Crithir Productions, theatre with a twist
By Fionnuala Gray
Crithir, an Irish word which means a spark of fire or wit. Crithir Productions is a Galway’s newest bilingual theatre company, the aim of Crithir Productions is to “create theatre in unusual and ephemeral spaces and share the stories of the marginalised”. We spoke to recent University of Galway graduate and founder of Crithir Productions, Hannah Bevan, where she shared an insight into the company’s first experience titled ‘Thesis_final_FINAL(5).docx’ and set to be shown in the Galway Theatre Festival on May 4th from 10am to 8pm.
Unlike traditional theatre which has an audience and actors, ‘Thesis_final_FINAL(5).docx’ is an interactive an piece of theatre, “it’s immersive in that it aims to create an actual place, it’s not like your average theatre where there’s an obvious fourth wall”. In this piece of theatre, the usual fourth wall is non-existent as you enter the theatre space on your own. The central character of this is a girl named Ailbhe Nic Lochlainn, who is a final year Irish and Translations Studies student struggling to complete her thesis. As a single member of the audience, you will be invited to enter into Ailbhe’s bedroom. While speaking to Hannah, we got an overview of the type of space the audience member will be setting foot in, “you will be invited into her bedroom, you can look around, you can take in the space and watch these vlogs she’s recorded which document her experiences over the semester as she falls further and further behind”.
As the singular audience member, you can choose to approach this space however you like. Hannah went on to tell us about the reception she received for this piece when she did it for her research project in University of Galway, “some people didn’t touch anything, some tried to tidy for her cause it’s quite a messy space”. This piece is all about how you wish to treat Ailbhe’s space. The main theme ‘Thesis_final_FINAL(5).docx’ wants to explore is human empathy and connection. We asked Hannah to delve deeper into this theme for us, “its exploring the extend of human empathy, can you connect with someone who’s not there?…Can absence be as strong as a person’s presence?”.
As someone who is passionate about the Irish Language, Hannah also discussed with us the way in which this piece relates to the Irish Language. The way we experience the character Ailbhe is a similar way we experience the Irish Language, “the Irish Language exists in this weird space where its absence is tangible, you don’t really think about it, but you do feel it”. Aside from these two main ideas, ‘Thesis_final_FINAL(5).docx’ also explores what defines theatre, can theatre exist without an audience or an actor? When we think of theatre, we think of a specific structure which involves an audience and actors, “the actors are feeding off the audience…there’s a feedback loop of collective engagement”.
But what happens when the fundamental parts of theatre, the audience and actors, are taken out of the picture? The key element that makes Crithir Productions a breath of fresh air is the way it aims to challenge the traditional view of what theatre is and what people think theatre should be, and the new company is set to do this with its first story being showcased on May 4th.
