As Dublin based theatre collective THEATREclub make their Abbey Theatre début with their acclaimed Ireland Trilogy, we asked THEATREclub to introduce the production. Here's what they wrote:
The Ireland Trilogy is an ambitious theatre event comprising three performance pieces made by THEATREclub over the past six years.
The Family, HEROIN and HISTORY trace an unwritten narrative of Ireland, one that looks at the recent past through the lens of equality. Have we treated all the children of the nation equally? The Family is a polemic on the contemporary Irish family unit. HEROIN explores theneglected spaces and the social history of heroin in Ireland over the last 55 years. HISTORY is the story of a community who were failed by the state and their fight for housing.
A key element of THEATREclub’s artistic process is working with everyday experts, people with lived experience of the material the work is exploring. We believe that the people we are working with, whether they be heroin users on HEROIN or women who have exited prostitution on The Game are artists. On ITS NOT OVER, IRA Volunteers worked with us in the room, often taking on different roles within the production - writing, directing, designing - collaborating with other artists who don’t have any lived experience of the subject. We interrogate and collaborate with these people.
From HEROIN by THEATREclub
Our process is different to ‘verbatim theatre’ because we hold parity of esteem between ourselves and the people who have lived the world of the show. The rules of the sex trade were used as a conceit within The Game, the rules of the IRA were the conceit within the ITS NOT OVER campaign, and the power structures of addiction were used as a conceit within HEROIN.
This is how THEATREclub process our these worlds within the work.
THEATREclub are champions of conversations that challenge preconceived notions.
Taboo specialists - our shows are about topics that are banned from dinner parties.
The volunteers have been branded thugs, drug dealers, troublemakers, undesirables.
We are naming them as heroes.
HISTORY was originally created as a Public Art Commission from the Dublin City Council Arts Office. The Ireland Trilogy plays at The Abbey Theatre, Dublin, from November 19-26 - times and details here.
