Graffiti was delighted to be on the road again with a van full of puppets as Jackie, an old favourite, befriended the 3-7 year olds of Cork. Jackie’s Day, by Sarah FitzGibbon, is a charming and gentle interactive play which investigates the small but significant problems of its central character and her friends. This year’s version played both in Irish and in English (with the same cast), and as well as travelling to schools we have also created a lovely environmental set within a tent in our own theatre.

We are also pleased to have secured the rights for The Shape of a Girl by Joan MacLeod, which will be available in October and November. This Canadian script has been a phenomenal hit world wide. Originally commissioned and produced by Green Thumb Theatre Company, it is not – as you might think – a play about female body-image but a spare, tightly written and beautiful piece of theatre which investigates in a very subtle way the concept of the gang, the excluder and the witness. What do we see – ‘A girl in the shape of a monster: a monster in the shape of a girl’? We’ve wanted to produce this play for several years and are really looking forward to working on it.

Meanwhile, development work continues on Walking Man by Jody O’Neill and on Blátha Bána/White Blossoms which is our new piece of Theatre for the Youngest. Walking Man will have a week’s development rehearsal in August and we hope to prepare it for full rehearsal and tour in the Spring. We hope to premiere Blátha Bána in Summer of 2011. It’s based on a myth . . . but that’s all we’re saying!

Emelie also recently directed a reading of another new commission. Where in the world is Frank Sparrow?, a dark new teenage play by Australian writer, Angela Betzien. This was at The Provincetown Playhouse in New York and was part of their season, New Plays for Young Audiences. It was the only transnational piece and its “gritty Marc O’Rowe meets The X Men” style created a lot of interest!

DRAMA PROJECT

After a successful pilot project, a new programme of curriculum drama workshops based on the Kindertransport story will be available to schools in the Autumn. The workshop places the participants (5th and 6th class students) in the role of Jewish children embarking on their train to safety before the Second World War. It aims to develop the empathy of the students and help them understand and respond to challenging moral dilemmas.

YOUTH THEATRES

In May, the Graffiti Theatre hosted Activate Youth Theatre’s new play, Myrtlehill Terrace, which used real documents form the 1911 census to inspire fictional stories of Cork people one hundred years ago. There is something extraordinary about seeing the original census forms. The handwriting is beautiful and the documents evoke images of a bygone era. They provided the fuel which fired the imagination of the Youth Theatre members. Devised by the Youth Theatre and directed by Geraldine O’Neill and Julie O’Leary, the play Myrtlehill Terrace played in the Graffiti Theatre on 7th and 8th May.
The younger Youth Theatres, the Fish Tank and Physically Phishies, invited parents and friends to observe a final workshop session at the end of the year.

PLAYOGRAPHY NEWS

Playography na Gaeilge was launched recently by the Irish Theatre Institute (supported by Foras na Gaeilge) and Graffiti plays an impressive role in the history of first productions as Gaeilge. ITI published a report of the research findings of the project and we were surprised by (and a little proud of!) some of the results. Graffiti began producing as Gaeilge in 1999 and is now the fourth most prolific producer of Irish language first productions still in existence – though Branar may soon take over that honour! In the period in question (1975-2009) Emelie FitzGibbon was the 7th busiest Irish language director in the country (as well as being on the top list for new plays in English for the same period). Meanwhile Síle Ní Bhroin was the 12th most prolific writer/translator with 5 newly translated plays for Graffiti in that time. Playography na Gaeilge is a wonderful new resource available at www.irishplayography.com

And with no less than five new scripts currently in development, we hope to continue to be featured on Playography – as Gaeilge agus as Béarla! No wonder we are looking forward to a few days off in the Summer!

Bí linn!
Jackie
le Sarah FitzGibbon

Dráma do pháistí 3-7 bliain

As Gaeilge: Dé Sathairn 15 Bealtaine 3.00i.n.
As Béarla: Dé Sathairn 29 Bealtaine 3.00i.n.

Graffiti Theatre, Assumption Road, An Linn Dubh, Corcaigh
Cur in áirithint: 021 4397111 (níl mórán spáis!)
€5 an duine

“Meet our friend Jackie and we’ll play
We’ll tell you about one of Jackie’s days…”

Come and join us!
Jackie’s Day
by Sarah Fitzgibbon

An interactive performance for children aged 3-7

Irish version: Saturday 15th May 3.00pm
English version: Saturday 29th May 3.00pm

Graffiti Theatre, Assumption Road, Blackpool, Cork
Booking: 021 4397111 (places are very limited)
€5 per ticket

Myrtlehill Terrace will be performed by Activate Youth Theatre in the Graffiti Theatre, Assumption Road, Blackpool, Cork on Fri. 7th May @8pm.  There will be two performances on Sat. 8th May – a matinee at 3pm and and evening performance at 8pm. Tickets €10 & €8 (conc.) Bookings 0214397111

The Outreach Dept. of Graffiti Theatre Company are happy to announce the formation of a new youth drama project entitled “The Fish Tank”. This is an 18-week project working with 13-15 year old former members of Physically Phishy Youth Theatre who will be moving on to “The Fish Tank”. We plan to further develop their  acting, writing, improvisation and devising skills through a series of focussed drama workshops leading to  a performance of a devised piece of theatre. The project is facilitated by our Associate Director Síle Ní Bhroin  and Outreach Facilitator Julie O’Leary. This project is funded by Cork V.E.C. Small Grants Fund and supported by Graffiti Theatre Company. We hope it goes swimmingly!

We are optimistically treating the financial insecurity as an opportunity to invest that most precious of resources, time, into our commissions and development plans. We are working with award-winning Australia playwright, Angela Betzien, on an exciting new piece for teenage audiences. Artistic Director Emelie FitzGibbon and Angela have been invited to develop the script as part of the Provincetown New Theatre for Young Audiences series in New York in June this year – the only international script in the series of three. We are all very excited about both the commission and the opportunity to develop it in NY. Meanwhile, closer to home, Cork writer Jody O’Neill, recent winner of the Patrick Murray Bursary, is working with Associate Director, Síle Ní Bhroin, on our other new commission, Walking Man. This charming and unusual piece is for our younger audience. We are enthusiastically hoping to premiere both new commissions in 2011. And in case we aren’t busy enough, we are also in early developmental work on a new piece for a very young audience. As Wolfgang Schneider put it at the TYA Gathering in October, we are seeking to “establish the art of simplicity” and engage the imaginations of the very young. In common with many other production companies Graffiti is holding off on announcing its production schedule until after funding decisions have been made.

Our Outreach department is in full swing with a range of workshops in schools and both ACTIVATE Youth Theatre and Physically Phishy Youth theatre are up and running, with AYT in late development of a very intriguing new devised piece. A new Outreach development is the Fish Tank Pilot Project – the trial of an intermediate Youth Theatre, which started in January 2010, to help the older members of Physically Physhy (10-14 years) make the transition on to AYT (16 +). The Fish Tank is a ‘holding tank’ for members aged 13-15 and will allow this particular age group to develop and express themselves in a way that honours the unique qualities of that age.

Throughout the National Campaign for the Arts and now as we all adjust to difficult financial challenges, Graffiti has ensured that the issue of children’s cultural rights-or, more appropriately, lack of them – is on the agenda of our politicians and supporters. With children and young people bearing a lot of the burden of recession and with so many arts programmes for children wiped out we hope that all the members of TYAI will keep our politicians aware of the inadequacy of children’s cultural provision in this country and its ultimate short-sightedness in the development of a nation.