3 days ago
Why Irish language theatre is more important than ever
Ahead of their production of newly translated short works by Samuel Beckett, Muireann Kelly, the Artistic Director of An Taibhdhearc, celebrates the work of the Galway-based National Irish Language Theatre.
In 2028 An Taibhdhearc, the National Irish Language Theatre, will celebrate its centenary.
In 2024, the board of An Taibhdhearc was awarded €5.78 million from the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht to support the development of an ambitious programme of work that will run until the end of 2027. The focus will be to support artists working in Irish, to develop, produce and tour new work and adaptations of classical repertoire, while engaging with audiences who are fluent, learning or Gaeilge-curious across Ireland. This substantial funding comes after years of hard (and often unrecognised) work from the board and theatre-makers who work as Gaeilge. As we head into the next 100 years, it could not have come at a better time, as Irish, particularly in the arts, sees a revival.
At a time when being Irish and able to express ourselves in Irish is of utmost importance, it is vital that minoritised languages and underrepresented voices and stories be heard. This is a time where our National Irish Language Theatre could not be more important. We started our 2025 programme at the Galway Theatre Festival in May with a Belfast story, Dathanna Geala Amháin by Pauline Goldsmith, which toured and sold out from Gaoth Dobhair to Axis Ballymun, finishing up in An Cultúrlann in Belfast.
I started planning this programme in 2024 and started building a new team in January 2025. After having worked in Scottish theatre for over 30 years, it was quite the transition. Some things felt a little more familiar than others. Having set up and run a touring theatre company for 10 years (Theatre Gu Leòr), having made work in Gàidhlig and other minoritised languages, I had met some of the same challenges before, but in a language that was a first cousin to Irish.
At a time when being Irish and able to express ourselves in Irish is of utmost importance, it is vital that minoritised languages and underrepresented voices and stories be heard.
If I go right back, I got my first job at 19 working backstage in the Gaiety on a show with Maureen Potter and Siobhán McKenna, whom I remember very fondly. I wonder what she would make of that teenager finding her way back to An Taibhdhearc, a theatre Siobhán knew and loved so well.
I then went on to work backstage in the Gate Theatre and found myself staring at black-and-white photos of Micheál Mac Liammóir which adorned the walls of the foyer at the time. I was privileged enough to learn from a generation of actors, directors, and artists there that have inspired me ever since. These historical connections between the work that Mac Liammóir did at the Gate and at An Taibhdhearc have always been with me. Indeed, the connections do not end there - my first few acting jobs in the Abbey, I found myself sharing the stage with another young actor at the time: Sarah Jane Scaife.
All these years later, I am privileged enough to be able to collaborate with Sarah Jane and her team at Company SJ - producing newly translated short works by Beckett: Footfalls, Not I, Rockaby and Fizzle 4 which she has directed for GIAF, the highlight of our new programme in 2025.
