Dylan Tighe in association
with Blanchardstown Traveller Development Group (BTDG)
and Irish Traveller Movement (ITM) presents
The Trailer of Bridget Dinnigan. Photo Credit Hugh O'Conor.
December 5th – 9th 2011 at 8pm, Axis Arts Centre, Ballymun
Preview December 5th, matinee December 8th at 2pm
Tickets €10/€12/€15 or €8/€10/13 (preview/matinee)
The Trailer of Bridget Dinnigan, a new adaptation of Federico García Lorca‘s The House of Bernarda Alba, conceived and directed by Dylan Tighe, written by Catherine Joyce and Dylan Tighe in collaboration with, and featuring, 11 Irish Traveller women from Blanchardstown Traveller Development Group.
Following the critical success of its run in Project Arts Centre, June 2010 The Trailer of Bridget Dinnigan returns to wow audiences as the key event of Traveller Pride Week 2011. The show is the result of an experimental 2-year process of research, development, adaptation and collaboration between theatre-maker and writer Dylan Tighe, Traveller activist Catherine Joyce, 11 Traveller women from (BTDG) and a creative team of leading contemporary theatre artists. This production updates Lorca’s classic Spanish tragedy from the 1930’s to a present-day Travellers’ halting site and features 11 Traveller women as performers.
Theatre-maker Dylan Tighe (Director of No Worst There is None, The Stomach Box, Winner Best Production 2009 Irish Times Theatre Awards) approached BTDG with the idea to translate and adapt The House of Bernarda Alba from Spanish to the speech and world of Irish Traveller women. He then engaged in a period of consultation and collaboration with Catherine Joyce and the women of the BTDG to create a radical new version of this classic tragedy. Initial work was conducted under a research and development award from CREATE and this remount takes place thanks to the Arts Council of Ireland’s Touring Award.
This production takes place in Axis Arts Centre Ballymun bringing with it bus loads of audiences from across the country. It is a unique opportunity to witness a radical new artistic collaboration between Traveller women and leading contemporary theatre artists and promises to be a major event in Irish Theatre and of Traveller Pride Week 2011.
What the press said in 2010:
In its focus on tensions surrounding social mores, tradition, gender conventions and especially female experience, the piece manages to illuminate real issues affecting Traveller culture, often through a range of interesting design and directorial choices.
– Irish Theatre Magazine
In the process they’ve unearthed strong cultural affinities, and found a distinctive and evocative language to echo Lorca’s own…innovative – Irish Independent