New bus theatre experience to bring audiences through Mayo Gaeltacht this August
Innovative Irish-language production will explore biodiversity, family and the future of the Irish language
A new theatre production will transform the North Mayo Gaeltacht into a moving stage this August, with audiences travelling by bus through Belmullet and its surrounding landscape as part of an immersive performance.
Tír an Traonaigh/Land of the Corncrakes, a new Irish-language production from An Taibhdhearc and The Performance Corporation, will run from August 19 to 23, combining theatre, music, movement and projection across multiple outdoor locations.
The production focuses on two sisters, Annie and Deirbhle, whose long-running disagreement over farming, nature and the endangered corncrake unfolds against the backdrop of the Mullet Peninsula.
Inspired by the annual migration of the corncrake between Africa and North Mayo, the play explores themes of biodiversity, family relationships, memory and the future of the Irish language in the Gaeltacht.
The production stars Caitríona Ní Mhurchú (Ros na Rún, Acceptable Risk) and Maeve McGrath (Fair City, Ros na Rún), alongside Séamus Moran and Stephanie Dufresne.
Written by Tom Swift and directed by Jo Mangan, the production is performed entirely in Irish, with audiences travelling together by bus as the story unfolds across different locations in and around Belmullet.
Jo Mangan, Artistic Director of The Performance Corporation, said North Mayo continues to inspire her creative work.
“North Mayo has always been where my heart is,” she said. “It’s a place that has shaped me personally as much as it has shaped me creatively, through its extraordinary landscape, its people, its stories and the richness of its language.”
Muireann Kelly, Artistic Director and Co-CEO of An Taibhdhearc, said the collaboration reflects the national Irish-language theatre’s commitment to producing new work within Gaeltacht communities.
“It is a huge honour for us to be co-producing Tír an Traonaigh with The Performance Corporation. We are so excited to be working with the community in the North Mayo Gaeltacht,” she said.
The production is expected to offer audiences a unique theatrical experience while celebrating Mayo’s landscape, biodiversity and Irish-language.