A LADY vampire with designs on your daughter; puppets re-enacting the mighty clash between Connacht and Ulster, and the Galwegian accused of killing a leading Canadian politician - it's all at the Galway Theatre Festival.
Stories of vampires, heroes, and villains will be performed at this year's Galway Theatre Festival from April 18 to 23 in multiple venues across the city.
In Blood On The Moon, Jérémie Cyr-Cooke gives a virtuosic one-man performance on the life of James Patrick Whealan, the Galway Fenian who fled Ireland to Canada, joined the nationalist struggle there, but was later accused of assassinating one of the fathers of Canadian independence.
Before Connacht and Ulster would meet in Guinness Pro12, there was an even more serious clash between the provinces - when Connacht's Queen Maeve led her army against Cú Culainn and the men of Ulster. This is Ireland’s epic legend The Táin, which will be staged by Candlelit Tales through shadow puppetry and dynamic choreography as Shadows Of The Táin in the Nuns Island Theatre.
Sheridan LeFanu’s vampire horror story Carmilla deals with such themes as adolescent sexuality, gay love, the repression of female sexuality, and patriarchal attitudes towards women. It is a story more relevant than ever, and Galway's ThereIsBear! Theatre Company will re-stage it as The Shadow of Carmilla, a bilingual show with the action now set in Connemara.
Tickets for all shows can be bought for €8 until April 7 (online, by phone, or in person ) through the Town Hall Theatre (www.tht.ie, 091 - 569777 ). See also www.galwaytheatrefestival.com
