Rachael was selected to work on To Have to Shoot Irishmen through a two stage interview process at Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA). She will work with the creative team to develop her first professional set and costume design, gaining an invaluable introduction to the industry and the opportunity to further develop her skills in a supportive context.

She has previously designed set and costume for The City and the Value of Things, working with Young Everyman Playhouse. This project will allow her to gain experience in working with new writing and in designing for a touring production which must adapt to a range of spaces.  

Was that partly what drew you to To Have to Shoot Irishmen? Did the creative team know from the start that you were a relation of the characters?
I couldn’t believe it when I first opened the first page of the script and I saw Hanna and Francis’ name on the character list. After reading the script, it made a lot of sense to write a play about their story and I knew that I wanted to be involved in bringing it to other people.

When I had the interview for the job to design the play I did not mention my relation to the characters, mainly because I wanted to get the job based on my ideas. However, I did tell Lizzie (Nunnery, playwright), Gemma (Kerr, director) and Vidar (Norheim, composer) after I was offered the job in our first meeting.

You recently met Hanna’s granddaughter Micheline Sheehy Skeffington, who is a feminist activist like her grandmother. What was it like to speak to her?
I met Micheline Sheehy Skeffington at an exhibition in the National Museum of Ireland, about Women’s Suffrage and Citizenship in Ireland. I spoke to her after the event about a case she won against the university she works for, who did not promote her because of her gender. She was very friendly and inspiring.

Do you feel Hanna’s feminist spirit has been passed down the generations to you?
My parents have called me ‘Hanna’ when I have become passionate about a feminist issue, so they would certainly say so. I have also been involved in environmental activist groups. I think I have a personality type found in my family that is driven to speak out against social injustices and one that can be slightly rebellious, at times.

Rachael is the designer for To Have To Shoot Irishmen, at the Everyman, 25 - 27 Oct.
Read the interview in full on Almanac Arts.