ARTSCAPE:MIKE FINN'S Pigtownis back in Limerick for one night only. The award-winning play, a fast-paced, humorous and moving theatrical journey through the history of 20th-century Limerick, seen through the eyes of one man, was first produced by Limerick's Island Theatre Company in 1999, directed by Terry Devlin.
To celebrate the company's 20th anniversary, Island is revisiting what is probably its most iconic production for a rehearsed reading tomorrow night, featuring the original cast, supported by other actors who have worked with Island over the past two decades, and again directed by Devlin.
The cast includes recent Ifta award winner Brendan Conroy reprising the role of Tommy Clocks, John Breen (author of Alone it Stands), Paul Meade (artistic director of Gúna Nua Theatre Company), playwright Mike Finn, Myles Breen (Fair City), John Anthony Murphy, Liam O'Brien (Emmerdale), Richie Ryan (artistic director of Limerick's CentreStage Theatre School), Pat Ryan, Seamus Moran, Gene Rooney and Joan Sheehy.
Finn, a founding member of Island, is looking forward to seeing old friends who have worked with Island Theatre Company in the past. "I think it's a great opportunity to look back and celebrate the achievements of the past 20 years, which have included over 40 productions, 18 tours and quality theatre both on the local and national stage."
This anniversary celebration comes at a tricky time for Island, following a recent Arts Council decision to withdraw the company's funding, which is under appeal.
The company is being run by general manager Gillian Fenton and the board, and is in a kind of limbo, as it had been planning to recruit a new artistic artistic director early this year, following the departure of chief executive Alice Kennelly late last year.
The reading is in the Limerick Marriott Hotel, which is on the site of the old Savoy Theatre, tomorrow at 7pm. Tickets cost €10 and can be purchased from the Belltable Arts Centre on 061-319866.
At its fabulous best
Fabulous Beast is clearly on a roll.
Following last month's UK Critics' Circle National Dance Awards success (Best Modern Choreography Award for director of The Bull, Michael Keegan-Dolan, and dancer Colin Dunne's nomination for Best Male Artist - Modern), The Bullhas been nominated for a 2007 Olivier Award in the Best New Dance category.
This is Keegan-Dolan's second Olivier nomination - his production of Gisellewas nominated in 2005.
Based on the legend of the Táin, The Bullwas co-produced by the Dublin Theatre Festival and bite07 and played at the Barbican in 2007 after premiering at the Dublin festival in 2005.
Other nominations in the category include the Royal Ballet's Jewels, Mark Morris Dance Group's Mozart Dances, and Northern Ballet's The Three Musketeers.
The Olivier winners will be announced on March 9th. Keegan-Dolan has also been nominated for the 2009 Europe Prize for New Theatre Realities. And the New Zealand International Arts Festival is in for a treat next month, when the company presents Giselle(originally co-produced by the Dublin Theatre Festival) in Wellington in March.
Also on the theme of Irish dance on the international stage, CoisCéim Dance Theatre's hit show Knotsis also on a roll. After two sell-out seasons in Dublin, a national tour, sell-out award-winning performances in Edinburgh, Venice and Frankfurt and a UK tour, the high-octane show is currently in the US, bringing Knotscoast to coast, with performances already in Los Angeles and St Louis and next week in New York. www.cosiceim.com
In the background
Those from a less well-off background are often less likely to attend arts events - not only "high arts", such as classical music, theatre and art exhibitions, but also mainstream films, comedy and popular or traditional music - according to ESRI and National Economic and Social Forum research published this week.
The report, In the Frame or Out of the Picture?,commissioned from the ESRI by the NESF, reveals that, compared with the rest of the population, people with a degree are nearly three times more likely to go to a film, twice as likely to attend a play or art exhibition, and significantly more likely to attend musical events, whether pop, traditional or classical.
While education has the strongest influence on attending arts events, people of higher income or social class are also much more likely to attend. The research finds no evidence that these large differences are down to different levels of interest in the arts.
The report also shows that those from less advantaged backgrounds are not as likely to read for pleasure. But the same pattern does not occur for active participation in the arts, such as playing an instrument, performing in shows, or photography, where social background has much less of a bearing.
The research directly compares people from different social backgrounds who listen to or watch equivalent amounts of arts programming on radio or television, or CD and DVD. Despite equivalent interest, those from a less well-off backgrounds are much less likely to attend events. This suggests that they face barriers other than interest.
"What is striking is the range of events affected," said Dr Pete Lunn of the ESRI. "Social background strongly influences attendance right across the arts spectrum, from a classical concert to a gig in the pub, or from the school play to the latest blockbuster."
According to NESF chairwoman Dr Maureen Gaffney, "this report puts the onus on all of us to dismantle the barriers that block cultural participation. In 2007, the NESF published The Arts, Cultural Inclusion and Social Cohesion, and this contains recommendations for Government on how we can dismantle these barriers."
The report also looks at awareness of local arts officers and arts centres. In both cases, but especially for arts officers, awareness is heavily skewed towards the better-off, suggesting that arts policy currently reflects rather than counters the impact of social background on the arts.
Finally, there are also strong gender and age links with respect to the arts. Women are roughly twice as likely as men to attend most arts events, and are also more likely to read. People over the age of 45 are significantly less likely to attend no arts events at all.
This is a subject close to Minister for Arts Séamus Brennan's heart, as he indicated at the seminar this week to lauch the report, saying it brought home "the reality that despite the myriad policies, initiatives, agencies, and facilities present at every level in the artistic and cultural arena, there still exists a sizeable part of our society that does not engage with the arts . . . It is a continuing challenge to discover the extent of such disconnect, the reasons for it and more importantly how to rectify it."
He indicated that the Programme for Government includes commitments to address some NESF report recommendations, including "a greater focus on the arts in education, from early education up to all educational levels, and a commitment to child-centred arts.
At local level, we will encourage the development of the arts, volunteering in the arts, and maximum use of all of our new and expanding arts venues."
Interestingly, he referred again to the long-awaited report on the arts in education, saying, "We are also making progress in relation to the Special Committee on Arts in Education, following on from the Arts Council commissioned report of this vital area.
In recent months meetings have been taking place between officials from my department, the Department of Education and Science and the Arts Council with a view to identifying ways of implementing and giving effect to the practical recommendations in that report, and I am very optimistic that tangible outcomes will be seen from this initiative." We (still) wait with bated breath.
Mark Doherty's play Tradopened at the Perth International Arts Festival this week, and the Galway Arts Festival production has been getting a great reaction there.
Doherty's first play, a surreal comedy, sold out a short pre-festival run in both Albany, and in Perth, where it's housed in the 600-seater Octagon Theatre on a thrust stage.
Enthusiastic curtain calls are reported, and The Australian described it as "the surprising highlight of the Perth Festival . . . Mark Doherty has written a small masterpiece".
The production is directed by Mikel Murfi and stars Peter Gowen, Frankie McCafferty and Enda Kilroy.
Tradwas first produced at Galway Arts Festival in 2004, has been in Edinburgh, London and Adelaide since, and won an Edinburgh Fringe First, Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Best Theatre Writing and an Adelaide Fringe Festival Award.