Here's an overview of all the exciting events we had the chance to attend the past several days. From talks with Hollywood directors, play readings, writers showcases, and more.
MONDAY – 14 OCT
We were invited to attend a seminar at the Brian Friel Theatre given by Prof Jill Dolan (Princeton U) on “Performance as Possibility: Finding Joy and Hope at the Theatre.” The premise of her talk was to explore “how does theatre, with its insistence on co-presence, on sustained attention, and on the immediacy of the spectator's intellectual and emotional response provide a place to rehearse other engagements in citizenship? What can theatre model about the joy and hopefulness of being together with strangers, witnessing the narrative, aesthetic, and emotional possibilities of performance? How can theatre help us practise social encounters based on joy and hope?”
These are valid questions given the effects both of smartphones grabbing minutes if not hours of our attention each day, and the Covid-19 lockdowns, all of which encouraged a kind of atomisation of our attention as well as lost connections to the people and communities around us.
Prof Dolan noted that professors at Princeton reported that students returning from two years worth of lockdowns could scarcely make eye contact, and certain professors became averse to having in person meetings. Perhaps a knock-on effect of surviving a global pandemic, losing loved ones, and enduring the constant fear that 'others' might be contagious.
In a new media landscape where theatrical runs now last longer than the average television show season, its worth considering Prof Dolan's ideas that theatre offers a solution and safe space for regaining a sense of community. What was not addressed was the fact that regular theatre attendance requires both the privilege of place and having the disposable income to afford tickets. However, it's a blessing that Belfast has both a variety of theatre and performance venues, a walkable layout, and ticket prices to suit any budget.
(No, this isn't a sales pitch for the city. But if the city council or tourism board needs a copywriter, please do get in touch. We're for hire.)
While the talk was mainly about American theatre, feminist critique, and queer culture, there was much that could be applied – and valid questions to be asked – about the role of theatre in Northern Ireland/North of Ireland in regards to exploring questions of shared community.
This event was coordinated by QUB's Trish McTighe, Ciara McAllister, Claire Murphy, and Kristyna Ilek, and also Caoileann Curry-Thompson from the Arts Council. Support was also provided by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences' Global Reputation Fund, and the School of Arts, English and Languages at Queen's University, Belfast.
TUESDAY - 15 OCT
Again at the Brian Friel Theatre, we attended a follow up event “Criticism in Precarious Contexts: An Open Seminar on Theatre Reviewing Cultures in the North.” The format was a group discussion for industry folks, changemakers, and graduate students, including yesterday's guest speaker, Prof Dolan.
The panel discussion was informal, relaxed, and welcoming. Many of the students stuck to their own table, but the industry and academic folks worked the room. There was a lovely cross section of perspectives, suggestions, and solutions – all of which were fascinating. It was fascinating, we would have liked it to go on for longer, with a break out session or an additional day.
The issue facing criticism in the North is one that places with more robust arts funding do not have to grapple with. A few negative reviews for a Broadway show doesn't mean there won't be any more Broadway shows. However, with local theatres needing to keep at least 75% of the seats filled just to keep the lights on, a less than favourable critique can have an outsized effect. First, because it would stand out in a landscape of otherwise glowing reviews; and second, because it's liable to be read by those who hold the purse strings. In the reactionary way that purse-string holders have, they could decide that future work of a similar type never gets made.
They say that good parenting means giving your children freedom to fail, pick themselves up, and try again – to “fail better” as Samuel Beckett said – and creative types require the same grace. How can they improve their skills and advance their careers if every show is “make or break” rather than a learning experience?
But who will give them that grace when budgets are thinly stretched, government ministers prefer to cut arts funding rather than any other budgetary bloat, and artists are treated as replaceable mannequins rather than change-makers deserving of support?
It's understandable that critics in the North are more protective of creatives for all of those reasons.
But does it really help the producers of theatre know what projects to choose next, or audiences to decide what to see, or future writers/directors/actors to learn when every show is reviewed as “amazing, brilliant, captivating”?
There are more questions to be explored here.
THURSDAY - 17 OCT
At the author's invitation, we attended the online launch of past contributor SC Flynn's new poetry collection, The Colour of Extinction (Renard Press, London). The launch was hosted by editor Will Dady-Leonard, who interviewed the author about his influences, style, and inspiration. Several poems were read out, captivating snapshots of climate change presented in a form borrowed from visual arts called “dystopian surrealism.”
Influenced by American poets of the 20th Century, including Elizabeth Bishop and Robinson Jeffers, Flynn said he aimed to present 'strange imagery to capture the feel of a melting, collapsing world.' Utilising mythology, tone, and voice, there is an attempt to capture a melding together of nature and the narrator's perspectives – and to open space for hope that in the grand scheme of things this is not the end. Life will go on, no matter how changed.
FRIDAY - 18 OCT
We attended the launch of Stephen Knox's debut poetry collection Sensing Wonder: Poems from the Castlereagh Hills and Beyond. Published by Yellow House Publishing, a new, independent publisher in Northern Ireland, with a mission “to support the creative bardic tradition, propagated by diverse communities for millennia across our shared Isles.”
It was held at the Bright Umbrella Theatre in East Belfast, just off the Albertsbridge Road. The house was a packed house to the brim in spite of the deluge outside. The venue is a converted church with a separate rehearsal space plus a main theatre, available for hire at affordable rates to the arts community.
With an introduction by poet Colin Dardis, the reading began in earnest – with Stephen's work capturing his sublime experiences of nature, family, and faith. His granddaughter joined him on stage to read one of his poems, and there was an interlude with a professional storyteller who spun a moving yarn about childhood days. It was an enjoyable evening, and Stephen was kept busy afterwards signing books – which folks seemed to be buying for their entire extended families.
Our EIC, Hanna Nielson, said a few words at the closing – introducing The Belfast Review and also her new role as guest editor for YHP's upcoming Issue 4 of New Isles Press, as well as editor for an upcoming short story collection by Belfast writer Tony Black. He was a past contributor to The Belfast Review's blog, receiving mentoring for his short story “On Wednesdays Nora Goes Into Town,” which has also been nominated for The Best of the Net.
Special thanks to Chris Thackaberry, Administrator at YHP, for organising the event.
SATURDAY - 19 OCT
Invited by Project Manager, Niamh McNally, we were pleased to attend the “Freedom to Write” Writers Showcase held at 2 Royal Avenue. Sponsored by Irish Pen and The John Hewitt Society, the goal of “Freedom to Write” was to select twenty writers from across North and South to attend workshops in Dublin, Armagh, and Belfast. The aim was to facilitate a sense of cross-border, shared community in the arts.
The crowd had many familiar faces in the literary and arts scene.
Frank Ferguson, Chair of The John Hewitt Society, opened with a few words about the value of connecting across the border, and thanked the Shared Ireland Initiative for supporting the project. It was a delight to select from among writers with such impressive CV's. “When we look around the world, we see writers need protection and support,” he said. “But when writers get together, amazing things can happen.”
Therese Kieran, VP of Irish PEN, also said a few words about the importance of the freedom to write, especially given the curtailment of freedom of speech around the world. Writers need the time and space to write, and also to give themselves space to do so, hopefully with the support of family and friends. That is why projects like “Freedom to Write” are so vital, providing a model for the future. She also gave special words of thanks and praise to Project Manage, Niamh McNally, for spearheading the workshops and inspiring the writers.
Next, the Right Honorable Lord Mayor said a few words before he had to rush off to another event. He mentioned the space of 2 Royal Avenue used to be a Tescos and was bought by City Hall without a plan, but now it's become an invaluable cultural hub and community space.
“The arts has unique abilities to break down barriers in society...” he said. “But its so underfunded and underappreciated.” He spoke of his own lack of appreciation for the arts, as a non-artistic person. Perhaps that should be taken as a hint by the arts community that self-advocacy is key, and that further education about the value of the arts is needed for the powers that be.
On a more positive note, the Lord Mayor praised the Freedom to Write project for allowing writers to mentor other writers. “It's great to pass on inter-generational wisdom,” he said and then joked, “because what we usually pass on is inter-generational trauma.”
The showcase included a wide array of projects, from poems to novel extracts and short stories. Writers included: Maggie Doyle, Gary Finnegan, Pallavi Padma-Uday, Cal O'Reilly, Pauline Clooney, Alice Malseen, Seanín Hughes, Amanda Moloney O'Brien, Darcey Dugan, Helen Fallon, Johnny Collins, Bernie McQuillan, Lorraine Carey, Cara Leahy, Siobhán Flynn, Michael Cameron, Jackie Gorman, James Simpson, Sinéad Griffin, and Tess Davidson.
Support was provided by Arts Council Ireland, Arts Council Northern Ireland, The John Hewitt Society, Irish PEN, Shared Ireland Initiative, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade IE.
SUNDAY - 20 OCT
Our EIC, Hanna Nielson, attended a performance at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, a play reading of Ages of the Moon by Sam Shepard, given by actors Aidan Quinn and Steve Buscemi. It was part of the play reading series Love at First Sight, organised by director Caitríona McLaughlin.
Her thoughtful review can be read in another blog post here.
TUESDAY - 22 OCT
As part of Belfast International Arts Festival, we attended a talk by Irish film director Neil Jordan QFT. Titled “Neil Jordan – A Journey Through Cinema and Literature,” the director discussed his newly launched memoir, Amnesiac, with Hugh Odling-Smee of Film Hub NI.
The discussion ranged far and wide, from Neil's memories of his early childhood, to his love of theatre and listerature. His unlikely start in the film business began by filming a behind the scenes documentary of John Boorman's film Excalibur. His experience in Hollywood was largely positive, he reflected, given the support he had to make the films he wanted in the following three decades. But he noted the industry he found success in is not the same industry that young filmmakers would be entering today. There has been a collapse of mid-budget, original filmmaking in favour of big budget “IP” franchises, and the attitude of streamers toward films as 'content,' as well as the expectation of instant success has made it more difficult for first-time filmmakers to find support to make their second and third films. He doesn't think that his own filmography would necessarily get made today, or that he would have lasted as long as an independent filmmaker without getting swallowed up by the machinery of franchise filmmaking.
Still, he's hopeful that the industry will reinvent itself sooner or later. In the mean time, he writes novels and contents himself with his own imagination.
We imagine audiences want original films as much as directors and writers do. If only the middle men would listen, but that's a discussion for another day.
His memoir Amnesiac (Head of Zeus, London) is out now in bookstores near you. It's a cracking, breathless read. Perhaps we'll review it soon.
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