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2008 Theme Introduction and Programme
SCOIL SHAMHRAIDH AGUS SEACHTAIN EALAINE MHIC A GHOILL 2008
GLENTIES, COUNTY DONEGAL
SATURDAY, JULY 12TH---SATURDAY, JULY 19TH
A FEAST OF FRIEL
THE LIFE AND WORKS OF BRIAN FRIEL
The MacGill Summer School will, in its 28th year, pay tribute to the playwright, Brian Friel as he approaches his eightieth birthday. Friel, whose plays are performed throughout the world and who has received many international awards, is recognised as one of Ireland's greatest playwrights and much of his work such as PHILADELPHIA HERE I COME, FAITH HEALER, TRANSLATIONS and DANCING AT LUGHNASA, has entered the Pantheon of Irish theatre.
Born outside Omagh in County Tyrone where his father was principal of a small school, he spent his early life in Derry where the family settled and where Friel would find work as a young teacher. However the writer has had, throughout his life, close connections with Donegal and in particular with the small town of Glenties. It was where his mother's family, the McLoones, lived and it was where the young Friel was to spend his summer holidays. It was to inspire directly one of his great works, DANCING AT LUGHNASA, which is based on the lives of his mother's sisters. The small Donegal town of Ballybeg which remains a constant in Friel's work is, as he himself has stated, “a village of the mind” but, for many, Donegal in general and Glenties in particular are the places which fired his imagination and inspired his work. As he said, referring to his own close connections with Glenties in the foreword to the 1981 programme of the MacGill Summer School, “Glenties occupies a large portion of my affections and permanently shaped my imagination.”
Those who attend this year's MacGill Summer School will share, then, a unique experience in this beautiful part of Donegal. They will savour the words and drama in Friel's work in powerful performances by the Ouroboros Theatre Company of MAKING HISTORY and TRANSLATIONS and by the Manchester Library Theatre Company of FAITH HEALER. They will see one of Friel's earliest and most experimental works, PHILADELPHIA HERE I COME, presented by one of the country's award winning amateur groups, the Silken Thomas Players. There will be dramatic readings by some of the country's leading actors of such Friel classics as THE ENEMY WITHIN, FREEDOM OF THE CITY, GENTLE ISLAND, MOLLY SWEENEY and ARISTOCRATS.
From the radio and television archives of RTE and BBC will come plays and adaptations of Friel's short stories which are sometimes forgotten including one of the early plays, THE LOVES OF CASS MAGUIRE with Siobhan McKenna in the title role and CRYSTAL AND FOX with Cyril Cusack and Maureen Toal.
The MacGill School will bring to Glenties writers, theatre directors, actors and leading academics to discuss with the public the distinguished canon of Friel's work. The Nobel laureate, Seamus Heaney, will give a reading from his work in homage to the playwright. An exhibition of portraits of the writer as well as an exhibition of his papers including manuscripts and correspondence will throw further light on his life and work.
This tribute to Brian Friel will be a major national event in celebration of one of the great figures of contemporary Irish writing and is not to be missed by anyone interested in the cultural and literary life of this island.
The Director of the MacGill Summer School is Dr. Joe Mulholland
Secretary: Mary Claire O'Donnell Tel: 074-9551103, Fax:074-9551865
Email: highlandhotel@eircom.net
Chairman: Michael Gallagher: Tel. 074-9551188 Email: michaelgallagher@iol.ie
Website: macgillsummerschool.com
1981 - 2008
SCOIL SHAMHRAIDH AGUS SEACHTAIN EALAINE MHIC A GHOILL 2008
MACGILL SUMMER SCHOOL AND ARTS WEEK 2008
SATURDAY 12th JULY - SATURDAY 19th JULY
A FEAST OF FRIEL
Saturday 12th July
4.00 p.m.
2008 Patrick MacGill Poetry Awards presented by Michael Daly, Editor-in-Chief Donegal Democrat.
5.30 p.m.
Rev Raymondd Blair, former lecturer in Irish Church History, Irish Bible School, member Donegal Hist. Soc.
Frances Browne - the Blind Poetess of Donegal 1816 - 1879.
Sunday 13th July
4.00 p.m.
Opening of exhibition of new work by artist, Johnny Boyle
8.00 p.m.
Official opening of 2008 MacGill Summer School by An Tanaiste MARY COUGHLAN TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
8.30 p.m.
Eighth annual John Hume Lecture to be delivered by DR MARTIN MANSERGH TD, Minister of State at Department of Finance and Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism
TRANSLATING MORALITY TALES - The History Plays of Brian Friel.
9.15 p.m.
The OUROBORUS THEATRE COMPANY presents their highly acclaimed production of MAKING HISTORY by Brian Friel with Denis Conway, Philip O' Sullivan, Chris Moran, Conan Sweeney, Laura Cameron and Helene Henderson.
Directed by Geoff Gould, Costume Design Sinead Cuthbert
(Note that, weather permitting, a scene of the play will be performed outdoors)
11.00 p.m.
RECEPTION
(Courtesy of the EU Commission Representation in Ireland)
(All Sunday evening's events in the Highlands Hotel)
Monday 14th July
11.00 a.m.
THE FRIEL CANON
"PERHAPS I'M TWINS"
Richard Pine, Director Emeritus of the Durrell School of Corfu and author of "Brian Friel and Ireland's Drama" and "The Diviner: The Art of Brian Friel"
RESTORING FRIEL
Prof Anthony Roche UCD, author of "Contemporary Irish Drama: From Beckett to McGuinness" and editor of "The Cambridge Companion to Brian Friel"
12.30 p.m.
BBC Radio programme: Brian Friel: Explorations in Irish Writing (1968) Friel talks about his work.
(By kind permission of BBC N.I.)
2.00 p.m.
BRIAN FRIEL AND OMAGH - THE FACTS
Local historian in Omagh, Stephen McKenna
FRIEL AND GLENTIES
Casimir McGill and Seamus Gildea, local historians
BBC Radio 4 recording of autobiographical talk by Brian Friel about growing up in Derry (1971)
(By kind permission of BBC N.I.)
4.00 p.m.
POLITICS IN FRIEL'S WORK
Eamonn McCann, writer and journalist
Tom McGurk, columnist and broadcaster
Dramatic Reading of FREEDOM OF THE CITY (1973) by Brian Friel with Cathy Belton, Philip O'Sullivan, Garrett Lombard, Michal Patric, Tony Flynn, Eamonn Hunt, Conan Sweeney, Frankie McCafferty, John Anthony Murphy, Frank Laverty, Andrew Bennett, Chris Moran, Andrew Musselman and Simon O'Gorman.
This and all dramatic readings directed by Geoff Gould.
8.30 p.m.
TRIBUTE TO FRIEL: Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney reads from his work
Tuesday 15th July
11.00 a.m.
EXILE IN FRIEL
Prof. Christopher Murray, Emeritus Prof. of the School of English, Drama and Film UCD
Dramatic Reading of THE ENEMY WITHIN (1962) by Brian Friel with Eamonn Hunt, Frank Laverty, Frankie McCafferty, Tony Flynn, John Anthony Murphy, Simon O'Gorman, Chris Moran, Garrett Lombard, Conan Sweeney, Andrew Bennett and Simone Kirby.
2.00 p.m.
Prof Anthony Roche UCD introduces: Projection of CRYSTAL AND FOX (1968) by Brian Friel with Cyril Cusack and Maureen Toal
(By kind permission of RTE)
4.30 p.m.
PERFORMERS IN FRIEL'S PLAYS
Tom Kilroy, Novelist and Playwright Emeritus Prof. of English, NUI Galway
5.30 p.m.
Showing of Ferndale documentary on BRIAN FRIEL. Produced by Noel Pearson and directed by Sinead O' Brien (2000)
(By kind permission of Ferndale Films)
8.30 p.m.
EXPERIMENTATION AND INNOVATION IN FRIEL'S DRAMA
Fintan O'Toole, writer, columnist and critic,
Dr Emilie Pine, lecturer in the School of English, Drama and Film UCD
9.30 p.m.
The Silken Thomas Players present:
PHILADELPHIA HERE I COME (1964) by Brian Friel, Directed by Sean Judge
Wednesday 16th July
11.00 a.m.
BRIAN FRIEL AND TYRONE GUTHRIE
Joe Dowling, theatre director, former artistic director, Abbey Theatre, artistic director, Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis
Dramatci Reading of THE GENTLE ISLAND (1971) by Brian Friel with Cathy Belton, Simone Kirby, Frank Laverty, Garrett Lombard, Eamonn Hunt, Andrew Bennett, Tony Flynn, John Anthony Murphy, Frankie McCafferty, Michael Patric, Conan Sweeney and Simon O'Gorman.
2.00 p.m.
THE FIELD DAY THEATRE COMPANY - A CULTURAL FORCE
Projection of RTE documentary on Field Day produced by Sean O mORDHA (1983)
followed by Tom Kilroy and Prof Anthony Roche.
4.00 p.m.
Showing of THE LOVES OF CASS MAGUIRE (1966) by Brian Friel
(By kind permission of RTE)
Introduced by Marie Lousie O'Donnell, actress, lecturer in Communications DCU
8.30 p.m.
FORM AND CONTENT IN FRIEL'S WORK
Conor McPherson, playwright and film director
Garry Hynes, theatre director, former artistic director Abbey Theatre
Professor Christopher Murray
9.30 p.m.
Manchester Library Theatre Company's highly acclaimed production of FAITH HEALER (1979) by Brian Friel with GED McKenna, Stella Madden and Kim Durham. Directed by Roger Haines. (This production opened at the Library Theatre, Manchester on October 26th 2007)
Thursday 17th July
11.00 a.m.
THE SHORT STORIES
BBC recording of interview with the late Ben Kiely, recorded at MacGill Summer School in 1991.
David Hammond,theatre and television director, introduces his short film THE MAGIC SOVEREIGN written by Brian Friel
(By kind permission of BBC N.I.)
12.00 noon
Showing of the RTE television dramatisation of the Friel short story, MR SINGH MY HEART'S DELIGHT (1974) Directed by Brian MacLochlainn
(By kind permission if RTE)
2.00 p.m.
"OPERAS OF THE IRISH MIND" - BRIAN FRIEL AND MUSIC" (with musical excerpts)
Prof Harry White, School of Music UCD, author of "The Keeper's Recital - Music and Cultural History in Ireland 1770 - 1970" and "The Progress of Music in Ireland". He is currently co-editing the forthcoming Encyclopaedia of Music in Ireland. His most recent Monograph, "Music and the Irish Literary Imagination", which is dedicated to Brian Friel, will be published by OUP next November.
4.00 p.m.
FAMILY AND BALLYBEG
Dr Pat Burke, St Patrick's College, writer and theatre director, Dr Redmond O'Hanlon, lecturer and drama critic
Dramatic Reading of LIVING QUARTERS (1977) by Brian Friel with Philip O'Sullivan, Helene Henderson, Simone Kirby, Garrett Lombard, John Anthony Murphy, Frank Laverty, Eamonn Hunt, Orla Fitzgerald and Simon O'Gorman
7.00 p.m.
BOOK LAUNCH of new biography of Cardinal Patrick O'Donnell 1856 - 1927 by Rev Dr Padraig O Baoighill (Foilseachain Chro na mBothan)
8.00 p.m.
Manchester Library Theatre Company production of FAITH HEALER by Brian Friel
10.00 p.m.
"BETWEEN SEEING AND UNDERSTANDING - POEMS A LA BALLYBEG" Poet Micheal O' Siadhail reads from his work
Friday 18th July
11.00 a.m.
FRIEL AND CHECKHOV
Patric Mason, theatre director, former artistic director, Abbey Theatre
Dr Redmond O'Hanlon
Dramatic Reading of ARISTOCRATS (1979) by Brian Friel with Frankie McCafferty, Eamonn Hunt, John Anthony Murphy, Andrew Bennett, Frank Laverty, Simone Kirby, Garrett Lombard, Cathy Belton, Tony Flynn, Helene Henderson, Orla Fitzgerald
2.30 p.m.
TRANSLATIONS AND IRISH IDENTITY
Maritime Pelletier, lecturer in English and Irish Studies University of Tours. Author of Le Theatre de Brian Friel: Histoire et Histoires
TRANSLATIONS AND THE LOST REPUBLIC
Theo Dorgan, writer and poet, author of Songs of Earth and Life, A Book of Uncommon Prayer, and What This Earth Cost Us (Deladus)
4.00 p.m.
Dramatic Reading of MOLLY SWEENEY (1994) by Brian Friel with Peter Gowen, Cathy Belton, Frank Laverty. Introduced by Micheal O'Siadhail, poet
8.30 p.m.
The OUROBORUS THEATRE COMPANY presents a new production of Brian Friel's classic,TRANSLATIONS (1980) with John Olohon, Brendan Conroy, Charlie Bonner, Owen McDonnell, Kate Brennan, Janet Moran, Tara Lynne O'Neil, Conan Sweeney, Chris Moran and Rod Goodall. Directed by Andrew Flynn
(Note that weather permitting, this play will be performed outdoors)
11.00 p.m.
Traditional fiddlers, Vincent and Jimmy Campbell
Saturday 19th July
12.00 noon
TOUR OF FRIEL COUNTRY
with Casimir McGill
3.00 p.m.
Showing of the film, DANCING AT LUGHNASA, Produced by Noel Pearson, directed by Pat O'Connor, screenplay by Frank McGuinness, starring Meryl Streep, Michael Gambon, Brid Brennan, Catherine McCormack, Kathy Burke, Sophie Thompson and Rhys Ifans. Introduced by Noel Pearson
5.00 p.m.
Art O Briain, theatre director and television producer THE FIRST PRODUCTION OF TRANSLATIONS in DERRY (1980) - HOW IT HAPPENED
8.30 p.m.
The Ouroborus Theatre Company presents TRANSLATIONS
(Note that weather permitting, this play will be performed outdoors)
11.00 p.m.
Traditional fiddlers, Martin McGinley, Caoimhin MacAoidh and Company
Sunday 20th July
8.30 p.m.
The Ouroborus Theatre Company presents TRANSLATIONS
(Note that weather permitting, this play will be performed outdoors)
A major exhibition, PORTRAITS OF FRIEL by Bobbie Hanvey will be on show during the week in St Columba's Comprehensive School.
Booking office for events to open Wednesday 2nd July
Tel 074 95 57966
Booking office will be open Monday to Saturday from 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.
PROGRAMME OF CULTURAL EVENTS
Monday July 14th - Friday 18th July
10.00 a.m. - 12.00 noon
CHILDREN'S ART CLASS in SCOIL MHUIRE
Sunday 13th July - Friday 18th July
EXHIBITION AND SALE OF RARE AND ANTIQUARIAN BOOKS in HIGHLANDS HOTEL (Brendan Carroll)
GALLERY PRESS BOOKSTALL - Friels plays and other publications
"WELCOME TO OMAGH STALL" - Omagh is the birthplace of Brian Friel and of the writer, Ben Kiely. Information about this historic town and the many places to visit in the surrounding area.
Exhibitions in Highlands Hotel and St Columba's College
UNIQUE EXHIBITION OF PORTRAITS OF BRIAN FRIEL by photographer Bobbie Hanvey (portraits may be purchased)
EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS BY JOHNNY BOYLE
EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURE BY DONEGAL ARTISTS
EXHIBITION "I WENT TO WAR" (Patrick MacGill in World War 1) (Courtesy of Donegal Co. Museum)
ST. CONNELL'S MUSEUM - Exhibits of local historical interest
MUSIC
Friday July 18th
11.00 p.m.
Vincent and Jimmy Campbell - Renowned Donegal Fiddlers
Saturday July 19th
11.00 p.m.
Martin McGinley, Caoimhin MacAoidh
POETRY
Monday July 14th
8.30 p.m.
Nobel Laureate, Seamus Heaney
Thursday July 17th
10.00 p.m.
Micheal O'Siadhail
SOURCES OF INFORMATION:
All information available during the week of the MacGill Summer School & Arts Week at the Summer School office on Main Street. Tel 074 95 57966
Website : www.macgillsummerschool.com
Tickets to all events available from Summer School Office at 074 95 57966 and at the door
Enquiries about accomodation 074 95 51111 / 074 95 51103
Booking office will be open Monday to Saturday from 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.
www.mcgillsummerschool.com is sometimes inadvertently used to access this site but you will not access the site using this web address
Performances from 2008:
Ouroboros
(IRELAND)
Ouroboros Theatre Ireland Ltd was born out of the Theatreworks Company in June 2004. The ancient alchemical symbol of the Ouroboros signifies ideas of perfection and totality, of birth, death and renewal. This powerful metaphor is at the heart of this young, innovative company, which seeks to produce works of an epic, ephemeral nature: never fixed, changing from night to night, making theatre which is alive, intensely felt and illuminating. Past productions include Shakespeare's Macbeth and Richard III, Tales from Ovid by Ted Hughes, Myrmidons by Mike Poulton, Mutabilitie by Frank McGuinness and Amadeus by Peter Shaffer.
In 2007, Ouroboros collaborated with the Office of Public Works in bringing Brian Friel's Making History to historical sites across Ireland. This production will be revived for the opening night of the MacGill Summer School in Glenties on July 13th as part of a tribute to the author. This year the collaboration continues as Ouroboros undertakes twenty performances of Brian Friel's Translations in eight OPW locations in Dublin, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Cork, Kerry, Galway and Donegal. The tour will begin with a special performance at the MacGill Summer School. The possibilities which these sites present for the development of site-specific performance in Ireland are immense and the company's work in this area has recently become part of a postgraduate research study led by IADT and the Graduate School of Creative Arts and Media.
Making History
By Brian Friel
Directed by Geoff Gould
Artistic Director: Denis Conway
Born in 1550 to a wealthy aristocratic Gaelic family, Hugh O'Neil was taken as a child to London under the fosterage of the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Sir Henry Sidney. There he was educated as a loyal subject of the court of Queen Elizabeth I, learning English ways and customs at the dawning of the English Renaissance. A complex and conflicted man, O'Neil found himself with one foot in the modern English political world and the other in the ancient Gaelic world of clan loyalties.
The story of Hugh O'Neil, including his decision in 1607 to go into exile (The Flight of the Earls) continues to be dissected and debated by historians today. In this beautifully crafted play, Brian Friel invites us to consider how history is actually constructed by historians working contemporaneously with the events they describe. Archbishop Peter Lombard is determined to provide a glorious chronicle despite the reality of utter defeat and O'Neil's fall from grace. Engaging as this feature of the play may be, it is matched by Friel's compelling characterisations and by the brilliant lyrical quality of the text.
The Ouroboros production of Making History travelled throughout Ireland before making its way over continental Europe, following the route O'Neil took as an exile from his native land. Four Hundred years to the day after O'Neil crossed the Swiss Alps at the Devil's Bridge, Ouroboros arrived there with Ireland's Ambassador to Switzerland, His Excellency James Sharkey, for an act of commemoration. The company had performed the play in Strasbourg, Geneva, Bern and Altdorf. One performance lay ahead at the Irish Franciscan College of St Isidores in Rome. On the afternoon of March 19th, Ireland's Ambassador to the Holy See, His Excellency Noel Fahey, brought the company to O'Neil's grave at the Church of St Pietro de Montorio in Rome. Silently, actors and crew stood beside the simple gravestone and recalled this most compelling character from Ireland's past who had played such a roll in all their lives for over two years. That night in a crowded St Isidores College, the company performed Making History for what they thought would be the final time. It gives everyone at Ouroboros enormous pleasure to have the opportunity of performing this great play once again.
With Laura Cameron, Denis Conway, Helene Henderson, Philip O Sullivan, Chris Moran, Conan Sweeny.
For Making History
“lucid and energetic… quite stunning” – The Irish Times
“A true theatrical pleasure” – Gay Byrne, Ireland on Sunday
Translations
By Brian Friel
Directed by Andrew Flynn
Artistic Director: Denis Conway
Widely regarded as Brian Friel's theatrical masterpiece, Translations has compelled audiences the world over to consider the fundamental nature of language, its connection to culture and its relationship to power. Set in rural Ireland in 1833, the play explores the impact on local characters struggling to adjust to the shifting dynamics of the world around them, manifested by the imposition of the English language and the mapping and translating of Gaelic place names into English by the ruling British. In this “haunting but hugely rewarding play” (New York Times), Ireland's greatest living dramatist creates a world in which language becomes conscious of itself as it battles to represent and shape the differing cultures it encounters.
With John Olohan, Brendan Conroy, Charlie Bonner, Owen McDonnell, Kate Brennan, Janet Moran, Tara Lynne O'Neill, Conan Sweeny, Chris Moran and Rod Goodall.
THE OUROBORUS THEATRE COMPANY
Ouroborus Theatre Ireland Ltd was born out of the Theatreworks Company in June 2004. The ancient alchemical symbol of the Ouroborus signifies ideas of perfection and totality, of birth, death and renewal. This powerful metaphor is at the heart of this young, innovative company which seeks to produce works of an epic ephemeral nature: never fixed, changing from night to night, making theatre which is alive, intensely felt and illuminating.
In 2007, Ouroborus collaborated with the Office of Public Works in bringing Brian Friel's MAKING HISTORY to historical sites across Ireland and has revived this production for the MacGill Summer School's tribute to the author. This year, the collaboration continues as Ouroborus undertakes twenty performances of Friel's TRANSLATIONS in eight OPW locations. The premiere of this new production of the play will be performed at the MacGill Summer School.
THE MANCHESTER LIBRARY THEATRE COMPANY
For 55 years, the Library Theatre Company has made a major contribution to Manchester's cultural life. It produces a mixture of contemporary drama and modern classics, with a popular play for families and children at Christmas. It has links with national companies such as Out of Joint and regional ones such as Lip Service and Rasa, whose work it regularly presents. It also supports a number of local community and educational projects including the Manchester Arts Education Initiative. In the Library Company's 50th year, productions included Brian Friel's TRANSLATIONS, directed by Roger Haines which won the 2003 MEN Award for Best Production.
THE SILKIN THOMAS PLAYERS
The Silken Thomas Players in Kildare have been competing on the Three Act Amateur Festival circuit since 1991 and in that same year won their first All Ireland confined title with Stags and Hens by Willie Russell. They won it again in 2004 with BENT by Martin Sherman. In 2005, they moved into the Premier section qualifying for the finals in Athlone every year since then. In 2006, they took 2nd place with their production of Trainspotting by Irvine Walsh and they are current RTE All Ireland and AU.D.F Ulster winners with their 2007 production of The Normal Heart by Larry Kramer. This year, they again qualified for the Athlone Drama Festival securing their status as one of the top amateur groups in the country.
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