56: #56| Mary Moynihan: Smashing Times

Sparking Change with Dil

This week on Sparking Change, Dil talks to Mary Moynihan. Mary is the artistic director for Smashing Times Theatre and Film Company (more info here). Smashing Times Theatre and Film Company is a not-for-profit, human rights based organsiation that uses creative process, theatre and film to promote human rights, gender equality, reconcilliation and social inclusion for all. In 2018, the company established the new Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Human Rights, a hub for creative activity, community engagement and social inclusion for all at local, national, European and international levels. A new Women in an Equal Europe creative documentary was made exploring themes of women, feminism and Europe. The documentary was directed by Mary. It includes interviews with twelve women (including Dil!) from Ireland, Spain, Croatia and Serbia along with a series of nine Vox Pops or statements from women and men exploring women’s lived experiences of life in Europe and the intersection between the arts, feminism and equality. In this episode, Dil and Mary discuss the origins of Smashing Times, how artists can use their work to ask questions of society, the Smashing Times International Centre for Arts and Human Rights, as well as the process of picking the stories for the Women in an Equal Europe Documentary. They also discuss Margaret Skinnider, the mostly-unknown stories of women in the Second World War, as well as what's next for Smashing Times,and how theatre and comedy can be great for learning.