ARTSCAPE:THE SITUATION for opera in Ireland has gone from bad to worse, writes Michael Dervan.
Back in February, I calculated in a feature (Drowned out by the bigger players, February 2nd) that the Arts Council’s 3.5 per cent cut in funding for companies presenting full-scale opera was going to translate into a 10 per cent drop in the number of Arts Council-funded nights of full-scale opera this year.
The deteriorating economic situation has since intervened with a further blow that brings the operatic drop to 25 per cent. At the end of March, the Wexford Festival announced a curtailment of this year’s festival from 18 to 12 nights. The last time the festival ran for such a short length of time was more than 20 years ago, in 1988. The festival had extended the old Theatre Royal in 1987, and extended the run of the festival itself in 1989, initially by interleaving other performances into the run of opera productions (the acts included Cór Cúil Aodha, George Melly and the opera satirists La Gran Scena), before establishing a full run of 18 nights of opera in 1991.
This year’s loss of available seats is not radical in comparison with the years in the Theatre Royal. The extra capacity of the new Wexford Opera House takes care of that. The drop is of the order of 5 per cent. But there is a much bigger loss that hasn’t been that widely mentioned. The festival has cut the entire daytime strand of scaled-down, piano-accompanied ShortWorks productions, a series which has always seemed to have a following of its own, independent of the main operas. The number-crunching over costs might have given the festival no choice, or the decision might reflect an effort to transmute ShortWorks ticket purchasers into night-time opera-goers. But there are pundits predicting that footfall in Wexford during festival time will be negatively affected by the absence of the ShortWorks productions.
Some of the audience for ShortWorks might want to check out the activities of Glasthule Opera, which is planning its first season at the Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire. The new company's productions of Puccini's La Bohèmeand a double-bill of Holst's Wandering Scholarand Vaughan Williams's Riders to the Seais set to run from June 23rd to 27th.
‘Cripple’ cleans up in NYC
Druid's Cripple of Inishmaanhas been making quite a splash in the US, with 11 nominations in four different awards, plus a special award. Actors Aaron Monaghan, Kerry Condon and David Pearse (twice) and director Garry Hynes (three times) have been nominated for a raft of New York theatre awards: the Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and Drama Desk, in one of the strongest seasons for plays in many years.
The production was nominated by each of the four awards for Outstanding/Distinguished Revival of a Play, and the Drama Desk (made up of theatre critics) gave a special award, for Outstanding Ensemble Performance.
Hynes, with three Outstanding Director nominations (Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle), is delighted in particular that “the extraordinary work of our Irish-American company of actors has been recognised by the multiple nominations for best ensemble”.
David Pearse's portrayal of gossip monger JohnnyPateenMike is nominated as Outstanding Featured Actor (Outer Critics Circle) and Distinguished Performance Award (Drama League); Aaron Monaghan and Kerry Condon got Lucille Lortel nominations as Outstanding Featured Actor and Outstanding Featured Actress respectively (while Condon will be in New York tomorrow for the announcement, Monaghan is on stage in Oxford with Druid's Playboy, which is touring the UK; David Pearse will be at the Outer Critics and Drama League awards on May 11th and 15th).
Martin McDonagh's work is no stranger to New York audiences; Hynes won a Tony for directing
The Beauty Queen of Leenane, and his new play opens in NY shortly, directed by John Crowley.
AIB shortlist announced
Last year there was speculation that the AIB Prize, awarded each year to an Irish artist of outstanding potential, might fall victim to the woes afflicting the banking sector, writes Aidan Dunne. In the event, the prize, now in its ninth year, has thankfully survived, and this year's shortlist has been announced. Artists are nominated by publicly-funded venues and there is a good geographical spread to the list. Limerick City Gallery of Art nominated the collaborative partnership of Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly, whose Moving Dublinhas just opened at DIT. Galway Arts Centre nominated Louise Manifold, whose projects thoughtfully explore cultural history. Sligo Art Gallery proposed Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh, whose paintings link communal spaces with individual human potential, and Temple Bar Gallery put forward Sonia Shiel's exuberantly inventive multi-media work.
The standard of the entries was extremely impressive, a testament to the quality of both galleries and artists in Ireland. Previous winners include Jackie Nickerson, Diane Copperwhite, Paul Doran and Amanda Coogan. This year, painter Hughie O’Donoghue joined Dr Frances Ruane, Gemma Tipton and myself as adjudicators. The winner is announced on June 3rd and will receive €20,000 towards creating new work. The three runners-up each receive €1,500.
Towards the end of last year it looked as if Galway’s artist-run gallery 126 was doomed. Now, renewed funding from Galway City Arts Office and, ironically, the decline in the property market, seem to have secured its future for the time being. 126 will open at a new venue on Queen Street on May 9th with a solo show by Fergus Byrne. Just a couple of minutes away from Eyre Square, the shop-front premises is incomparably more accessible than, and almost twice the size of, the gallery’s previous location in Ballybane Industrial Estate. 126 began life as G126 in 2006, in the living room of a house shared by artists Austin Ivers and Ben Geoghegan, and quickly became established as a lively and ambitious alternative arts venue.
It was a busy week for Culture Ireland, who marked the Irish participation in the Venice Biennale at a lovely event in Iveagh House, and whose new board was finalised. The Minister for Arts Martin Cullen has appointed the 12 members (previously 13) for five years, chaired again by Prof Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin. Also remaining on the board of the agency for the promotion of Irish culture abroad are musician Davey Arthur, pianist Dearbhla Collins, National Sculpture Factory director Mary McCarthy, Irish Film Board chief executive Simon Perry, and the three ex officio members Mary Cloake (Arts Council), Niall O Donnchú (DAST) and Joseph Lynch (Foreign Affairs). The new appointments offer expertise in communications and marketing, as well as arts in education and community, though perhaps the overall board lacks strength in theatre and dance. The new appointments are educationalist Tom Crowley, community arts supporter and public representative Dessie Larkin, and two communications consultants, Martin Mackin and Gerry Mullins. Board members whose term has finished include Patrick Sutton, Peter Sirr, Eve Molony and John O’Shea.
