Currently running in Galway's Taibhdhearc, 'Baoite' follows a couple struggling to have a family, through the process of IVF. Writer, director and producer, Darach Mac Con Iomaire talks about the newly written piece commissioned by the Abbey Theatre.
Thanks to modern technology, surtitles along with the very physical nature of 'Baoite' mean those who aren't fluent in Irish won't be lost in translation. 'Baoite' is set to play a pivotal role in this year's Galway International Arts Festival and Mac Con Iomaire has been commissioned to write a separate, English-language version of the drama due to the predicted success of this piece.
Mac Con Iomaire says The National Theatre commissioning original new work in Irish gives him confidence, as it focuses on the strength of the script not on the medium in which it's performed.
"It's not about language, it just happens to be in Irish at the moment..."
Set in an unnamed fishing village in the West of Ireland with a backdrop of the fracking controversy, 'Baoite' examines a 'very human story a lot of people can connect with'. Mac Con Iomaire admits the production has been an undertaking, not only as it's a new piece of work but also as the production is also physically challenging.
Táimid ag obair i gcomhar leis @AnTaibhdhearc le premiere domhanda den dráma #Baoite a léiriú mar chuid den @GalwayIntArts #GIAF18 #OutOfTheAbbey – Ticéid agus eolas https://t.co/pUhmosxsNs pic.twitter.com/xOrFLkNPhG
— Abbey Theatre (@AbbeyTheatre) July 9, 2018
Facing into the first few performances is both 'incredibly exciting but also terrifying' prospect for Mac Con Iomaire whose most recent work, Aisling will also take to the road later this year.
'Baoite' is currently showing as part of the Galway International Arts Festival
