Expert puppetry with a strong message
Written by Orla Clogher
Baboró International Arts Festival
Bank of Ireland Theatre, Galway
October 13, 2025
****
October means the arrival of Baboró International Arts Festival for Children; one of the few beacons in what is otherwise a damp and dreary month for theatre. During these ten days, the city of Galway becomes a hive of excitement, culture and creativity.
Not only does Baboró serve as an introduction to the arts for children, but it may pique the interest of a few parents also. After all, it removes so many of theatre's barriers to entry.
Ticket prices, for instance, are affordable, coming in at about half of what you might normally expect to pay to go to the theatre. The performances are short, with running times of roughly 40 minutes. This is a welcome departure from the drudgery often involved in enduring a two or three hour play with an interval.
Morning and afternoon performances, even on Sundays, make the festival accessible. Finally, as the shows have been devised specifically with children in mind, they tend to be positive, uplifting and lacking in complexity.
My first outing was Orla Clogher's joyous FEN at the University of Galway's hidden gem: The Bank of Ireland Theatre.
This puppet theatre piece is a love letter to nature and wildlife, instilling in each audience member a sense of an urgent call to action. Clogher's naturalistic set brings to mind familiar landscapes, and although nestled in a cosy theatre, we could be sitting by a lake in Connemara, or on a bog in the Midlands.
FEN follows a fantastical, human-like creature of the land, which stumbles upon a curlew egg. Its mother has been killed by a bulldozer, so the creature adopts the egg and cares for it until it hatches.
Courtesy of two exceptionally skilled puppeteers, the story gently flows like a stream trickling down a mountainside. It falters only once towards the end: a dance segment featuring some puzzling hand movement drags on a tad long, and the signs were there. Children became loud and restless, leaving the adults in attendance praying for the show to get back on track and finish strong, which it did.
In the end, the positives far outweigh the negatives in this stylish, wholesome production. The set, sound design, lighting and performers really knock it out of the park.
More importantly, the message sticks: we must protect the Irish countryside and its inhabitants, many of us take for granted. Perhaps we could start by boycotting disposable coffee cups?
