AFTER SOLD-out shows in An Taibhdhearc for the 2017 Galway International Arts Festival, Éilis Ní Dhuibhne's Dún na mBan Trí Thine, is back by popular demand.
Dún na mBan trí Thine has a primarily female led cast and team. Éilis Ní Dhuibhne is an acclaimed novelist, short story writer, and playwright. She has won many awards for her work in both Irish and English, and been short listed for the Ó Súilleabháin Award and The Orange Prize for Fiction. The play is directed by Anne McCabe and Marianne Kennedy.
Léiní is tormented by the fairy women, who continuously insult and humiliate her as she struggles at home, trying to raise her children, while yearning to develop herself as an artist. The ghost of her mother, who frames herself as a fountain of knowledge on all things domestic, is no help either. Will Léiní succeed in silencing these oppressive voices or will she crumble?
“There is a constant balancing act required of women in the arts to manage our creative lives with our day-to-day responsibilities; it’s a universal story that parents everywhere can relate to,” says Anne McCabe, a supporter of #MAMs (Mother Artist Makers ) and Waking the Feminists.
"It is essential to stage contemporary Irish language drama on an international stage," said Marianne Kennedy, also a #MAMs and Waking the Feminists supporter. "Dún na mBan Trí Thine is central to the canon of feminist theatre in this country. Producing this show sends a message to audiences that theatre in Ireland is not only relevant, but vital."
The cast features Linda Bhreathnach (Adulting ), Máire Ní Mháille, Tara Breathnach (A Nightingale Calling ), Yvonne Laife, and Catherine Denning. Set design is by Tríona Lillis, costume designer is Chérie White, while stage manager is Rae Penelope Visser. The production is a collaboration between An Taibhdhearc and the O’Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, NUIG
Dún na mBan Trí Thine runs at An Taibhdhearc, Middle Street, on November 8 and 9 at 8pm. It then tours to Gweedore Theatre, Donegal (November 11 and 12 ), Rath Cairn Community Hall, Meath (November 14 and 15 ), and Halla an Fheothanaigh, Dingle Peninsula, Kerry (November 17 and 18 ).
