Street stories

Date Published: 19-Jun-2009

NOELINE Kavanagh is under no illusion about the task that’s ahead of her as she and her team prepare for Orfeo, her first Macnas Arts Festival Parade since taking over as the theatre company’s artistic director last year.

It’s not the Renmore woman’s first time directing a parade – Noeline became the youngest ever Macnas parade director in 1998 with Carnival of Fools – but it’s the first in which she can demonstrate her vision for the company.

And if ever a company needed a vision, it’s Macnas which was once the pride of Galway but has lost its creative edge in recent years.

However, Noeline, who rose through the ranks of Macnas, is a good candidate to lead it in a new direction and give it a fresh sense of purpose. She studied Drama and Theatre in Trinity and since graduating, has worked in theatre in Ireland and abroad, focusing on community theatre, and having
had a particularly fruitful period with UK based Welfare State International.

Noeline’s vision for this year’s Arts Festival parade, a night time event, is to create “a…