Political drama rewarded

ARTOON:DUBLIN-BORN playwright Conall Quinn, who wrote the intruiging and powerful The Death of Harry Leon, a counter-factual drama set in Dublin's Jewish community, with Ireland aligning itself with Germany in the 1930s and 1940s – was awarded the Stewart Parker Trust Major Bursary in Belfast this week, writes DEIRDRE FALVEY

His first play, Miss Canary Islands 1936(Focus Theatre, 2002), started his imaginative and playful engagement with difficult political and historical themes. The Death of Harry Leonhad a public reading at the Peacock in 2004 and was staged by Ouroboros last year, where it was described by Fintan OToole as "terrifically courageous. It does what political theatre should do, taking real risks in order to provoke new thoughts." Quinn is writing a new play for Upstate(working title The Dead), described as a "surreal tale" from the second World War period set in Clogherhead.

The awards, which honour the late playwright Stewart Parker and support new writing for theatre, take place in Dublin and Belfast on alternate years. The BBC Northern Ireland Radio Drama Award went to Patrick J O’Reilly and the BBC Northern Ireland Irish Language Drama Award was won by Manchán Magan.

O’Reilly is founding artistic director of Belfast-based Red Lemon Productions, where he has written/adapted and directed many productions, as well as Candide for Bruiser Theatre Company and Plasticine Tina for Replay Productions.

Writer, traveller and TV programme maker Manchán Magan's play Broken Croí – Heart Briste, which plays delightfully between Irish and English languages, was nominated for the Fishamble New Writing Award, the Bewleys Café Theatre Award and two Irish TimesTheatre Awards.

Rather than start with a bang, this years Dublin Dance Festival (DDF) will begin in silence, writes Michael Seaver. Opening with a Headphone Disco in Meeting House Square, the programme will crescendo up to a party-like night of flamenco with Noche Flamenca in Vicar Street.

Launching the programme, festival director Laurie Uprichard outlined how one production became the centrepiece of the 15-day event (May 8-23). “The poetic title of Raimund Hoghe’s work Young People, Old Voices, conjured up so many ideas, raised so many questions and ultimately inspired much of the programme for DDF 2010,” she said. Along with age, Hoghe’s work raises issues of different body types on stage, a strand also found in works such as Heidi Latsky’s Gimp and will be addressed in a symposium called “The Many Bodies of Contemporary Dance”.

Throughout the programme there is a mix of young and old: from choreographic debuts at the Representing Ireland showcase to a double bill by legendary American choreographer Yvonne Rainer. Along with premieres by Irish companies Rex Levitates and Junk Ensemble, there’s a fascinating coming together of ex-Riverdance member Jean Butler and New York choreographer Tere O’Connor in a new solo show at the Peacock. The full programme, which includes children’s performances, workshops, screenings and artists talks, is on dublindancefestival.ie. Booking opens on Wednesday, Mar 10, with a variety of packages including a recession-busting pass for all 15 performances at €200.

It’s getting earlier and earlier . . . theatres in Dublin have gradually been opting for the earlier start time of 7.30pm for evening performances (the theatre festival adopted it almost wholesale last autumn, the Abbey has done it, and the Gate went down the same road this week with Les Liaisons Dangereuses). There are pluses and minuses with it – for weeknight outings for those working in the city centre it’s great, but for anyone coming into town by public or private transport, maybe even getting a babysitter, it can be stressful and traffic-ful. In London some theatres have a variety of start times on different nights, with later times for weekend nights . . . but that option would surely lead to tears and confusion here.