Latest news with #RiderstotheSea
Irish Independent
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Tragedy in the spotlight as the bodies pile high in Druid's cruel, brilliant show
Double bill of 'Riders to the Sea' and 'Macbeth' at Galway International Arts Festival marks Druid's 50th anniversary as a theatre company – it is unrelenting, passionate and gruesome Generally speaking, I prefer attending comedy over tragedy, because it is so difficult to get tragedy right. Steering a line around turgidity to find the shiny heart rather than its grim or sentimental surface is hard.
Irish Examiner
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Macbeth/Riders to the Sea review: Druid triumph with 50th anniversary double bill
Macbeth/Riders to the Sea, Mick Lally Theatre, Galway International Arts Festival ★★★★★ As an Aran mother, to lose one son to the sea might be unfortunate, but to lose six? That's verging on farce itself, surely. And this is the trouble with Riders to the Sea. It's hard not to hear in Synge's woe-is-me lines something of the parodic performative misery of An Béal Bocht or similar spoofs. There's not a bit of that comedy on stage in this spare production, thankfully, but it's out there, an offstage echo of irreverence. Still, Marie Mullen does well as old Maurya, allowing a certain modernity to peek out from behind her character's fatalism. As Druid marks 50 years, this feels like a necessary gesture to where the company is rooted, geographically and theatrically. We see Mullen again a few minutes into the main event, the Scottish play, as Lady Macbeth. Marty Rea is in the lead role, and the age gap of this couple, the Macrons of Dunsinane if you will, creates a shifting power dynamic that director Garry Hynes exploits brilliantly throughout. ''Tis the eye of childhood,' Lady Macbeth says as she chides her husband's infirmity of purpose in their regicide. It's as if Marty Rea has latched onto that line, and indeed the play's obsession with eyes. A scene from Macbeth, featuring Marty Rea and Marie Mullen. Picture: Ros Kavanagh In the tiny Mick Lally Theatre, we are arranged like a retinue in an Anglo-Saxon hall, divided into rows by rude planks of wood above the dirt floor. It's intense and intimate, and Rea's eyes shine out at us. Darting and childlike indeed at first: bewildered at the witches' prophecy of greatness. Later, in his mania, they are fixed and burning. And, finally, empty. As Duncan puts it at one point, 'There's no art/To find the mind's construction in the face.' Clearly, Marty Rea has other ideas. He gives a superb refutation of that line. The tragedy of his Macbeth is this strange innocence he conveys, his initial unworldliness, his shaken 'single state of man'. All of it tending to make a mother of his wife. It's Mullen's Lady Macbeth who wears the trousers alright, and vicariously wants that crown. Uneasy lies the head that will wear it? You bet. Especially since it's a crown of thorns, literally ripped from atop the same looming crucifix that overlooked Synge's world in the first half of this double-header. In Shakespeare's Scotland, Christianity feels more real, more integrated, compared with the patina over folk beliefs it seems for Synge's islanders. Mullen's Lady Macbeth has a fierce zeal and a confidence won from maturity. In one scene, she barges loudly through a pair of doors, walking in a beeline, full of purpose and literally cutting short one of Macbeth's tortured soliloquies with the clatter. An inspired moment, in a production that brims with them. But of course, it's Lady Macbeth's conviction that wanes, as she's reduced to a guilt-riddled sleepwalker. Macbeth's, meanwhile, grows in his unhinged mania. Rea struts and scrambles, spitting and stuttering on his Fs, as if always on the verge of an expletive, invoking Satan as he summons his servant. Flailing futilely against fate in a way Synge's Maurya would surely recognise. A scene from Riders to the Sea, in Galway. Picture: Ros Kavanagh The ultimate power couple are at the centre of Hynes's interest here, such that there's a notably easing of tension in scenes without them. But some breathing space is welcome across this long evening of theatre. Amongst the excellent cast, Rory Nolan is Banquo, played with a level-headed maturity that contrasts nicely with Rea's Macbeth. Caitriona Ennis, Pattie Maguire, and Emmet Farrell are given great scope as the witches, their hands burning with eye-like wounds. There are echoes of earlier Druid takes on Shakespeare here, certainly in Francis O'Connor's design. But there is an intensity and directness here that perhaps surpasses any of those. It's a production more than worthy of carrying the 50th-anniversary mantle. It transfers to the Gaiety in September, but really deserves to be seen on home turf, in the crucible of the Mick Lally Theatre. Until July 26 in Galway. At Gaiety, Dublin, September 25-October 5
Irish Times
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Riders to the Sea and Macbeth: A magnificent horror unbalancing nature
Riders to the Sea and Macbeth double bill Mick Lally Theatre, Galway International Arts Festival ★★★★★ It seems unorthodox at a crucial moment in Macbeth that an assassin prowling a castle would choose to speak aloud – not to a person, but to the ground beneath his feet: 'Thou sure and firm-set earth, / Hear not my steps.' It's a line that speaks to Druid who again, after DruidSynge and DruidShakespeare , fill their stage with topsoil: a withered terrain to be exploited for conspiracy. As paranoia grows in Garry Hynes 's extraordinarily accomplished production, we similarly find ourselves unsettled, sorting through a series of prophecies inherited not from Shakespeare's witches but by John Millington Synge . The double-bill opens with Riders to the Sea, Synge's island-tragedy about a household fearing the demise of their seafaring brothers. The dismissive Bartley, played with arms-folded arrogance by Marty Rea , refuses to heed the storm warnings of a mother more knowingly otherworldly than real (in other words: Marie Mullen ). That deafness isn't the only callback when moving into Shakespeare's tale of usurpation, where reports of a world-flattening storm recall Synge's 'great roaring in the west'; the breadmaking ritual of movement director David Bolger becomes witchcraft; and a woman's death cry reverberates as an echo of Aran keeners. Bartley's negligence is an obvious mirror for Shakespeare's ascendant tyrant. A more tantalising comparison may be the watery mass grave observed by Mullen's mother, claiming the 'power of young men floating round in the sea'. This is Macbeth twisted out of human resemblance: a force of nature. Not long after Rea's Macbeth first allows a smile to fall out of his battle-serious face, uplifted by a prophecy of power, he's already second-guessing a murder plot against the king. 'Leave it all to me,' says Lady Macbeth, made frighteningly ambitious and focused by Mullen, and who holds out a dagger for her husband to grip in his mouth like a dog. Remarkably, he seems to be her bitch. READ MORE Together, they perform a riveting cycle of agonised doubt and needy consolation. But even Lady Macbeth becomes horrified by the hellhound she's helped create, and whose obsession stretches beyond where they can enjoy their triumph. Rae's is a Macbeth – increasingly wild-eyed, crawling on all-fours, with strangely drawn-out line-deliveries – whose interpretation of divine rule is to pluck his crown from atop a Crucifixion statue. That isn't the extent of the production's perversion. A scene where he slaughters his rival's family is also an attack on Riders to the Sea, ripping apart that play's sacred life-sustaining bread and family heirlooms. (Hynes's marathon productions have arranged plays in thrilling sequences. She's never cannibalised one of them before!). A line can be drawn between such brutality – made possible by lighting designer Colin Grenfell's miraculously etched shadows and the surprise entrances of Francis O'Connor's set (drawing on the dynamism of Shakespeare's Globe) – and the instant gore of a crimson-bloodied Mick Lally stepping out as a skull-cracked survivor in the company's The Playboy of the Western World in 1982. After all that time little feels sanctified. Unlike Macbeth, Druid's ambition seems too great to freeze in easy prophecy. Druid 's double bill of Riders to the Sea and Macbeth runs at the Mick Lally Theatre until Saturday, July 26th, as part of Galway International Arts Festival ; all performances are sold out. Macbeth moves to the Gaiety, as part of Dublin Theatre Festival , from September 25th until October 5th
Irish Examiner
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Gigs, drama, art, dance... 10 highlights of Galway Arts Festival
1 Theatre Druid, Riders to the Sea & MacBeth: The Mick Lally Theatre, Druid Lane July 10 - 26 Druid theatre company presents a double bill of JM Synge's Riders to the Sea and William Shakespeare's MacBeth. Both are directed by Druid founder Garry Hynes, feature actress Marie Mullen, and are staged in the theatre named for the late Mick Lally. It is 50 years since the three established Druid as the first Irish professional theatre company outside Dublin, a landmark anniversary that is also celebrated in an exhibition of photographs by Joe O'Shaughnessy, at the Kenny Gallery on Tuam Road, covering the broad sweep of the ensemble's achievements. 2 Kevin Barry, The Cave: Town Hall Theatre, Courthouse Square July 22 - 26 Kevin Barry is best known as the author of a series of inventive novels, including the International Dublin Literary Award-winning City of Bohane. Barry's adaptation of his short story collection, There Are Little Kingdoms, was produced to great acclaim by Meridian in Cork in 2008, and it seems extraordinary that it has taken so long to present his work on the stage once more. The Cave stars Aaron Monaghan and Tommy Tiernan as Bopper and Archie McRae, a pair of petty criminal brothers holed up in the mountains in Co Sligo, with Judith Roddy as their garda sister Helen. 3 Oh…: Galway Atlantaquaria, Salthill July 8 – 26 Mikel Murfi Mikel Murfi's unforgettable one-man theatre productions have included I Hear You and Rejoice and The Man in the Woman's Shoes. Murfi trained at L'École Internationale de Théatre Jacques Lecoq in Paris, where the emphasis is on physical performance. Never one to shirk a challenge, he presents his new show - a reflection on new journeys, partings and the possibility of moving on - in the main tank of Galway Atlantaquaria. 4 Mogwai: Heineken Big Top July 24 Mogwai's eleventh album in 30 years, The Bad Fire, landed in January. The Scottish noise merchants' song titles are even better than Morrissey's – Fanzine Made of Flesh, Pale Vegan Hip Pain and If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others are just some of the beauties on The Bad Fire – and their politics are far more palatable. Most of their oeuvre is instrumental, but possessed of a grandeur that belies their origins in the indie scene in 1990s Glasgow. 5 Mary Coughlan: Heineken Big Top July 23 Since her first album, Tired and Emotional, in 1985, the Galway-born chanteuse Mary Coughlan has interpreted everything from smoky blues to jazz and trad, Jacques Brel and Leonard Cohen to Jimmy McCarthy and Johnny Mulhern. Her sometimes tumultuous life has been grist to the mill for the tabloids, but at 69, she remains a formidable and much-loved talent. Coughlan's 40th Anniversary Greatest Hits Show features her full band, along with a string and brass section. 6 David Mach, Burning Down the House: Festival Gallery, William St July 14 – 27 David Mach's Cheetah 1 The Scottish sculptor and installation artist David Mach presents his fourth major project at Galway Arts Festival, after Precious Light in 2012, Rock'n'Roll in 2018 and The Oligarch's Nightmare in 2023. Mach, a Turner Prize nominee in 1988, is known for his large-scale public art projects, such as Brick Train, assembled from 185,000 bricks, at Darlington, Co Durham. Burning Down the House is one of several exhibitions at GIAF that address climate change. Mach will give a talk at the gallery at 11am Tuesday July 15. 7 Eman Mohammed, What Lies Beneath the Rubble: Studio 2, O'Donoghue Centre July 14 – 27 Eman Mohammed Eman Mohammed was born in Tabouk, a small village in Saudi Arabia, in 1983 and educated in Gaza City, Palestine. She began her career in photojournalism at 19, and quickly cemented her reputation as the first woman war photojournalist in Gaza. Her work has appeared in the Guardian, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, and her memoir The Cracks in My Lens was published in 2022. Her photo essay, Layan's Steps, published in the Atavist Magazine in July 2024, helped reveal that Gaza is home to the world's largest concentration of child amputees, victims of Israeli attacks on the territory. 8 Aoife Dunne, Good Grief: Róisín Dubh, Dominick St July 24 & 25 Language teacher Aoife Dunne had amassed more than 100,000 followers for her humorous videos on Instagram before it ever occurred to her that she might be a comedian. And even then, it was only because she was invited to perform at the legendary Dead Rabbit club in New York. The Galway native is not shy about tackling contemporary issues such as toxic masculinity, and posted a memorable rebuke to Conor McGregor on social media after his appearance at the White House on Patrick's Day. Good Grief is billed as 'a unique blend of stand-up, storytelling and spoken word,' and deals with the death of Dunne's mother, the loss of her job and relationship during the Covid pandemic, and her efforts to rebuild her life thereafter. 9 Resistance to Trump: Bailey Allen Hall, University of Galway July 26 Journalist Fintan O'Toole interviews Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, the Democratic Party politician who has represented Washington's 7th Congressional District, encompassing most of Seattle, since 2017. Born in Chennai, India, Jayapal emigrated to the US in 1982, aged 16, to attend college at Georgetown University. She is the first Indian-American woman to serve in the US House of Representatives. A vocal critic of Donald Trump's presidency, she has condemned his budget reconciliation bill of July 2025 as 'one big, beautiful betrayal.' 10 Planete Vapeur, Microcosmos: Les Insectes Fantasiques: Eyre Square 9.30pm Friday July 18 / 6pm and 9.30pm Saturday July 19 Planète Vapeur's Microcosmos French street theatre specialists Planete Vapeur present Microcosmos, featuring a twelve-metre grasshopper, a spinning spider and a swarm of mysterious stilt-walkers, musicians and acrobats. The hour-long spectacle begins at Eyre Square before proceeding to Lower Fairhill Road via Shop Street and Bridge Street. What could be more magical on a summer's evening in the City of the Tribes?
RTÉ News
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Galway International Arts Festival announces 2025 programme
The Galway International Arts Festival (GIAF) has officially launched its 2025 programme, revealing what organisers describe as their most ambitious line-up to date. Running from 14–27 July, the two-week event will transform Galway city and county into a vibrant stage for theatre, music, circus, dance, visual arts, and public talks. This year's programme boasts eight world premieres and festival commissions, including a major new opera, immersive theatre, and a large-scale visual art installation. Standout performances include Sabotage, a daring new circus production by NoFit State, set in the NoFit State Big Top at Nimmo's Pier, promising "jaw-dropping" acrobatics, live music, and striking visuals. Festival regulars Druid Theatre will celebrate their 50th anniversary with a double-bill featuring J.M. Synge's Riders to the Sea and Shakespeare's Macbeth, both directed by Tony Award-winner Garry Hynes, while Irish National Opera and composer Jennifer Walshe will debut Mars, a futuristic new opera that explores space, isolation, and technology. GIAF 2025 also includes The Cave, a new black comedy by Kevin Barry, starring comedian Tommy Tiernan and produced by the Abbey Theatre, and Scorched Earth, a dance-theatre fusion from choreographer Luke Murphy delving into themes of ambition and legacy. Another innovative production, Mikel Murfi's solo show Oh …, will be performed underwater at Galway Atlantaquaria, while The Baby's Room is the latest immersive theatre installation presented as part of an ongoing extraordinary series, Rooms, created by Enda Walsh and Paul Fahy. As ever, visual art will play a prominent role at this year's GAF, led by UK artist David Mach, who returns with a major new installation Burning Down the House. Other exhibitions address themes such as ecology, climate change, and cultural memory, with works by Erin Lawlor, Richard Long, and Palestinian photojournalist Eman Mohammed among others. Music lovers can expect a packed schedule at the Heineken Big Top and other city venues; headliners include Mogwai, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Natasha Bedingfield, Villagers, and violinist Mari Samuelsen performing with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. The festival will also celebrate local hero Mary Coughlan's 40th year in music with a very special performance. The First Thought Talks series will return as GIAF's platform for public discourse. This year's speakers include U.S. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, journalists Fintan O'Toole, Róisín Ingle, and Lara Marlowe, and historians Diarmaid Ferriter and Phillips P. O'Brien. Discussions will cover a wide array of topics including political trauma, climate transition, and global conflicts. In the streets, audiences can expect large-scale spectacles like Microcosmos, featuring a giant mechanical insect from Planet Vapeur, and Six, a high-energy performance by Canada's Flip Fabrique in Eyre Square. Chief Executive John Crumlish described this year's event as "one large two-week celebration of the imagination," while Artistic Director Paul Fahy praised the festival's "transformative power" and collaborative spirit. "There is simply nowhere quite like Galway during the Festival," says Fahy, "the city offers a special magical atmosphere every July."
