Category: Performing Arts

Will you still need me, who will succeed me…

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A few weeks ago the Los Angeles Times carried an interesting story on the ‘graying’ of perfoming arts audiences, seeking to refute the perception that interest classical music is dying out:

[…] representatives of such organizations also offer compelling reasons why seeing gray hair — or, at least, gray roots — in the audience is (a) nothing new and (b) not necessarily a cause for panic, because, at least so far, there has always been “new gray” waiting in the wings to replace the old.

“A colleague of mine says the audience isn’t graying — it’s always been gray,” says Teresa Eyring, executive director of Theatre Communications Group, a national service organization for American nonprofit theaters.

Perhaps nothing earth-shattering here, but it is refreshing to hear the reactions of folks on the ground in response to this perennial whinge…

(read the rest of the article)

Swappin’ saliva in the name of art

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As part of the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival, The Performance Corporation organised a flash mob theatre event in the ILAC Shopping Centre in Dublin last Saturday– over 100 actors took part– and a few by-standers! (check out the couple at 1:50)

Click on the video to see what happened…

Drama in Dublin

Acrobatic insects, nuns on dodgems, and chaos at the box office?

Yep, must be the Dublin Theatre Festival.

Currently in full swing, this year’s festival has had no shortage of drama off and on stage– from the cancellation of the preview performance of Black Watch (due to concerns about seating safety- ultimately unfounded), to a last minute re-seating scramble at the first night of Metamorphosis that delayed the performance for an hour or so. Nevertheless I think the programme at this year’s festival is one of the strongest in years, and every performance I’ve attended so far has been packed out…

It’s been interesting to read the reviews of the shows so far–  Fintan O’Toole dug Gatz but not Metamorphosis, Seona Mac Reamoinn found Dodgems ‘deliciously fun’ but still in need of ‘tinkering’, and Sara Keating called Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea ‘near perfection’.

On my scorecard, Dodgems was a clear winner, if at times heavy-handed with the social themes; England was great in the first half but floundered in the second; and Metamorphosis was uneven but had a very impressive performance from its lead actor. I’ve heard good things too about The Year of Magical Thinking and Hedda Gabler— and I’m looking forward myself to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Cripple of Inishmaan.

Any other thoughts out there on this year’s crop?

On a related note, in Saturday’s Irish Times Chris Morash reviewed the newly published edited volume Interactions: Dublin Theatre Festival 1957-2007, a look back at the development of the festival over the past five decades, and by extension, the growth of theatre in Ireland:

Based (in part), on a conference organised by the Irish Theatre Diaspora Project at last year’s theatre festival, the first part of the book brings together 14 essays by various theatre scholars on aspects of the festival, ranging from its foundations in the 1950s, to recent Russian and Australian productions.

The second part of the book lays the foundations for future research, by combining short (often entertainingly anecdotal) essays by former festival directors (Lewis Clohessy, David Grant, Tony O’Dalaigh, and Fergus Linehan) with a complete listing of all festival productions since 1957.

Sounds like a much needed dose of context and critique on Irish theatre– the book is published by Carysfort Press and is edited by Nicholas Grene and Patrick Lonergan.

Culture Night 2008: this Friday!

Just a reminder to all you vultures out there– the third annual Culture Night takes place this Friday, September 19th, from 5-11 pm. In Dublin more than 100 arts & cultural organisations will be staying open late, offering unique & fun programming for this evening only. Temple Bar Cultural Trust is the driving force behind the initiative, which includes special bus routes (map pdf) laid on to take vultures from spot to spot, and lots of outdoor performances and entertainment.

It’s not just Dublin getting all the action either:

Culture Night Cork: http://www.corkcity.ie/culturenight
Culture Night Limerick: http://www.limerickcity.ie
Culture Night Galway: http://www.galwaycity.ie

Last year’s event had a great buzz to it– wandering around the National Gallery at near 11 pm was a surreal highlight for me!– and it’s a great chance to check out (for free!) sites that normally require admission. I’ve got a few circled already… 🙂

Copies of the programme can be downloaded as a pdf here, or picked up in print copy from participating venues, the Suffolk St Dublin tourist office, or Temple Bar Cultural Information Centre at 12 East Essex Street (the latter two will be open 9am until 11pm on Culture Night).

Looking forward to seeing RED

‘Tis the season for new capital constructions, apparently: South Dublin County Council is set to open its own spanking new cultural facility, RED. I’m hoping to pop down soon and snap a few photos, but in the meantime, a few details from their press announcement:

South Dublin County Council’s latest venture the new County Arts Centre, RED in Tallaght is the most recent addition to Tallaght’s emerging cultural quarter. The centre which represents an investment of almost €10 million in arts and cultural facilities by South Dublin County Council is nearing completion and is due to open soon.

The remit of the centre is to develop the arts in South Dublin County through supporting and providing spaces for productions, exhibitions and process-based activities and by providing workspace for arts organisations and artists.

RED is now looking for individuals and arts organisations who are interested in participating or working within the centre to request an Expression of Interest form.

The facility consists of two gallery spaces, a studio performance space, an art workshop room, five music tuition rooms, a dance and rehearsal studio, two multi media rooms, three incubation units, six artist studio spaces and several meeting rooms.

To receive a Expression of Interest form please contact kphillips@sdublincoco.ie