Ottilie

Rathmore Productions presents the international premiere of a new one woman show based on the life of Northern Irish blues singer Ottilie Patterson and featuring Jolene O’Hara in the titular role.

Ottilie written by Richard Clements, directed by Matthew McElhinney and starring Jolene O’Hara, is a poetic reimagining of the career and legacy of the greatest Irish blues singer of them all.

It’s 1945 and Blues music drifts across the Ards Peninsula from American GIs stationed at the local military base. 33s are swapped with locals, and in her bedroom, on an old beat-up record player, Ottilie hears the music that will change her life forever.

Now, every time she heads to the family piano, she picks out blues notes, bending the sound with her voice. Young Ottilie lives for the Blues and this passion carries her from gigging in Belfast, to joining the Chris Barber Band and touring internationally, performing with legends like Muddy Waters and Sister Rosetta Sharp and achieving stellar success throughout the 1950s and 60s.

Her career was cut short due to ill health but behind the news headlines, lay a deeper and darker truth.