Meet Ciara Ní Chuirc | Playwright

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ciara Ní Chuirc and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ciara, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I moved to New York in 2013 on a graduate Visa. When I first got to the city, I worked two jobs – during the day, I worked as a nanny from 8am to 5pm, and then I worked as an intern with a theatre producer in the evenings from 6pm-10pm. It wasn’t sustainable. I was only able to keep this pace of work up for four months, and then I found a more comfortable but still arts-adjacent temporary office job. I ended up staying in that job full-time for another five years, but continued writing plays in my downtime and seeing them produced in small venues around NYC.

In 2018, I decided to go to grad school for Playwriting. I was able to keep my office job at the Philharmonic throughout grad school, albeit with reduced hours. For me, this was the perfect balance. When I was nannying and interning, I was exhausted all the time, and wasn’t able to focus on my creative pursuits. When I was working full time, I felt comfortable financially but my job took up 90% of the space in my brain, not leaving much space for my writing. Working part time while going to grad school helped me find the right balance between the two sides of my brain. I wasn’t interested in focusing only on writing while I was at grad school – I think focusing solely on one thing leads to burnout.

I graduated in 2021, and quit my office job to focus on writing later that year. It’s been interesting trying to find a new work-life balance while leading a more freelance lifestyle. It helps that I’ve consistently had writing projects to focus on, but a year in to this new balance I find myself wanting to find another day job that would give my brain a rest from feeling like I need to constantly be creative.

I try to carve out time for hobbies that aren’t work-related – I love reading, running, yoga, and volunteering. As an immigrant, I’ve noticed that Americans feel more pressure than Europeans to constantly be “on.” I put a lot of pressure on myself to be productive, but I’m trying to remember that time to rest is important too.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m an Irish playwright currently based in Los Angeles. I think what sets me apart from other is my status as an immigrant and a new American. I became an American citizen on Election Day in 2020. Over the nearly nine years I’ve lived in the US, I have felt as though I have been shedding my old culture as I pick up a new one. American norms have edged out the patterns of my life in Dublin. This is what I am interested in in my writing: the things we let fall, and the new parts that fill in. With every play I write, I feel like I am making a distinct choice about whether to write an “American” play or an “Irish” play. I grew up speaking Irish fluently, and I would love to try to create a new piece of work that addresses both my Irishness and my new Americanness.

I’m most proud of the plays I’ve worked on that felt like true collaborations. I got to where I am today professionally because of my relationships with amazing directors, producers, actors, and dramaturgs. Going to grad school at Columbia University was very helpful in terms of networking and helping me take my writing seriously. It’s not easy to work as a writer – it’s very hard to find financial stability if you’re trying to support yourself with your writing, and if you have a day job it can be hard to balance your work life and your creative pursuits. I’ve been very fortunate in the last year to have had my Off-Broadway debut and to have received a grant from the Irish Arts Council to develop a play, both of which have given me the time and freedom to focus exclusively on my writing. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that I can’t work in a vacuum. I will always create my best work in collaboration with others. What I love about theatre is that the collaboration is in-built: a play can’t exist without a whole group of people coming together.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I only moved to LA in August so I’m still getting my bearings here! But here are some of the things I’ve loved doing since getting here.

– I’m living in Los Feliz, and I really love the neighbourhood! There’s a great spot for brunch or wine called All Time, which I would highly recommend (also a good place to spot celebrities, if you’re into that kind of thing). There’s great thrift shopping in this area, and a lovely bookstore called Skylight. Los Feliz is right beside Griffith Park, where you can hike up to the Observatory. Maru Coffee is a lovely little coffee shop on Hillhurst Ave that’s worth a visit too!
– I really love Little Tokyo – it’s a great place to walk around, the food is amazing, and the Geffen Contemporary art museum is down there too.
– The Getty Center is a beautiful museum on top of a hill – the building is beautiful and the views are incredible!
– Theatre-wise, the Geffen is a great place to visit. I’ve only been here for a very short amount of time so I haven’t fully embedded myself in the theatre scene, but I’ve heard great things about South Coast Rep, The Fountain, and Odyssey Theatre too.
– If you feel like going a little further afield, Joshua Tree is about two hours east of LA and the national park is a great place for stargazing.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’ve been helped by so many people in my career, but the people who have helped me the most are the badass lady directors I’ve worked with over the years: Kelly O’Donnell, Olivia Songer, Brey Ann Barrett, and Aimee Todoroff all helped me take myself and my writing more seriously. The Irish Repertory Theatre in New York took a chance on me and I’ll always be grateful to them for that! And dramaturg Zhe Pan has been tremendously helpful to me since we first met in 2018.

Website: https://newplayexchange.org/users/19566/ciara-ni-chuirc

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nichuirc/?hl=en