World Premiere of The Blue Boy

Brokentalkers have not long returned to Dublin from Noorderzoon Festival in Groningen after spending the month of August rehearsing and further developing their production of The Blue Boy. Originally featured in the 2010 Development Strand, we are so excited to have Brokentalkers as part of the 2011 main programme. Brokentalkers set up in 2001, their work responds to the contemporary world -  their 2009 production, Silver Stars, based on the real life stories of Irish gay men, performed by a community cast, received rave reviews and toured round the world. 

Earlier this year, the Festival and Brokentalkers were part of the first 5 projects to go live with the new Irish crowdfunding website, Fundit. After having the piece in Development last year, we were anxious to see how we could get it to the Festival stage for the 2011 Festival and needed to look at other forms of Fundraising. One thing that Brokentalkers required was time and resources, and in particular, to work on the choreography. That’s where Fundit came in. Due to the generosity of over 80 donors, we were able to have a week of rehearsal time with renowned choreographer Eddie Kay which added another layer to an already extraordinary piece of work. 

Gary Keegan Directing

The Blue Boy, brainchild of Feidlim Cannon and Gary Keegan, was devised in response to the Ryan and Cloyne Report but it also touches on a more personal level - Gary Keegan’s grandfather was an undertaker who occasionally needed to visit in the Artane Industrial School and part of his job was measuring out coffins using folding rulers for those children who died while in institutional care. The school plays a large part in the lives of anyone who has grown up in the area and it is with this, a very personal piece for many. 

This production deals with the experiences of men and women who were incarcerated as children in Catholic residential care institutions. Using recorded interviews, live performers in handmade masks, music and film, The Blue Boy attempts to give fresh theatrical voice to recently revealed stories of childhood abuse in Ireland. Have no qualms,  The Blue Boy is a strong and emotional piece of theatre that confronts the current Catholic Church abuse scandal head on but Brokentalkers through their unique sensitive approaches to express what can often be hard to articulate create a sense of reflection and succeed in informing society on the past event.   

Do not miss the world premiere of this astonishing piece of theatre!