Why the Moon Travels
Bank of Ireland Theatre, University of Galway
★★★★☆
Travellers are part of the world, and the world is part of Travellers. The phrase figures in this new show from Moonfish Theatre, which aims to open up the Traveller world, but also help preserve some aspects.
Devised from the book of folktales Why the Moon Travels, by Traveller activist and writer Oein DeBhairduin (who is dramaturge here), along with the ensemble and directors Máiréad Ní Chróinín and Ionia Ní Chróinín of Moonfish, it opens the curtains a bit.
On stage are three strong, articulate and warm Traveller women, Catrina Connors, Ellen Doyle and Sarah McDonagh. The set includes a yew tree, the moon, a screen shaped like the back of a barrel-wagon, edged with Traveller symbols, and on the floor a giant wheel shape.
This isn’t just a retelling of folktales from the 2021 book, which is, rather, a starting point, with the cast adding their own takes and experiences.
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The stories are largely unfamiliar to settled people: about the old man whose beard grew and grew (eventually becoming the bog across Ireland), the origin of the yew tree, the three sisters and their kindness to a crow, the truth about why the moon travels.
In the stories there’s a thread connecting humans and the natural world, with elements of the supernatural thrown in. As one of the cast tells a story, the others bring it to life with shadow puppetry on the screens behind, alongside songs from Rosie McCarthy.
They also show something of themselves, and of Traveller hospitality and traditions, sitting for chats and stories with a cup of weed (tea, in case you’re wondering), baking soda bread onstage (very tasty), spinning and weaving (we take home a traditional Traveller red and white cord, to tie around the wrist), along with the odd bit of the Traveller language Cant, fleetingly understandable to the outsider.
The three performers have an ease and naturalness and there is a bit of gentle slagging and off-the-cuff that’s lovely to witness. That level of comfort takes work and time and guts to develop, along with the professional skills and experience of Moonfish.
It’s backed by support from University of Galway’s O’Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, the Arts Council, Galway City Council and a bursary from Galway International Arts Festival and Galway Culture Company. The care and attention to detail and approach shows in the finished result.
For the audience, there are hints of things we want to hear more about, too: the women’s own lives, and a passing reference to why many Travellers no longer travel, on foot of bad experiences.
We’re a small society but outsiders know little about the traditional culture of Travellers, who often get a bad rap. This is a lovely show, eye-opening and rich in the sharing with settled people, but also important for Travellers themselves, retelling the stories for fear of losing them. They ask, what do we lose when the old stories disappear, and what do we gain when they are told again?
Significant too, that this show takes stories from an oral tradition, which were then committed to the page by DeBhairduin, and are here returned to a version of the oral tradition.
