Sruth na Teanga – a moving intelligent exploration of Irish

REVIEW BY JUDY MURPHY

Branar Téatar do Pháistí has exceeded all its previous ambitions with its current show, Sruth na Teanga, a Galway 2020 project which is running at the transformed terminal building of Galway Airport.

The show which mixes mime, cinematography, music, occasional flashes of comedy and audience participation (in a good, non-invasive way) is a poetic telling of the Irish language from the time it landed on these shores until now.

It’s primarily for children but welcomes adults too, although it’s no easy feat to facilitate audiences of all ages. The Creator and Director of Sruth na Teanga (Stream of Language) Marc Mac Lochlainn does just that in a show that comes in 45 minutes and brings people on an extraordinary emotional as well as a physical journey.

The terminal building of Galway Airport has been divided into five different spaces and from the moment our small group enters the first one – a dark woodland with real trees – we are taken out of our own lives, via a mix of real, live actors and projections. Ancient myths and legends are put centre stage, giving an insight into how Irish developed, before we’re led into another space where we see its heyday. Here, via a series of animated drawings, we watch it evolve, enriching European culture as well as being enriched by other tongues. Monks, round towers, Viking boats, saints – all unfold before our eyes until the reign of Queen Elizabeth and all is upended.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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