In Conversation with Roisin McCay Hines: A South West Voice Returns Home with Life Before You
This week, a fiercely personal and politically charged new play arrives at The Drum Theatre in Plymouth. Life Before You is a story of mothers and daughters, of class and inheritance, of womanhood and survival. At its helm is Cornish Irish director Roisin McCay Hines, a proudly South West rooted artist bringing her work full circle to a theatre that shaped her as a teenager. Ahead of the show’s run, I caught up with Roisin to talk about growing up in rural Cornwall, magical realism, medical misogyny and what it means to bring this story home.
Life Before You runs 26 to 28 February at The Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth.
You grew up in Cornwall. How did theatre first find you?
I grew up in rural Cornwall and there was not a lot of commercial theatre around, but by chance there was a company called Kneehigh on my doorstep. They had a national and international reputation, and I was really lucky to have that level of theatre in my life from such a young age.
My mum took me to see productions when I was tiny. She remembers taking me to The Red Shoes when I was two. I cannot remember it, but theatre was always something she brought me up with. I did youth theatre, local pantomime in Fowey with a group called Funny Bones Theatre from the age of four. They were very off the cuff village shows, but they were formative in terms of connecting with people and being active.
One of Roisin’s first appearances on stage!
Later I was diagnosed with ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia, which makes sense looking back. I was drawn to sensory, active spaces where I could explore emotions and understand people. I have always been curious about what makes people tick, and theatre became a way of understanding the world.
As a teenager I joined Hall for Cornwall’s youth theatre, which made it feel like a possible career. I studied English and Drama in Exeter, then trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School where I specialised in directing. I am very much a South West rooted artist, even though my work now tours nationally.
How would you describe your approach as a director?
I am very influenced by environment and how stories shift depending on where they are rooted. I am often drawn to rural stories and landscapes. The sea comes up a lot in my work. Equally, I am interested in the absence of nature and how that shapes people’s lives.
I lean towards magical realism. I love using the licence that theatre gives you to expand beyond literal realism. There is something about the magic of storytelling that allows audiences to think and feel in a bigger way.
I am interested in stories that connect us as people. Work that examines politics or society but also finds joy within that. Pulling out the intimate parts of life and magnifying them on stage until they feel epic.
What drew you to Life Before You?
The play has been developed over the last three years with writer Eva Hudson. We met during training and realised we shared a lot of experiences. We are both daughters of Northern Irish mothers and both experienced complicated journeys through women’s healthcare.
The play began with a development award I received while at drama school. Eva and I had always said we would love to collaborate, and when the opportunity came, the ideas naturally evolved from what we were both passionate about.
At its heart, it is about a mother and daughter. But it is also political. There is the backdrop of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the idea of inherited trauma. How do we carry history in our bodies? How do we reclaim it? How do we carve new pathways?
Stylistically it leans into magical realism, but the politics underneath are very real. It is personal and it packs a punch.
The play tackles heavy themes. How do you balance that emotional weight with warmth?
Humanity is complex. Even in the most traumatic times, there is humour. That feels essential to represent truthfully on stage.
There is a character called Fenella who brings warmth and relief. She represents the posh school mums many people will recognise. She storms in with unwanted advice and natural remedies for perimenopause, offering rose petals and wellness trends while the central character, Gráinne, is facing very real medical dismissal.
Vanilla embodies that world of glossy lifestyle solutions that women are often fed instead of proper medical research. It is funny, but it also exposes something serious about how women’s healthcare is treated.
Those moments of humour give the audience space to breathe, which makes the emotional moments land even harder.
What is it like bringing the show to Theatre Royal Plymouth?
It feels full circle. When I was a teenager, while my friends were having birthday parties at the cinema, I was dragging them to see experimental work at The Drum. We would come up from Cornwall for the day and I would be so excited.
Last year I directed one of Theatre Royal Plymouth’s 24 Hour Plays, which was my first time working there professionally. But bringing my own show back to The Drum feels like a real milestone.
To have a South West story, directed by a South West artist, playing to home audiences is incredibly special. It feels like a privilege.
What do you hope audiences take away?
I hope people leave wanting to connect with the women in their lives. A mother, a sister, a daughter, a partner. I hope they feel a deeper understanding of the turbulence and complexity of womanhood.
It examines heavy themes, but fundamentally it is about connection and inheritance. It is joyful too. I hope people laugh, feel entertained and feel moved.
Life Before You plays at The Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth from 26 to 28 February.
