Summer heralds Galway at its most attractive: the city’s waterways achieve colours of an almost impossible intensity for the short duration of the warmest season. White swans swarm the Claddagh and Spanish Arch, blue dragonflies dance over the canals whose banks heave with explosions of flowers, and the daylight plays that golden trick that attracts painters and photographers west. Of course, there’s the Beijing-rivalling number of bikes that listlessly cake the canal beds, and the bobbing keg caught in the weir’s wake, but surely they only serve to remind the visitor of the playful high jinks that these heady days imbue in the imbiber.
Thus is set the backdrop against which the Galway Arts Festival takes place, kicking off this year on the 12 July and running until the 25th. The full programme is available online here, and bookings can be made here. A few of the theatre highlights include:
Penelope by Enda Walsh (Druid)
“I never thought I’d have the backbone for suicide but faced now with the likelihood of watching my own backbone being removed and flung onto that barbecue, I think it’s only fair that I should give suicide a shot.
A shot we can’t do… we have knives though.”
It’s 11.30am and already it’s 33 degrees Celsius. At the bottom of a drained swimming pool, four ridiculous men face their inevitable deaths, and play for an unwinnable love.
Druid’s previous partnerships with Enda Walsh (Edinburgh Fringe First winners The Walworth Farce and The New Electric Ballroom) have led to sell–out runs in six countries worldwide, wowing critics and audiences alike.
Freefall by Michael West (Corn Exchange)
A sudden shock and a man’s life flashes before his eyes. He experiences an intense rush of extraordinary images and tangled memories, revelations and lost connections. People, time and places swirl around him. As he valiantly attempts to stitch it all back together, will his luck hold out?
A sharp, humorous and exhilarating look at the fragility of a human life, performed with The Corn Exchange’s trademark blend of beauty, poignancy and comedy.
A huge hit at last year’s Dublin Theatre Festival, Freefall was awarded the 2009 Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards for Best Director and Best New Play.
The Grippe Girls by Eileen Gibbons (Electric Bridget)
The ancient and decrepit twins Obstina and Hildegard Grippe, played by Eileen Gibbons and Helen Gregg, are the last remnants of a bygone age, seeing out their final years in the crumbling remains of their once magnificent country pile. They have now agreed to be interviewed about their flamboyant and shameless past, much to the irritation of their faithful and equally ancient retainers, Margaret and Brigid, who are also twins.
While one set of twins drags forgotten skeletons and salacious tales out of the closet, the other set is determined to keep those same skeletons and stories carefully hidden away.
Citizenship by Mark Ravenhill (Galway Youth Theatre)
A frank and confrontational look at the confusions, desires and anxieties of a teenage boy on a journey of self discovery. This beautifully written, bittersweet comedy about growing up follows Tom’s journey as he tries to discover who he is.
