Friendship helped us through loss in the pandemic

When a group of former convent school pupils lost one of their friends at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic they decided to create a project in her memory.

The women spent months putting together a play about female solidarity and friendship.

Rehearsing, often remotely, proved therapeutic for the class of '83 from Assumption Grammar School, Ballynahinch, County Down.

Many of these women are key workers and the drama allowed them to take a break from the "other pulls on their lives".

Their project also struck a chord in their community and they ended up performing to hundreds in their old school hall.

Director Marcelle Orsi said the women, who are also celebrating their 50th birthdays, had realised the privilege of growing older due to the loss of family and friends during the pandemic.

Video Journalist: Ciara Colhoun