Mayo artist remembers murdered men at Ballina Arts Centre
On Friday September 6 a new exhibition by Conor O’Grady opens in the main gallery at 8pm. Damnatio Memoriae features sculptures, moving imagery and drawings which examine the culture and visual languages of particular violent, criminal, marginal or sectional sub-groups within Irish society. Damnatio Memoriae refers to the ancient Roman practice in which a person is punished by being erased from history. Every group represented within this installation is both condemned by and invisible to modern Irish society.
The work includes a series of diagrammatical and info-graphic drawings which portray the links and interconnected nature of all the men murdered as a result of their relationship to serious, organised criminality in Dublin City.
Born on the west coast of Ireland and now resident in Donegal, O’Grady will be familiar to Mayo audiences through his previous exhibition Kathleen Lynn: Insider on the Outside.
Opens at 8pm on Friday 6 September and runs until 26 October. All welcome to Friday’s launch. Admission free.
For more information, call 096 73593, email ballinaartscentre@gmail.com or visit www.ballinaartscentre.com
Niamh McGrath returns in famous play to Ballina Arts Centre
Enniscrone native, actress Niamh McGrath, returns to Ballina Arts Centre along with Andrew Murray in Jim Cartwright’s much loved play TWO this Saturday 7 September. Set over the course of one evening in a pub, TWO waltzes the audience through a spectrum of human emotions, weaving a rich tapestry of life through intimate insights into the lives of the colourful pub regulars. Fourteen characters are portrayed by just two actors with each character reflecting a facet of human experience like so many fragments of shattered glass. TWO is funny, poignant and still astonishingly real, 30 years after its first production.
“The writing is brilliantly, surrealistically and comically poetic.” – The Sunday Times
TWO by Loose Tea Company at Ballina Arts Centre on Saturday 7 September at 8pm. Tickets €16/€14
For more information, call 096 73593, email ballinaartscentre@gmail.com or visit www.ballinaartscentre.com
Ultimate Rod Stewart tribute act at Ballina Arts Centre
Ireland’s No.1 Rod Stewart Tribute show ‘Tonight’s the Night’ has been selling out theatres and filling ballrooms across Ireland and the UK and is rapidly becoming the most sought after tribute act in either country.
With the best, most natural ‘Rod voice’ in the world, great costume changes and songs from every era of Rod Stewart’s huge catalogue, front man Lee Hedley with his seven-piece band and backing singers will have you dancing in the aisles and singing along from the first number.
Tonight’s the Night is at Ballina Arts Centre on Friday 13 September, 8pm. Tickets: €20.
For more information, call 096 73593, email ballinaartscentre@gmail.com or visit www.ballinaartscentre.com
Traditional music and dance with a twist at Ballina Arts Centre
After the Sligo premiere of Preab Meadar, this ground-breaking show of dance-songs had everybody buzzing about the incredibly catchy music (Bernard Clarke described it as “boundary transcending”on Lyric FM) and explosively percussive dance moves.
Traditional composers Lorcán Mac Mathúna and Daire Bracken have created a whole new music genre based on the rhythms of bardic poetry and in this performance they have teamed up with sean-nós dancers Liam Scanlon and Caoimhe Ní Mhaolagáin, devising new steps suited to the unique rhythms of Preab Meadar.
With complex time signatures of 15/8, 24/8, 7/8, and 5/8, see and hear a revolution in Irish dance take place.
“An extraordinary meeting of word craft and music rhythms” – Ellen Cranitch, Lyric FM
Preab Meadar is at Ballina Arts Centre on Saturday 14th September, 8pm. Tickets: €16 / €14.
For more information, call 096 73593, email ballinaartscentre@gmail.com or visit www.ballinaartscentre.com
Poignant comedy about a blind father at Ballina Arts Centre
Centring on a dysfunctional relationship between a blind father and his sighted daughter, My Dad’s Blind, written by Anna Sheils-McNamee, uses audio recordings, irreverent comedy and real-life memories to explore a father-daughter relationship and all the awkward, embarrassing and ridiculous ways the two of them struggle to navigate a sighted world… with the help of a guide dog which has just had a stroke. Starring Steve Blount (of Game of Thrones fame) and Anna Sheils-McNamee, My Dad’s Blind is directed by Gemma Aked-Priestley and won “Best Production” at Dublin Fringe Festival 2018. It is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland.
“Feels more authentic than anything this reviewer has seen at the Fringe in years.” – The Reviews Hub
My Dad’s Blind is at Ballina Arts Centre on Wednesday 18 September, 8pm. Tickets: €18 / €16.
For more information, call 096 73593, email ballinaartscentre@gmail.com or visit www.ballinaartscentre.com
The Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) 2018-2022 is funded by the Irish Government and co-funded by the European Social Fund and includes a special allocation under the Youth Employment Initiative.
Leave a Reply