Return to the drawing board
Moonfish are back in the devising room this month. The workshop is littered with books and instruments with ideas flying around all over the place – a great place to be and we feel very lucky as St Patrick’s Day approaches.
A few months ago we started chatting to Graham and Neil (new artistic directors of The Abbey) about developing a piece together. They’ve invited us to take part in the Abbey’s new residency programme, and to present a work-in-progress showing in the Peacock Theatre. The Peacock has been re-opened as a space for developing new work and The Abbey are helping us to develop Redemption Falls as part of their ‘What Happens Next Is This’ programme. We’ve had Redemption Falls in the back of our minds for a while and it’s what might be called a continuation of Star of the Sea. We love Joseph O’Connor’s writing and Redemption Falls had been calling out to us as it allows us to continue our exploration of storytelling through folk song, music, dance and languages.
Focusing on what happens next and moving forward with a new project is incredibly exciting for us. At the same time, we’re able to put some resources towards work on a revival. Last week we received the excellent news that we’ve been awarded funding to take Star of the Sea on tour once again. Star of the Sea will set sail across the sea for several dates in America, having first played at The Town Hall Theatre, Galway. Upon our return from the New World we’ll visit The Cork Everyman and NOMAD venues… We developed Star of the Sea in 2014 – I’d say 2017 offers a dramatically different world stage for Star of the Sea to play upon. I’m intrigued to see how Star of the Sea’s 2017 sailing will play in a time when immigration is, if possible, taking up more column inches than it was when we premiered. It’ll be interesting to see if there’ll be an appetite for a Star of the Sea / Redemption Falls Double Bill at some point in the future.
Back on to new works for Moonfish, we’re thrilled to be redeveloping Moonfish Pop-Up Worlds in conjunction with the egg at The Theatre Royal, Bath. The egg is a centre for creativity and innovation and we’re currently plotting with them to become a part of their radical education project, School Without Walls later this year. We’ll be updating you on this project all via our social media channels so keep your eyes peeled.