Arcadia Ireland

Irish culture is best known internationally for its music. Traditional Irish music is at the forefront of any Irish event across the globe and rightly so. However, its lesser known counterpart deserves as much credit. Irish theatre has a long and bountiful history. Storytelling is a tradition that has taken place in Ireland for centuries and a rich oral history still survives today. Luckily, a group of our Maynooth University and Queens University Belfast students got to witness Irish story telling in all of its glory on Tuesday as part of their Arcadia cultural experience.

After a day of orientation and exploring, we headed out to see Irish playwright Martin McDonagh’s ‘The Pillowman.’ We walked up Grafton Street keeping an eye out for some buskers (that was a whole new phenomenon that had gained a few giggles over lunch) and arrived at Dublin’s famous ‘Gaeity Theatre.’ Built in 1871, The Gaiety has hosted wonderful shows for over a century. One very Irish tradition that The Gaeity hosts is its pantomimes which run every December and January. A kind of musical comedy, pantomimes will remind most Irish people of their childhood Christmas’, whether it was going to see one in the local hall, or getting to head up to the Gaiety itself for the  most famous ‘panto’ around. Screams of ‘’He’s Behind You!!’’ have echoed through the Gaiety’s beautiful walls for years.

It was a much more eerie tale that was performed on our visit. As we settled into our seats some dark and disturbing music chimed as the lights went low. For just over two hours we were transported into a world of horror, murders and torture. This may sound a little dark, but McDonagh (best known as the writer of ‘In Bruges’) made sure to keep the mood light with some Irish charm and an abundance of dark humour. McDonagh’s stories within the play are enchantingly captivating and certainly left our minds reeling. At moments the audience were unsure whether to laugh or cry, but in the end, a beautiful and bittersweet story left us with lots to mull over.  

Discussion was ripe as we stepped back into the cold and clear Dublin night. A quick stop in Subway (as we like to say; ‘you can take the student out of America but you can’t take America out of the student!’) and a brisk walk home rounded up a really enjoyable evening.

Tuesday served as a great introduction to one of Ireland’s most impressive characteristics and we at Arcadia hope it encourages students to seek out Ireland’s rich creative history.