Belfast Theatre
Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival which will run from 24th Sept – 11th Oct 2009 and is once again sponsored by Ulster Bank.
- This year’s programme offers a wealth of Irish and international productions.
- For the first time the Festival will tour a production to 3 venues during the Festival.
- International productions include: Direct from the deserts of India, The Manganiyar Seduction; Declan Donnellan’s version of Chekhov’s Three Sisters (Chekhov International Theatre Festival and Cheek by Jowl); Robert Lepage’s The Blue Dragon; National Theatre UK and Live Theatre Newcastle present Lee Hall’s hit The Pitmen Painters. Highlights in the Samuel Beckett Theatre, Cet Enfant (Compagnie Louis Brouillard) and Kamp from Hotel Modern.
- Major interactive light installation Playhouse which will illuminate Liberty Hall.
June 2009 – The Abbey Theatre presents Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s celebrated comedy of manners THE RIVALS as this year’s summer production. One of theatre’s most enduring comedies, the national theatre’s production is directed by Patrick Mason and opens for an eight week run on Wednesday 28 July 2009.
Theatre touring- or the distinct lack of- has become a real issue in the performance sector and is being treated as such. Mary Cloake articulates; ‘The concept of the regions is one which has assumed totemic importance in artistic and cultural policy in Ireland. Policies for the development of drama and policies for regional development have become inextricably entwined, particularly over the last twenty years’. The potential for theatre companies to tour is obviously fading as a result of economic crisis but, disregarding global financial anarchy, touring in Ireland has always been a problematic area for many reasons- the current economic downturn, and more specifically the recent Arts Council Funding Decision, have only intensified the already existing reality.
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The Lyric Theatre and An Grianan Theatre presents the Northern Ireland premiere of The Home Place by Brian Friel.
It is the summer of 1878, a time of unrest and the early days of the Home Rule movement. The play is set at The Lodge in Ballybeg, the Donegal home of the Gores, a planter family.
It appears that those most affected by economic downturn are drama graduates- aren’t we a sorry lot? Jobs disappear, arts council funding dissolves and we are left holding our tails between our legs, having to listen to our fathers singing along to the ‘I told you so’ dance. Faced with the obvious option of working in Asda- now that they’re creating more jobs for people exactly like us- what do we do? Do we give up our theatrical ambitions and head down to the job centre, or do we face the music and make some ghetto theatre in whatever space we can get our grimy little mitts on? The latter, according to Dan Bergin, one of the founders of ‘Daguerreotype’, Trinity’s latest home grown theatre company.
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I’ll come clean before I start this entry. I do not sit at home musing upon whether or not Brian Friel deserves to be considered Ireland’s pre-eminent playwright. Honest. I had a class on Friel last week which made me question his star-studded, status. Let us not forget the momentous occasion of Friel’s 70th birthday which was celebrated in Dublin with the Friel Festival. This was an extravaganza during which ten of his plays were staged or presented as dramatic readings; in conjunction with the festival were a conference, National Library Exhibition, film screenings, outreach programmes, pre-show talks and the launching of an issue of The Irish University Review devoted to his work. In 2006 Friel was elected a Saoi, one of the five elite members of Aosdána (an association of people in Ireland who have achieved distinction in the arts). There is no doubt that this man is a national celebrity.
Watch closely the next time you see someone enjoying a cup of coffee in a film. Most of the time, the cup will actually be empty and certainly very rarely will you see someone actually drink from it. This is because of the nature of filmmaking. An actor might be required to do the same take eight or nine times -to actually take a sip of coffee each time would put a strain on the strongest bladders. How many of these takes are done depends on the director -Clint Eastwood has been said to be to satisfied with any shot in which the camera did not actually fall over while the notoriously difficult filmmaker Stanley Kubrick sometimes forced his actors to do the same take a hundred or more times over.
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