OnTheTownA screeching peacock flew above the guests' heads on to the ramparts of Johnstown Castle, passing a piper, Sgt David "Nobby" Tormey of the 33rd Reserve Battalion, Wexford, who stood in the fading light, waiting to play, writes Catherine Foley
"This is a unique occasion," said Philomena Roche, mayor of Wexford, before the opening of the 2007 opera festival. "I am very honoured to be part of what will be a very talked-about event for many years to come," she said. "We have shown the world what we are capable of," she added proudly.
"For 56 years, Wexford festival has led the world in developing cultural tourism by the performance of rare and neglected opera," said John O'Donoghue, the Minister for Arts, at the official opening of the festival on Thursday evening.
"I am going to love it," said Eithne Healy, former chairwoman of the Abbey Theatre board, about the opening performance of the classic Kurt Weill play with music, Der Silbersee. Her husband, Liam Healy, head of the Wexford Festival Foundation, which is fundraising for the festival's new opera house, due for completion next year, stood nearby.
"It's fantastic for me to see it and it's very enjoyable. It's bonkers, this play," said Rory Bremner, the British satirist and impressionist, who was asked to translate the work from German into English for a different production some years ago. "It's got bits of melodrama, it's a morality tale, it's a fairytale. It's got social commentary, elements of satire, a critique of market forces and a quasi-reconciliation between the policeman and the criminal, and underneath it all you have Kurt Weill's music . . . I love it." The director, Keith Warner, is "one of the best-known opera directors in the British Isles, with a huge international career," said opera consultant David Collopy, who was there with his wife Eileen.
Also at the opening were Tom Kirley, acting director of Teagasc, and his wife, Mary. Muriel McCarthy, keeper of Marsh's Library in Dublin, was there with her twin sister, Mairéad Furlong, who accompanied her husband, writer Nicholas Furlong.
• The Wexford Festival Opera 2007 continues at Johnstown Castle and Wexford town until June 17
Prize play seeks the right place for love
Suicide, old age and the reasons men go to war were among the themes which cropped up in the entries to the PJ O'Connor Radio Drama Awards 2007. The winning play, In the Real World, by Ciarán Gray, is described as a comedy about people trying to find the right place to fall in love. Adrian Moynes presented a €3,000 cheque to the writer.
"The themes that emerged provide a snapshot of Ireland in the 21st century," said Julie Parsons, chairwoman of the judging panel, which also included dramaturge and theatre critic Jesper Bergmann and stage and film director and writer John Lynch.
The second prize, of €2,000, went to stand-up comedian Kevin Gildea, for his radio play, Story, which was described by the judges as "an anarchic comedy, more grey than black, a surreal piece of writing with a good sense of the ridiculous". Gildea's wife, Tracy Rennie, and his sisters, writer and comedian Anne Gildea and artist and illustrator Úna Gildea, were all in the audience for the prize-giving ceremony.
The third prize of €1,000 went to actor and writer Garrett Keogh for his play, Nancy. His mother, Peggy Keogh, was at the event, as was Fergus Cronin, chairman of Kilkenny Arts Festival, and Maureen Kennelly, director of the Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray, Co Wicklow. All three winning plays will be produced and broadcast on RTÉ Radio. Others at the ceremony at the RTÉ Radio Centre were actors Simone Kirby, Amy Conroy and Fergal McElherron, communications consultant Kate Minogue, Lee Gallagher, whose radio play, Nomads, won a 2006 PPI Award, and actor and journalist Ultan Macken, who read his father's book, Rain on the Wind, on radio recently, marking the 40th anniversary of the death of Walter Macken.
Smouldering at 'The Crucible'
The opening night of The Crucible by Arthur Miller attracted a star-studded audience to the Abbey Theatre this week, including Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, artist Patrick Scott, Sen David Norris, playwright Thomas Kilroy, Imma director Enrique Juncosa and Arts Council director Mary Cloake.
"What's remarkable about the play is that, far from fading, the play becomes more and more relevant to what's going on," said the play's director Patrick Mason. He aimed to "go for the heart of the play, to create a credible community . . . and then show that community destroying itself".
Others at the opening included writers Anthony Cronin and Anne Haverty, singer Ronnie Drew, whose son Phelim acts in the play, director Selina Cartmell and broadcaster Eamon Dunphy. "Is dráma an-chumhachtach é," said Fearghus Ó Conchúir, the current Dublin City Council dance artist in residence, commenting on the play's power. "It's about hysteria and about the pressure of following the crowd."
Actor Eleanor Methven and Corn Exchange Theatre Company executive producer, Sarah Durcan, were both in attendance as was the director of the National Theatre, Fiach Mac Conghail. Earlier, all three were among those who attended the launch of Women in Irish Drama, a Century of Authorship and Representation, edited by Melissa Sihra.
"Women have been actively excluded from the important role they've played in Irish theatre," said Ivana Bacik, Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at TCD, when she launched the book in the upstairs bar of the Abbey. With more than 40 plays written by Lady Augusta Gregory, she said: "It's astounding that she was not represented in any way during the Abbey centenary celebrations three years ago."
The guest of honour was producer, director and actor Phyllis Ryan, who made her stage debut at the Abbey 70 years ago as a teenager, when critics wrote that she "caused a sensation", recalled Sihra.
• The Crucible by Arthur Miller continues at the Abbey Theatre until July 7
• Women in Irish Drama, a Century of Authorship and Representation, edited by Melissa Sihra, is published by Palgrave Macmillan
Euphoria in the Gaiety
Countdown to the long- awaited opening of the newly refurbished Gaiety Theatre began with a reception this week to launch its upcoming 2007/2008 programme of events.
"Today marks the end of a 10-year restoration programme," said John Costigan, the theatre's managing director. The refurbishment cost €9.8 million, and oJune 26th, the Victorian theatre, which was built in 1871, will re-open with the return of Riverdance.
"Today is a special day," said Costigan. Ten years ago, "this theatre was in serious financial and physical trouble . . . the heart of the theatre, the stage, was falling down," he said. But with funding from the Department of Arts, as well as from its owners Caroline Desmond and Denis Desmond, a building programme was undertaken, and now, he said: "I'd like to think I have restored the Gaiety to its former glory".
Upcoming highlights in the programme include a Druid production of Eugene O'Neill's play A Long Day's Journey into Night as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival in October. It will be directed by Garry Hynes, who was at the reception in the Gaiety this week, along with actor Marie Mullen, who will be playing alongside actor James Cromwell.
Another highlight will be a series of concerts from Rebecca Storm with Peter Corry in September. Storm was also present at the lunch-time event.
Two opera companies will produce shows in the coming 2007/2008 season. Bernadette Greevy was there to point out that the Anna Livia Dublin International Opera Festival, of which she is artistic director, will be the first in to enjoy the newly built stage, backstage and orchestra pit areas in September.
Opera Ireland will be producing Turandot and the contemporary opera Dead Man Walking and staging them in November, according to Dieter Kaegi, the company's artistic director. "The orchestra pit will be much bigger and that allows us to do much bigger operas, bigger productions and more important productions," he said.
For further details, see Artscape, below