ArtScape: A row over a planned collaborative production between the Tallaght Youth Theatre (TYT) and Glasgow-based theatre company Collusion, which was due to take place in mid-July in Glasgow, led to the cancellation of the show, writes Ciaran Murray.
The Lost Forest production, which also involved Lithuanian theatre company DVT and was to be part-funded by the EU body Culture 2000, fell apart following a series of disagreements over finances and artistic direction.
Seven young people and two others travelled from Ireland to take part in the production, but a conflict about the nature of the collaboration and a shortfall
in the promised funding for their expenses led to the breakdown. TYT
returned to Ireland without the show taking place. Joe Cully of TYT said their living expenses weren't covered : "despite assurances given by Collusion before we went over that we would receive full food expenses.
Financially, they never seemed to have the money to pull the project through. "We had been led to believe that money was to be spent on putting a show on in Ireland and that work would then be assimilated into the final production. We actually spent in the region of €8,000 putting that together, and we received promises that we would be reimbursed by Culture 2000," he said.
Cully said conflicting views over the artistic direction of the project caused further problems. "We were told we would be working on a piece in Ireland that would be assimilated into the overall production. Keiran Gillespie [Collusion’s artistic director] was artistically very stubborn, and unwilling to compromise."
Auris Radzevicius, artistic director of Lithuanian theatre company DVT, said Gillespie "didn’t follow the initial description of The Lost Forest project which says three partner companies each make one part of the total performance".
However, Gillespie said it was "made clear from the beginning that the production was to be directed by Collusion with Irish and Lithuanian involvement. I was to be the artistic director, with the Tallaght artistic director [Valerie Coyne, who was hired by the Tallaght group for the Glasgow production] as my assistant."
Gillespie said the production schedule and financial situation became "highly pressurised" following the decision by the Scottish Arts Council to turn down an application by Collusion for funds of €30,000. He said: "It was made clear to all contributors that we would all have to share the burden of that shortfall."
Training for the Fringe
A number of Irish performers are currently in a high-altitude training camp in preparation for the Edinburgh Fringe, which starts next week, writes Brian Boyd. There's a strong Irish comic line-up at the festival this year. Ed Byrne and Jason Byrne, both old hands at this Edinburgh lark, will be in attendance and they will be joined by the promising new act from Co Offaly, Neil Delamere, who is making his Edinburgh debut. Others lining up to face the critics' shooting gallery are Colin Murphy (from RTÉ's "Blizzard Of Odd" TV programme), Dave McSavage, David O'Doherty (surely the best chance for an Irish Perrier nomination this year), Karl Spain, Dara O'Briain and Jimeoin. Bringing up the pack is Des Bishop, who will be performing his Work Experience show at the Fringe - it is inspired by the RTÉ documentary of the same name. Also on the fringe are H-Bam, a comedy grouping from Trinity College Dublin, with their new show.
Theatre-wise on the Fringe, Connall Morrison writes and directs Hard To Believe by the Storytellers Theatre Company – the story of an undercover agent in Northern Ireland – while there’s also a strong Irish presence in Guy Masterson’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, with comics Ian Coppinger and Owen O’Neill among the leading roles. The cast for Cuckoo’s Nest is the same as it was for last year’s acclaimed production of Twelve Angry Men.
The Fringe runs from August 8th to August 30th (www.edfringe.com) while the International festival runs from August 15th to September 5th (www.eif.co.uk).
Hugh Lane takes a holiday
Several would-be visitors have reported that the Hugh Lane Dublin City Gallery has quietly closed its doors for the time being, writes Aidan Dunne.
Its surprise summer holiday has been prompted by the initiation of work on the gallery’s new wing on the site of the erstwhile National Ballroom adjoining Charlemont House. Reportedly, insurance restrictions meant valuable works of art could not be on view in spaces adjacent to heavy construction work, and the idea of sealing off relevant areas of the building was eventually deemed inoperable. So the collection is under lock and key and staff members have decamped – not, alas for them, to some exotic locale, but to Dublin City Council offices on Merchants Quay.
It is hoped that the Hugh Lane will be able to re-open in November and in the meantime some of the highlights from its collection can be seen on view at the National Gallery on Merrion Square.
Nonsense and sensibilities
From the sublime to the ridiculous – following the "obscenity" case taken by a member of the public who was distressed by a dance performance, it’s interesting to speculate about other reasons a member of an audience might conceivably use to sue. They described it as a comedy but I didn’t laugh at all. They warned about scenes of an adult nature, but I couldn’t see them from where I was sitting. Not as ridiculous as it might seem.When a photograph by Anthony Crickmay of two naked dancers was used to advertise a Phoenix Dance Theatre show at Sadler’s Wells, a member of the audience complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in Britain because the show contained only clothed performers, saying that because images of the naked dancers were placed next to the dates and times of performances, the public was entitled to expect to see naked dancers.
Phoenix pointed out that using images that were not from a specific show was common for dance companies but the ASA upheld the complaint.
‘Cowboys’ lassoos award
The critically acclaimed film Cowboys and Angels, set in a cool new Limerick, received its world première in Ireland this week. It also won the Gold Medal award for best film at the Giffono Film Festival in Italy. The Giffoni festival jury is composed of 1,300 teenagers from 16 countries.
Writer/director David Gleeson picked up the awards for his début feature – the Gold Medal award for best film and a special award in recognition of the positive message of tolerance and friendship the film seeks to promote among young people.
• A knitting frenzy is gathering pace today as knitters take the train from Cork’s Kent Station to Fota for a summer knitting jaunt to Fota House, Co Cork. Cork-based theatre and dance company half/angel is knitting its way through 2004 in preparation for The Knitting Map, one of its projects for Cork 2005 and this is one of its monthly ’Knit-Ins’ in the oddest of places.
Jools Gilson-Ellis of half/angel said: "There’s been a fantastic response to our knit-ins so far this year – we’ve had kids knitting in shopping centres, people in pubs, we even had a guy stuck in a traffic jam knitting!
"The knitters are rising! We had 160 at Blarney Woollen Mills, and teenage boys from Mayfield knitting on buses and numbers keep growing. Don your shades and join the purl pack!"
Bring your knitting to Kent Station in Cork city, or join them at Fota House (admission free if you have your knitting with you).
• Crawford Municipal Art Gallery, in association with Cork 2005, has issued a call to artists to submit their portfolios for consideration for inclusion in C2, its opening exhibition in 2005.
The exhibition, celebrating Cork’s designation as European Capital of Culture, will be a comprehensive overview of contemporary visual art by artists from Cork city and county over the past 10 years. Artists can leave their portfolios for review at the Crawford Municipal Art Gallery from 12.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 21st.
C2 will open from December 10th until January 29th.
• The Cork 2005/Credit Union Residencies Programme has issued an invitation to arts practitioners from any discipline to get involved with community groups for Cork’s celebrations as European Capital of Culture next year. The initiative, supported by Cork Credit Unions, will provide opportunities for 20 artists and community groups to collaborate for three to six months from January until June 2005.
The residencies will result in a series of performances, plays and exhibitions throughout the city and county in 2005. Register on http://www.corkarts.ie/register/index.php Information from www.cork2005.ie/events