Scottish and Irish actors communed in their native tongues in Galway over the past three weeks as Gaidhlig mingled daily with Gaelic. "Aghaidh Fidil" or "Mask" was the name of the venture, aimed at honing the acting and language skills of some 14 young participants.
Aged between 16 and 23, the 14 hailed from all over Ireland and the highlands and islands of Scotland, and all of them spoke Irish or Scots Gaidhlig.
They had enrolled to learn a range of skills which would allow them to become full-time professionals in their own language - and thereby avail of opportunities offered with the development of Teilifis na Gaeilge, soon to be TG4, and theatre companies, Amharclann de hIde in Dublin and Aisling Ghear in Belfast.
The course was set up by a local company, Sin Sin! Teo, which is run by Trevor O Clochartaigh. Mr O Clochartaigh was a founder member of Na Fanaithe, a professional Irish language theatre company, and also worked for several years at An Taibhdhearc in Galway.
Recently he has been producing and directing programmes for TG4, and has first-hand experience of what is required. "We must make sure that theatre `as Gaeilge' is nourished and developed, so that we have a steady flow of well-rounded acting talent available for theatre and television." The course content ranged from history of theatre, acting techniques, voice, movement and improvisation to the language classes. The highlight was a performance of work based on the theme of "milaois" or the millennium last Friday night at Aras na Gaeilge in NUI Galway.
Support for the effort was given by arts and cultural organisations in both Ireland and Scotland. Iomairt Cholmcille (the Columba Initiative, set up to develop new links between Irish and Scots Gaelic communities) was one of the main funding bodies. The project also received assistance from Udaras na Gaeltachta, Proiseact nan Ealan, Bord na Gaeilge, Teilifis na Gaeilge, Tosg, the British Council and Bus Eireann.
Such was its success that Sin Sin! Teo intends to seek funding for another. "It was very formative in every sense, in that the actors were eating, sleeping, acting together all day every day for three weeks," Mr O Clochartaigh says. "Some had a lot of acting experience, others had very little but showed great talent, and obviously the demand for their skills is there."
Sin Sin! Teo can be contacted at 2 Cluain Dara, Cnoc na Cathrach, Gaillimh, tel: (091) 583103.