Getting to heart of giant story

Lifestyle – The annual Macnas Halloween parade will take place on Sunday night in Galway City, with a new director at its helm. Dan Colley tells JUDY MURPHY about working with a company that makes magic happen and how this year’s event weaves mythology from Mexico and Ireland as it honours the connection betwen the living and the dead.

A street-urchin and seemingly self-assured thief who is really a young boy riven by grief is the main character in this year’s Macnas parade, Danse Macabre which will take place in Galway City on Sunday night, starting at 5.30pm.

Conor is a 12-foot vagrant, living in a market in Oaxaca, Mexico. He has suffered a profound tragedy but has buried his grief. His salvation comes via a mystical woman, Marina Sabina. Also a giant, she emerges from the mountain mists during the time of year when the living and dead are closest to brings him on a journey of discovery and healing.

Director of Danse Macabre, Dan Colley is well-versed in Irish mythology and while living in Mexico, he was struck by the similarities between Irish and Mexican culture. So, he decided to marry them for this, his debut outing as the Macnas parade’s Artistic Director.

Dan is well aware that the 70,000 plus people who’ll be watching the event on Sunday night mightn’t get all the nuances of Conor’s story. But, over a snatched lunchbreak at the Macnas headquarters in Fisheries Field, beside NUIG, he explains that it was crucial for the creative team to explore all aspects of the troubled boy and his environment.

Before they began welding giant sculptures and creating smaller mobile puppets, as well as making the costumes and masks, composing the music and settling on the overall feel of the event, they needed to flesh out his story. That attention to detail is crucial to the Macnas magic, he says, explaining that magical realism is the driving force behind Danse Macabre.

“It’s set in a market place, a marvellous, cacophonous place where everything is for sale and also where people live out their lives.

“It’s the sort of place where you could come for cornmeal and stay forever, so your descendants would be there then, selling lightbulbs or herbal tinctures.”

A place, therefore, where everything and anything could happen – and will, all going to Dan’s plan.

As he outlines the work being done by the Macnas backroom team, there’s no doubting the commitment, creativity and talent involved.

The company’s Artistic Director Noeline Kavanagh pops into the tearoom to say hello before returning to her current preoccupation, an epic production for Galway 2020. Gilgamesh will feature in various venues countywide and online throughout the year, with a spectacular Summer highlight promised.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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