Groundbreaking Blue Teapot to host international festival

Arts Week with Judy Murphy

Galway’s innovative Blue Teapot Theatre Company which works with people who have an intellectual disability is continuing to break new ground.  The award-winning group has teamed up with similar companies from across Europe to host Crossing the Line, a unique festival of theatre and dance which was commissioned by Galway 2020.

Crossing the Line, which has been four years in the making, will take place in Galway City from May 20-23, hosting shows from Poland, Sweden, Wales, England, the Netherlands and France, as well as from Ireland.

For Galwegians the highlight will be Into the Dark Woods, the debut drama from Blue Teapot’s own Charlene Kelly, which is being presented by the company in association with the Abbey Theatre.

Charlene has previously performed in Blue Teapot productions including the award-winning and acclaimed theatre show, Sanctuary and the subsequent screen version of the same name, but this is a new departure for her.

“It was my idea and I worked with Eileen Gibbons to put it in a modern-day context,” she explains, referring to writer and actress Eileen, who is a tutor with Blue Teapot.

Into the Dark Woods grew out of A Blank Page, a project that involved Blue Teapot members writing their own individual short stories. Co-ordinated by Eileen, A Blank Page was the brainchild of the company’s Artistic Director Petal Pilley.

“Charlene’s is an amazing story and when I looked at it first, I thought it was so cool and so strong visually and theatrically; the way she said things and the images, like when the birds flew up” recalls Eileen. “It’s like spun gold.”

Their mutual affection and respect are apparent as the two outline how the process worked.

“Charlene is well-talented, well-trained and very disciplined and so am I,” says Eileen, and Charlene, who also has a razor-sharp sense of humour, nods in agreement.

Her wish for the play is that “it goes well and is brought out to the public”.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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