Interview: 'We're In A Moment of Endurance': Writer and Actor Megan Ita O'Rourke on Grief and Inspiration for Her Play 384 DAYS

Megan Ita O’Rourke is an actor-writer with a gift for creating stories that share a positive light on vulnerability. During a raw time in her life, after the passing of her father, O’Rourke wrote a poem full of inner thoughts and openness. That very same poem would transform beautifully into her debut play.

After an incredible run at The Cockpit last year, 384 Days is back for a limited two-night run at The Pleasance Theatre this month. BroadwayWorld sat down with O’Rourke to gain an insight into the world of her play and hear all about her passion.

How did you get into the industry? What was your moment when you said, ‘This is something I want to do’?

I think I grew up sort of acting. And I always remember the first thing I did was when we had a Saint Patrick's Day play in primary school. And, obviously, my parents are Irish, so I was sort of pushed to the front of that play. And I had this iconic line, it was “go on, go on, go on!” And that was sort of my first introduction to acting.

When I was younger, I did a few bits. I was an extra in the Harry Potter films. But, anyway, so I did. I did Fantastic Mister Fox at the Open Air Theatre. So it was something that I was always sort of into. And I think, being Irish, I was raised by storytellers. No one in my family is an actor, so it wasn't like that, but it was this idea of performing and captivating that was always culturally around me. From the age of about four or five, I have been acting, you know. Successful or not, that's another question. 

Hearing you talk about it with such passion and love is beautiful. In your own words, how would you describe the process of restaging the show for a new venue and space? Have there been any moments this year that have really shaped this experience for you?

This process has just felt like a big step up. The first time was just about getting it on, you know, knowing that we have a play that starts at ‘A’ and ends at ‘Z’, then things happen in between. It was just me and my director, Theo; we were the whole team last time. But this time we've been able to reach out to different people and get a full team together, which already just sets the tone of levelling up. This time, we've tried to be tighter and more precise and just looking at how we can elevate the storytelling. It does feel different - it has the heart of the first time around, but the journey is a lot clearer.

The play itself is based on a poem you wrote yourself about an incredibly raw and vulnerable topic. What is something that you hope audiences take away from watching the play? 

The play can do a lot of different things for a lot of different people, so I hesitate to be like ‘well, this is what you can take away from it’. Audiences are so incredible that they can think so many different things. You have such a clear mind of what you are getting from the piece - the audiences, you know, sort of bring something completely new to it.

In a broad sense, this play explores grief. We're in such a moment of endurance for people. There is such a feeling of societal grief. We wake up. We go on our phones. The first thing we see are these horrific sorts of images from around the world. We're being asked to just keep going and keep going and keep going and sort of normalise this level of, like, endurance and grief.

Audiences can take a moment to look at their own grief, whether that be in the societal way or in their own personal ways, and should allow them to reflect their own suspension of grief because we all try to put it off because it's this big thing, and it's sometimes too big for us to deal with. But how long can we put it off? And I hope that through Molly's (the character) determination to escape it, we can give ourselves some ease with that - to really face grief and really sit with it, you know, to come out the other side. 

As a creative, what/who inspires you?

For me, it’s Michaela Coel. I don't know why, but my eyes even fill up when I think of her. Michaela Coel is the complete definition of emulation and aspiration. She creates work that is definitely something I've tried to mirror in 384 Days - this idea that it is quite genre-less. We promote it as a tragic comedy, but it's so broad that it's sort of not a genre. But in the sense of writing and performing, I’m really trying to mirror who Michaela Coel is and what she does. Her work has stayed with me in such a monumental way. 
She encapsulates perfectly the human experience and what it means to just exist.         Yeah. She's just definitely beautiful. Extraordinary things happen to just ordinary people, and it's happening every day. 

My final question to you is: at its core, in one word, how would you describe the play?
Okay. One word. Now I'm a waffler, as you can tell. I need to take a moment on that one word… I think it's probably ‘raw’. 

Read our review of 384 Days here

384 Days played at The Pleasence Theatre 15-16 October