Famished is a poetic sequence by Cherry Smyth, exploring the Irish Famine and how imperialism contributed to the largest refugee crisis of the nineteenth century. Delivered with composer Ed Bennett and vocalist Lauren Kinsella, her poetry draws on the power of collective lament, using music and expanded singing.
Belfast Girls is a play that follows five women on their flight from Famine to refuge in Australia, bereft of choice, money and nourishment. McCarrick will speak of the inspiration for the work and her plans for it now.
An in-conversation Q&A follows, in which Smyth and McCarrick reflect on each other’s work and take questions from the audience.