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        Welcome to Ballygweeha, the windiest town in Ireland!

         The houses teeter over, the locals walk at an angle into the gusts and no-one’s ever properly lit a fire.

         When prodigal son Luc Torney returns after ten years to save the town from ruin with a windfarm scheme, he is hailed as a hero. But town layabout Jacinta Nangle smells a rat. 

photo Jim Byrne

The Windstealers, written by Jane Madden and directed by Anushka Senanayake will be a multi-disciplinary, robustly physical production with elements of magic realism and political satire. 

 

Teh show is created by crème de la crème of this year's The Lir graduates. 

 

Not only it offers a twist on Irish comedy tradition, satirizes a culture of political apathy and challenges a romantic notion of Irish people as rebellious and anti-authoritarian and but also promises a unique spectacle. 

 

Imagine "It's Martin's Life" meets Ibsen, meets Bjork's designers. 

In a hurricane. 

photo Jim Byrne

Jane Madden, while finishing her MFA in Playwriting at The Lir was tasked with responding to the prompt "Weather, Politics, Music". The resulting brain-storming session triggered many pleasingly ridiculous questions, like ‘Who owns the wind?’ Not wanting to write a socially engaged play that lectures, she turned to satire – a form that is entertaining and challenging without being prescriptive. She created Ballygweeha, “the windiest town in Ireland”, a multi-character microcosm of national ideals and national faults.

 

‘The script is unapologetically comedic with a densely plotted narrative and irreverent tone,’ she says. ‘We want to play with whimsy and violence, to make our audience laugh but also question themselves. ’

 

Anushka Senanayake, founder of Theatre Junction (Colombo, Sri Lanka), who is currently completing her MFA in Theatre Directing at The Lir, was captivated by the energy and rhythm of the piece. It was precisely the type of work she wanted to create after graduating from Theatre and Economics at Converse College (USA) – engaging and multidisciplinary, creating space for imagination.

 

Anushka’s company, Theatre Junction (Sri Lanka), aims to create a platform for emerging theatre makers and promote higher collaboration between artists from different mediums.

 

Ger Clancy will create large-scale, jaw-dropping, notional set design in which everything appears blown askew. Dylan Tonge Jones will prepare multi-layered soundscape and Mary Sheehan – wind-battered costumes.

 

Eccles Theatre Group, founded by recent graduates of The Lir, came together as a group of collaborators who enjoyed working together. ‘The concept of community plays an integral role in the theatre we create and produce,’ says Senanayake. But what’s with the mysterious company name? ‘It was coined over a conversation about a shared love for chocolate croissants. But as Patisserie Theatre didn’t sound serious enough, we went for something evoking more personal memories ’ – she adds.

 

The Windstealers

 

Smock Alley Theatre (Black Box)

Sep 7th-13th, 8.30pm , Sep 12th, 3:15pm

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