Coronavirus: Spraoi hopes the show will go on later in the year

One of the country’s largest street theatre groups has expressed disappointment at the decision to cancel all St Patrick’s Day parades, but hopes its work will get a showing later this year.

Waterford-based street spectacle group Spraoi was due to participate in the Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Kilkenny parades and lined up some 250 cast and crew to put on five separately themed shows.

It's very disappointing because at heart Spraoi people are show people and show people love to get a show on

Spraoi director TV Honan said the 15 staff working on the floats along with the volunteer casts were all very disappointed at the Government decision, but fully accepted its necessity given the threat posed by Covid-19.

“It’s very disappointing because at heart Spraoi people are show people and show people love to get a show on, but we remain cautiously optimistic that some of this work will be seen in centres later this year,” said Mr Honan.

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“We had foot and mouth in 2002 and Patrick’s Day events were cancelled that year, but eventually, in some centres, some of the parades were run in May of that year and we’re hoping that something similar might happen this year.”

Spraoi has spent the past four to five months developing separate shows for Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Kilkenny, with some 85 cast and crew scheduled to perform in Dublin and 20 to 35 in each of the other cities.

Maritime theme

Designer Clare Horgan explained that Spraoi had developed a maritime theme for Cork with a giant squid and a mermaid, while its Limerick show featured a whale and looked at the importance of the oceans for large mammals.

Both Waterford and Kilkenny entries involved looking at biodiversity, with the Waterford show focusing on a giant monkey and the Kilkenny one centred on insect life, with bees and bugs being performed by children.

In Dublin the theme was the thieving magpie, with three floats. “One was a huge magpie who had a team of human magpies flying around and trying to steal shiny and sparkly things from the crowd,” said Ms Horgan.

There may be an opportunity to perform the shows some time in the months ahead

“The second float, then, was a huge nest where the magpie had brought all the sparkly things, including famous Irish artefacts like the Ardagh chalice, and we also had a brass section in there playing away to add to the occasion.

“And then the last float was a songbird in a cage and the idea was the magpies had stolen this beautiful songbird and kept her in a cage and all the birds of the forest were dancing around making it sing for them – it is really beautiful.

‘Heart and soul’

“It’s a pity the parades were cancelled – we were very upset,” she said. “You can’t put four months of your heart and soul and blood and tears into something and not see it hit the streets [without being upset], but it had to be done, people’s health comes first.”

Spraoi, which was founded in 1993, are seasoned troupers and, as Mr Honan explained, they decided to continue putting the finishing touches to the various floats and costumes for the five parades.

“We’ve decided to finish the floats and costumes because there may be an opportunity to perform the shows some time in the months ahead. It’s a case of the showbusiness battle cry ‘the show must go on’ – kind of.”