Search Results for 'Taibhdhearc na Gaillimhe'

Almost five years following a disastrous fire, Ireland’s unique Irish theatre An Taibhdhearc, situated in the very heart of the city, has opened its doors again. Perhaps the fire may have been a blessing in disguise. The theatre has reopened in a confident mood. Its distinctive new signage makes its mark, especially on dark winter evenings; and its facilities have been up-dated both for the audience and actors. Yet it has retained its remembered intimacy, and sense of Irishness. Micheál MacLiammóir’s golden Celtic peacocks, on the black fire-curtain, proudly remain as rampant as ever!

For many years theatre in Galway was represented by regular productions from An Taibhdhearc and occasional productions by the Dramatic Society in UCG. Occasionally, other groups appeared but they never seemed to survive for very long — The Lamplighters, The D And I, The Galway Little Theatre Company, etc. Most of these were enthusiastic amateurs who often put on memorable shows. In 1969 an attempt was made to introduce semi-professional theatre to the city with the formation of The Galway Repertory Theatre, and two years later Frank Bailey founded the Celtic Arts Theatre, but sadly, both of these companies were short lived.

AN TAIBHDHEARC’S production of Tom Murphy’s An Tíoránach Drogallach has won The BBC Northern Ireland Irish Language Drama Award.

French soldiers in World War I carried Joan of Arc’s image into battle at Ardennes, at Charleroi, at the Marne. They wore medals bearing her face around their necks, and tucked her picture into the pockets of their uniforms.

Geraldine Neeson, whose family kept theatre people when they visited Cork, described Mícheál MacLiammóir ‘as beautiful as a young god’, and his companion Hilton Edwards as a man endowed ‘with exuberant spirit and all-embracing gestures,’ diplomatically hinting that perhaps he was somewhat less prepossessing.

For three years after the opening of the Gate Theatre in Dublin Mícheál MacLiammóir continued to work for An Taibhdhearc. He travelled to Galway as often as three times a week. Despite the Gate's rave reviews for its first play Peer Gynt, for which Mícheál designed its 'symbolic' scenery, money was slow to come in. Mícheál needed the salary that An Taibhdhearc offered. The Minister for Finance, Ernest Blythe (who was soon to take over the running of the Abbey Theatre), and who had taken such interest in the fledgling Galway project, urged its directors to offer MacLiammóir full-time employment. But MacLiammóir felt that his destiny was in Dublin. The Gate opened later in 1928, the same year as An Taibhdhearc, offering Dublin audiences the best of European and American theatre, and rapidly becoming a venue for a new wave of talented Irish writers.

The classic play Eclipsed by Patricia Burke Brogan which revisits the much documented story of the abuses in church-run laundries will open for a three-night run in An Taibhdhearc next week.

SILENT, THE acclaimed play written and performed by Pat Kinevane, dealing with the issue of homelessness, is coming back to Galway.

A NEW era at An Taibhdhearc was formally unveiled at a reception on Monday, ushering in new artistic director, Anne McCabe, and disclosing details of this year's programme.

THE KNOCKNACARRA Amateur Theatrical Society is holding auditions for its production of Bernard Farrell’s comedy Say Cheese.