The Galway Arts Festival '05 The
Galway Arts Festival is Ireland’s largest and most prestigious annual
arts festival. Long considered a centre of cultural excellence, the
Arts Festival is Galway's defining cultural expression. At the
heart of all aspects of life in the city, Galway Arts Festival always
promises a stunning fortnight of cultural activity and celebration. This year’s festival features over 400 writers, artists, performers and musicians from Canada, England, France, Scotland and the USA joining those from Ireland creating theatre, spectacle, street art, music, comedy, literature and music. Founded in 1978, Galway Arts Festival is Ireland’s largest annual arts festival, taking place each July in the city of Galway on Ireland’s west coast. The Festival produces and presents an international programme of theatre, spectacle, dance, visual arts, music, literature & comedy involving hundreds of artists and performers. A platform for Irish and international art of the highest quality, the Festival is firmly established as one of Europe’s key cultural events and is a truly international two-week celebration of the performing and visual arts. The Festival presents innovative and exciting work and continually breaks new ground broadening its range and scope each year. It is recognized as an important catalyst for artistic development in Ireland, providing a pivotal springboard for many careers.
Galway Arts Festival has earned a reputation for presenting work in unusual, site-specific locations, engaging with the city’s landscape as a backdrop for outdoor work. In recent years, along with presenting work from all over the world, the Festival has collaborated with Irish and international artists and companies to produce and commission new work across the art forms. Festival Manager, John Crumlish, says, “We are very excited by this year’s programme, particularly the juxtaposition of new work alongside the classic – with world premiers from Ireland’s leading younger writers sharing the stage with the historic presentation of the entire Synge canon. We are particularly proud to be working with Druid Theatre in presenting this landmark project”. Dance, physical theatre and spectacle from Europe illustrate the Festival’s continuing commitment to staging extraordinary, ambitious and innovative projects. Dance performances from some of the most exciting choreographers in the UK today, Darshan Singh Bhuller, Rui Horta and Henri Oguike, combine with theatre, circus and the spectacular Macnas Festival Parade, to add to the magic and diversity of this year’s programme. Theatre from Ireland incorporates new and classic Irish drama, with new plays from some of the country’s most exciting playwrights and a historic celebration of the life and work of one of Ireland’s dramatic giants, John Millington Synge. In one of the most ambitious undertakings in Irish theatre for many years, Druid Theatre Company presents, together for the first time ever, all of Synge’s work. This landmark tribute involves a company of actors performing across the repertoire and is directed by Tony Award winning director Garry Hynes. In parallel with the presentation of the classic DruidSynge, Festival 05 highlights new work by two of Ireland’s most innovative younger playwrights Enda Walsh and Stuart Carolan. Enda Walsh’s The Small Things is presented by leading UK theatre company Paines Plough while Stuart Carolan’s new play, a Galway Arts Festival commission, receives its world premiere. New Irish work at Festival 05 also includes a showcasing of Galway companies and the world premiere of a new play by leading Irish actor and writer Garreth Keogh. Folk, rock, blues, jazz, classical and a vivacious blend of traditional and contemporary Irish music from over 200 international and Irish musicians are all part of the Festival 2005. From Mavis Satples to Yann Tiersen to Marianne Faithfull a wide spectrum of music genres is represented, with a host of world renowned and emerging artists joining together to perform in venues and spaces throughout Galway. The visual arts programme features major exhibitions from Irish and international artists, including new work from Irish artists Michael Kane, Corban Walker and John Coll and, exhibiting in Ireland for the first time, world renowned graphic artist and journalist Joe Sacco. Over 100,000 people attend the Festival annually, with Galway Arts Festival 2005 taking place from Monday 11th July to Sunday 24th July. We are able to present this article through the courtesy of the The Galway Arts Festival. The editors For more information, please follow these links |
