Full Arts Festival programme announced

Written by Staff Reporter

Wednesday, 03 June 2009

The Michael Clark Company, Kronos Quartet, Druid, David Hockney, Spiritualized, Primal Scream, Femi Kuti, Propeller Theatre Company, Royal Exchange Theatre, Candi Staton, Booker T, David Gray and the ABSOLUT Art Collection, featuring work from Louise Bourgeois, Pierre et Gilles and Miguel Barcelo, are just some of the iconic and world-renowned artists that will take part in this year's Galway Arts Festival, the programme for which was announced on Tuesday.

The Michael Clark Company make their festival debut in Galway, with the Irish premiere of their highly anticipated new show.

Always radical and ground-breaking, blending classicism with contemporary ideas, this new production evolves from Clark's admiration for the music of rock's holy trinity, David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed.

Meanwhile, Garry Hynes and Tom Murphy, two of Ireland's theatrical greats are back working together on what is widely regarded as Murphy's masterpiece, 'The Gigli Concert', in a new production that will open Druid Theatre's newly refurbished theatre at Chapel Lane.

The Druid Debuts feature two new works from talented, fledging writers Micheal Donnellan and John O'Donovan, while the Synge Centenary celebrates the life and work of J.M. Synge in a special evening featuring many of Ireland's leading artists.

William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night's Dream undergo a compelling and riotous re-working by Edward Hall and his all-male Propeller company, while Australia's spectacular Circa return to Galway following sell-out performances in 2007 and 2008 with the European premiere of their physically astounding new show Furioso combining extreme circus skills with dance and a magnificent contemporary soundtrack.

In The Royal Exchange Theatre’s production 'Palace of the End', director Greg Hersov explores the extraordinary events of recent years in Iraq in Judith Thompson's hard-hitting, critically acclaimed new play.

The Kronos Quartet, one of the most celebrated and influential groups of our time, take to the festival stage with a programme that includes the first live performance of Damon Albarn's 'It Felt Like a Kiss' while the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, the Neil Cowley Trio, ConTempo with Alexander Balanescu and Music from the Penguin Cafe add to the eclectic music programme.

Live at the Festival Big Top, in association with POD Productions, features musicians and artists, including African world music maestro Femi Kuti; the wonderful line-up of Spiritualized with Primal Scream and David Holmes; Festival favourite David Gray with support from David Kitt and new sensation Bon Iver with support from Alela Diane.

A wonderful line-up of musicians from around the globe sees Hot 8 Brass Band, Emmy the Great, O'Death, Mary Gauthier, Andy McKee and New York Dolls join forces with a host of Irish musicians, including Fight Like Apes, Jack L, Gerry Fish & the Mudbug Club, Sean Tyrrell and Julie Feeney amongst others to perform in an array of venues throughout Galway city and county.

This year's festival will also highlight some of the very best of Irish and international comics showcasing new work and ideas with performances from Mark Thomas, Tommy Tiernan, Maeve Higgins, Dead Cat Dance, David O'Doherty and Gerry Mallon’s Laughter Loft.

Literary events meanwhile include leading journalist and film maker Ben Anderson, The Sunday Business Foreign Correspondent Niall Stanage, Irish writer and activist Colm O'Gorman and Canadian novelist Steven Galloway.

The annual Macnas Festival Parade is, this year, a spectacular, night-time event, Orfeo, under the direction of the company's new Artistic Director Noeline Kavanagh.

Other free outdoor performance and spectacle includes Germany's spectacular Theatre Titanick with Firebirds and Dance Theatre of Ireland's Bloc Party adding to the magic and diversity of this year’s programme.

Work for younger audiences includes the world premiere of a unique performance of the hilarious Flea Circus from Pignut Productions, Your Man's Puppets' The Legend of Lowry Lynch and Cork Circus' Higgeldy Piggeldy.

Galway Arts Festival has announced ABSOLUT as new partners of the Festival's ABSOLUT Visual Arts Programme, with an exhibition from the ABSOLUT Collection marking the beginning of this new partnership, featuring work from Louise Bourgeois, Pierre et Gilles and Miguel Barcelo amongst others.

Galway Arts Festival Hockney exhibits work from Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm. Other international visual artists exhibiting include Russian artist Varvara Shavrova; Norway's Lars Laumaan, and Child Soldier, a powerful exhibition offering an insight to the harrowing world of young child soldiers in Africa and the Middle East.

Irish exhibitions include a major show from Seán Cotter and Ger Sweeney with other solo exhibitions from Dolores Lyne, Lisa Sweeney, John Brady, Tracy Sweeney, John Minihan, John Kingerlee and Colm Hogan and group exhibitions from Galway collectives MART and LORG.

For more information on the Festival go online at www.galwayartsfestival.com

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