing his directorial talents; special guests Kiera Dignam and June Rodgers; and myself!

Tickets HERE.