ONE OF Galway’s brightest young theatre companies, Moonfish, have teamed up with An Taibhdhearc to present a new staging of Namhaid don Phobal - an Irish-language version of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy Of The People. The production will have English subtitles.
Though the play was written in Norway in 1882, its themes will be vividly familiar to present-day Galway audiences with its portrayal of a coastal town, an infected water supply, and a local election looming.
In a seaside town a local doctor discovers that the town’s water supply is contaminated. The news could jeopardise the town’s economy, and threaten his own brother’s plans for re-election as mayor. Will the doctor broadcast his findings to the public, or heed his brother’s warning and stay silent?
This explosive, modern, interpretation of the original ‘whistle-blower’ story holds a mirror to Celtic Tiger Ireland’s willingness to sacrifice the environment for the economy, and to the recent water crisis in Galway.
Director Mairead Ní Chroinin reveals how the production came about.
“I was looking through the Taibhdhearc archives in NUI, Galway and came across Gearoid MacLochlainn’s translation of An Enemy Of The People,” she says. “It grabbed me straight away because it was just so topical.
“We then approached the Taibhdhearc and they were delighted to come on board with us which has been brilliant because that’s attracted top notch actors like Brid Ní Neachtain and Brendan Conroy, etc, to the project.
“Even though Moonfish’s previous productions have been in English we’ve always wanted to do work in Irish as well, so I’m thrilled to be doing a major play such as this - which hasn’t been seen on an Irish stage since An Taibhdhearc last performed it in 1948!”
The use of English subtitles in the play - making the production accessible to all – also heralds a new era in Irish-language theatre. This ground-breaking collaboration between An Taibhdhearc and Moonfish Theatre thus invites both Irish and non-Irish speaking communities to enjoy the play and engage with the questions it raises.
With an all-star cast, Namhaid don Phobal promises to be one of the most powerful and daring productions of 2009. The cast is headed up by well-known actors of stage and screen Brendan Conroy and Donnacha Crowley (both recently seen in the film Kings ), and Bríd Ní Neachtain.
The line-up also includes well-known actors Padraic Ó Tuairisc and Peadar Ó Treasaigh, and up-and-coming actors Dara Devaney (who rapped with Des Bishop on the RTÉ documentary In The Name Of The Fada ), Seamus Ó hAodha, and Ionia Ní Chróinín.
Interestingly, director Ní Chroinin will herself be running as a Green Party candidate in Galway City Central in the forthcoming Local Elections so she’s well qualified to engage with the play’s potent mix of drama and politics and its themes of environmental pollution and vested interests.
This subtitled production of Namhaid don Phobal is a rare chance for Irish audiences to see a celebrated play by one of the world’s leading dramatists.
The production will run in Galway and Dublin during Seachtain na Gaeilge. Its Galway run is from Wednesday March 4 to Sunday 8 at 8pm in The Black Box Theatre.
For tickets contact the Town Hall on 091 - 569777.
