THE COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions may have prevented us from going to the theatre and the art galleries, so instead theatre and exhibition is coming to us.
InterAction - A Digital Theatre Programme, presented by the Galway Theatre Festival and Galway 2020, runs from Monday May 18 to Sunday 31, and events are free to watch (but some are ticketed ) on www.interactiongalway.com
The event will feature work by Galway, Irish, and International artists, and include live events, panel discussions, works-in-progress, workshops, and app launches. The project producer is Jane Hanberry.
InterAction was initially developed in 2015 by Galway-based artists John Rogers, Sorcha Ní Chróinín, Róisín Stack, Máiréad Ní Chróinín, and Féilim Ó hAoláin, who shared an interest in theatre practices which engaged the audience as participants/performers.m The artists developed the project in conjunction with Galway Theatre Festival.
Theatre events and exhibitions
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The flagship project of InterAction is a new work by John Rogers, The Stars In Winter, an experiential theatre piece celebrating the mystery and joy of astronomy. Rogers will present an overture for the work called In The Mouth Of Fire (May 29, 8pm ).
InterAction will also present Speak Like No One In Particular by Hungarian theatre maker Eszter Némethi (May 18 and 20, 6pm, ticketed ), while Swedish artists Lundal & Seitl will present Symphony Of A Missing Room: Social Distancing 2020 (May 19, 6pm ).
In Speak Like No One In Particular, Némethi examines how geography and social hierarchies emerge in a person's speech and voice. She examines the thinning/silencing/changing/strengthening/fracturing of her own (artistic, political, and spoken ) voice while researching borders and boundaries in Belgium.
Symphony Of A Missing Room was first exhibited in 2009 at the National Museum, Sweden, and reflected the museum as a phenomenon and as architecture.This digital artwork turns mobile screens into projector lights. Throughout the experience, participants will be asked to close your eyes and follow a score of choreographed suggestions. In tandem with a three-dimensional sound in headphones, the process augments a virtual room, shared only between you and another participant. There will be an app to enable people to experience this event. Féilim Ó hAoláin will host a panel discussion with Lundal & Seitl on May 19 at 6pm.
Works by Galway creatives
Féilim O'hAoláin will present Bréag Chuimhne | Memory Lies, a lo-fi installation sound piece exploring memory, sense, and time, where participants will experience a version of the West of Ireland from the perspective of a time traveler from 2060. (May 19 to 24, 3pm and 8pm ).
Máiréad Ní Chróinín’s scratch work Slow Down (You Move Too Fast ), uses an audio piece that encourages participants to tune into the various rhythms of their body and the environment (May 27, 5pm ). She will also host a workshop on audio sensors (May 29, 2pm ).
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Tara Jaye Burke, currently studying animation and game design in GMIT’s Cluain Mhuire, will present Genre (May 25, 4pm ). Through virtual reality and VR180 filmmaking, she will consider how we consume and interpret media. Her work also features hand-drawn or painted aspects alongside the digital. She will also give a workshop on VR180 video (May 28, 6pm ).
Padraig Conway’s Victory Over The Sun/’Figuren’ (May 30, 2pm ) explores modernist aesthetics, contemporary drawing, design software, and gaming technology, and was inspired by El Lissitzky and progressive Russian art. He will also host a workshop on digital software (May 26, 2pm ).
Panel discussions
The Irish Make A Move representative, James Riordan, will describe his experiences in a Creative Europe theatre lab and how he’s creating his upcoming work during the COVID-19 epidemic (May 16, 2pm ). James, from Galway, is artistic director of Brú Theatre. On May 31 at 2pm, InterAction artists will discuss creating work in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown.
For more see Facebook.com/galwaytheatrefestival; Twitter.com/GwayTheatreFest; Instagram.com/galway_theatre_festival #InterActionGalway #Galway2020 #GalwayTheatreFest
