10 Questions with actor, writer, director, and mother Johanne Webb

10 Questions with actor, writer, director, and mother Johanne Webb

Johanne Webb answers 10 questions about her career, her life, and her work as a facilitator

Johanne Webb is a mother, actor, writer, director, Family Constellations facilitator & member of MAM (Mothers Artists Makers), a group of feminist mothers, with a background in theatre, who are now meeting once a week and talking regularly online. She is the founder of The Grief Café in Galway, and regularly runs therapeutic events for people. 

Johanne holds a BA in Acting MMU with Capitol Theatre, and an MA in Theatre & Media for Development from University of Winchester. 

Her current/recent credits Connie, Lime Tree, Limerick; A Personal Prism, Declan Gorman Arts & Events; Camp Everyone, Rósan; SALT, Vanessa Earl;  Where Mountain Kisses Sea, Twisted Lane; Also For Roaring, Róisín Stack; 9 Stories About Love, A Little Door; A Damsel In Distress, Rob Ashford; and is known for her performance in Conversations With Friends. 

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She is Regular Performance Director for Macnas and Johanne is currently working on her own show The Meat Factory. She is also a Druid FUEL & Axis Assemble recipient.

1. Can you tell us about your childhood?

I grew up in Lisnagry, so I was really privileged to be surrounded by beautiful nature and lovely neighbours, but it wasn’t an easy ride! My mom died when I was ten, and my Dad struggled to cope with raising six of us. I was very lucky to be given creative outlets like ballet and stage school, which really helped me escape into other worlds…and deal with it all.

2. How were you drawn to your work in the arts and as a facilitator?

I had wanted to be a journalist since I was small. I loved to write and was very interested in what was happening in the world. But I was in a youth group run by Noirin Ni Riain and was cast in My Fair Lady in Glenstal…I was already in love with performing, but playing Eliza somehow made me realise this is what I wanted to do. Acting by itself, though, has always felt somehow “selfish”, so I went and did a Master’s in Theatre and Media for Development to learn how to work with communities.

3. What sparked the need to create a space like the Grief Café in Galway?

During COVID, I was approached by the Irish Hospice Foundation, along with six other artists across the country. The brief was to create a response to the crisis and people being isolated in their grief at that time. To me, the biggest loss was not being able to sit with people to listen and support them during bereavement. So I naturally went to the idea of a Cafe where you could be heard in your suffering, as well as offered creative outlets for your grief, like painting lanterns to take home, writing, drawing, doing exercises around your loss etc.

4. Do you think Ireland is becoming more open about topics such as grief, loss and showing emotion?

In many ways, yes. I think it’s more acceptable in general to talk about things that are difficult. But I think that has a shelf life… You’re expected to move on, or cheer up, and for many people, that’s just not possible. Especially if you’ve experienced a lot of loss in your life, and/ or it happened in formative years. It’s not necessarily the loss itself, but what happens after. It’s whether you’re supported to recover, given the tools to deal with or manage it. And I don’t mean just with bereavement, loss of relationships, health, home, etc., can be just as traumatic. And I still don’t think we give men enough encouragement and support to be able to be fully open emotionally; the tough guy who gets on with things is still very much the image that is given of the ideal male. It’s really destructive.

5. You recently starred in ‘Connie’, how did it feel to play such an important role?  

Omg, 9 roles!!! Connie was the absolute dream job…amazing script, score, cast, crew and setting!! It was so cathartic for me. I had only toured shows to Limerick since I left at 18, so it was an absolute homecoming to be in this incredible show. And back in the Theatre Royal!! I think I was only in there once or twice illegally!! To inhabit these characters, particularly so well-scripted, and to have the variety of characters to play with, I think, is an actor’s dream.

There were also definitely some challenging moments, especially playing Connie’s mother, Mary. I start my process by investigating the emotional landscape of a character, but working with real-life people, and portraying moments where they are violent or cruel… You’ve to dig deep for that! But empathy is such a needed response in these moments, attempting to understand that people are always working from their past and their limitations. And that’s what makes us interesting also!

6. Tell us about your role with MAM and the importance of that movement in Ireland.

MAM is this incredible organisation that came out of Waking The Feminists;  a movement that happened after the Abbey Theatre announced its 2016 commemorative programme and there were virtually no women involved! Mother Artists Makers was formed because the vast majority of women leave the creative industries when they get pregnant, and don’t return. It’s a huge talent drain on the sector, and also means we are not hearing the voices of mothers on stage or screen. Their stories don’t get written. I’m so glad to see that changing, and am delighted to be a small part of that. I started MAM West, which is the west of Ireland branch and we’ve been running workshops in venues for parenting artists. A slow but steady attempt to retain and support mothers to remain in the creative sector, and to come back to it. We need more family-friendly practices across the creative sector to do this meaningfully.

7. What has been your greatest achievement to date?

Staying in the industry and raising a child! Honestly, there’s days when you feel like you just can’t hold on. It’s such a precarious life, and you can’t just go and get steady work as you’re not available for auditions and performing work when it does come. As a single parent, there have been so many moments when I felt I had to give up. I was so, so lucky to be on the pilot Basic Artist Income for the last few years, which has literally been life-changing.

I didn’t fully realise the level of survival anxiety I carried until it was alleviated… unfortunately, with it ending now for those of us on the pilot scheme, I’m not sure what happens next…more clinging on!! I’m part of a new group called Basic Income for Artists Alliance that’s working on that. But something always comes along, that’s also the magic of it, and what keeps you going.

8. Can you tell us about The Meat Factory and what it means to create your own show?

My grandfather started a meat factory in Ballyhaunis in Mayo, just after he opened a butcher shop on O’Connell Street. It became the first Halal meat factory in the country. I’m fascinated by the story of how much it changed the town, and how different his life was to mine. The show looks at intergenerational trauma and how things get passed down the line from parent to child. It’s a story very much of Limerick and Mayo.

It’s a very slow process to make a show; I was delighted to do a work in progress in the Lime Hall in Castlebar. Making a show with very personal content can be difficult; you’re not just making up a story, you’re revealing part of yourself and your family. I’m also bringing in my Family Constellations work in the creating, so it’s a new way of working.

Funding a show is a slow and expensive process also, and we’ve so many incredible theatremakers in the country, the public funding pots are very overstretched! So if there’s anyone out there with deep pockets who wants to make a show with me, give me a shout!!

9. What advice would you give people thinking of pursuing a career in the arts?

Mind your mental health. Have people around you that you can talk to, the gaps between jobs can be very challenging. There’s some great supports out there like Minding Creative Minds. Try to separate you the person from you the performer… I find that helpful in not taking things too personally, like not getting auditions.

10. What is your favourite thing about theatre in Ireland?

It’s friendly and cooperative!! I went to drama school in UK and was mainly auditioning in London. I remember coming home for my first audition here and everyone being so friendly as we waited to be called… Very different experience!! And there is SO much talent for a tiny island!! And innovation.

Theatre artists will take a tiny bit of support and create something huge and sparkly and magic from it.. Magicmakers! We need more support and more funding to keep doing it, especially in this moment when the world feels so dark and challenging. Art helps us make sense of things, and live theatre gives us a visceral experience of that like nothing else can.