The show goes on for the Freshly Ground Theatre
By Maurice Garvey
LIVE performances are yet another victim of Covid-19 but for Tallaght based Freshly Ground Theatre, the show goes on, just in a different way via the medium of online theatre.
The troupe’s first venture into online theatre was ‘Play Apart’, which was part of the Cruinniú na nÓg online celebrations, and involved short performances created over Zoom with scripts written by young writers.
Freshly Ground Theatre Michelle Henry, Bronwen Barrett, Martha Knight and Vlad Gurdis
“This project was a huge success, and showed us that there are so many ways to reach our audience without being in a room together,” said Martha Knight, from Freshly Ground Theatre.
“It also taught us that people are really searching for different ways to connect with their own creativity and with each other in these times. It has been really difficult for us, as we are used to making things in a room together and to interacting really closely with our audience, but we are also very excited by the future possibilities of theatre in this changing world.”
Comprised of four local artists – Bronwen Barrett, Vlad Gurdis, Michelle Henry and Martha Knight – the company formed in 2014 and have produced eight pieces of original work in association with the Civic Theatre, as an emerging ensemble in residence.
In September 2019, they put on a live show in the Civic, ‘Ode to a Postcode’, which was a cabaret musical performance based on letters addressed to Tallaght.
Martha continued: “We collected these letters in postboxes in The Square, Rua Red, The Civic, Tallaght Library, Tallaght Hospital, St Maelruain’s Church, and other social locations in Tallaght.
We also put out an online callout. We were overwhelmed with the response that we received, which was over 120 personal hand-written letters about stories, experiences and opinions people have of Tallaght.
“We turned 25 of these letters into original songs, and performed them for our audience in Tallaght as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival. This celebration of Tallaght was the first time the Fringe had ever visited the Civic, and was supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.”
Plans to develop a new piece, Floozie, written by writer CN Smith, performed by Bronwen Barrett and directed by Michelle Henry, as part of Smock Alley’s Scene and Heard Festival, and a large scale piece with young performers from the community, were halted by Covid-19.
However, the show will go on, as Martha and company look ahead and encourage residents to share their ideas with them.
“We are delighted to be supported by the Civic and South Dublin County Council as we move into making new kinds of theatre, in socially distanced, remote and digital ways,” she said.
“We have lots of plans to develop theatre using exciting new technologies and bringing these to our local audience, as well as bringing back our previous work in new ways to account for restrictions. We’re also always up for talking to our audience, especially in these times.
“If you have something you’d love to see, or a great idea for how we could make theatre work in these strange new times, we’d really love to hear from you.”
Residents can contact the group at www.freshlygroundtheatre.info
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