{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Variety Show","title":"Just good to introduce her character with Laura Wyatt O'Keefe","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3035,"description":"To stay updated on future episodes, follow us on:TikTokInstagramYouTubeArtist bioLaura Wyatt O’Keeffe is a multi-award-nominated Irish theatre-maker, actor, drag king and DJ whose work spans theatre, cabaret, live art and immersive performance. Raised in Cork and trained at East 15 Acting School, she has built a career creating and performing work that blends storytelling, ritual, humour and audience interaction. Her practice moves between conventional acting, devised theatre and drag performance, often exploring identity, community, belief and connection. Through her drag king character Father Jesse, Laura reimagines Irish Catholic ritual through a queer, comic and deeply human lens, bringing performance into theatres, clubs and other unexpected spaces.Episode summaryIn this episode of The Variety Show, Adam Sternberg speaks with Laura Wyatt O’Keeffe about her path from childhood theatre in Cork to acting, theatre-making and drag performance. Surrounded by rehearsal rooms from an early age through her playwright and director aunt, Laura grew up watching stories being built from the inside and began performing herself while still very young. She reflects on how those early experiences shaped her understanding not only of acting, but of audience, structure and the wider world of performance.The conversation follows her journey through university and drama school, where she trained as an actor while also beginning to make her own work. Laura speaks candidly about ambition, fame, funding and the difficult balance between artistic vision and practical survival, as well as the privileges that time, money and access can bring to making great work.A major turning point came during and after the pandemic, when Laura found herself drawn more strongly to drag and cabaret than to traditional theatre. Through her drag king character Father Jesse, an Irish Catholic priest delivering mass in unexpected settings, she discovered a form that allowed for deeper audience...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/JHRDqil-H1p__PcBxkFKeWgvmzANKXqZzhsKiqUP0gc/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mODc5/NmZkY2I4Nzk5OWNi/MjFiNDFhNzY5MTNi/NzI1Ni5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}