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Review of Staged Folklore: The National Folk Theatre of Ireland, by Susan H. Motherway and John O'Connell
Date
2023
Abstract
When a group of amateur performers came together in 1968 to imagine how they might channel their love of Irish culture and find a platform to share it with others, little did they know that these tentative steps would lead to the establishment of a National Folk Theatre that was supported at an official level and embraced nationally as a bastion of cultural production, presentation and preservation. Indeed, the endeavour Siamsa Tíre, established by Fr. Pat Ahern over fifty years ago, has become a beacon of sustainable cultural heritage and creativity that has embraced, rather than eschewed, tourism as something that might render performances inauthentic. A new book celebrating this Kerry institution charts the extraordinary journey during Ahern’s directorship (1968-1998) in smart and accessible essays that combine contributions from a star cast of scholars, practitioners and people directly involved in the history of the theatre. From its humble origins as a group of enthusiasts seeking to preserve their rich cultural, to the establishment of the National Folk Theatre in 1974, and onto the international stage where the company copper-fastened its brand and performance excellence abroad, Staged Folklore: Celebrating 30 Years of Siamsa Tíre offers insights into what was at stake, how it was achieved and why that matters.
Supervisor
Description
Publisher
RISE
Citation
Review of Irish Studies in Europe, 2023, 6 (1), pp.80-81
Files
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Dillane_2023_Staged.pdf
Adobe PDF, 685.65 KB