GAC – Just back from Northern Ireland!

The Global Arts Corps has just wrapped up another production leg in Northern Ireland.

We worked with both professional actors on the production side as well as touching base once more with the extraordinary Talent Tribe.

On arriving in Belfast Michael Lessac (artistic Director) and I conducted a two-day workshop that focused on cities. The workshop specifically revolved around a “re-imagined Belfast”. We asked the kids from the Talent Tribe to imagine that it’s 50 years into the future and Belfast is the best city in the world. We looked at transport, housing, schooling, public art, parks and even the infamous Belfast weather! We talked about great cities of the world like New York, Paris and London and why they work so well. Of course we couldn’t help stumbling into a discussion about the Peace Line walls that still divide the city into it’s sectarian parts – a hangover from The Troubles. Some of the ideas the kids came up with were truly astounding and once again we were truly moved by the work that Fedelma Harkin (founder of the Talent Tribe) does with the kids and how well they work together.

In the workshop we included Patrick Sanders, a Belfast based cartoonist that turned all the Talent Tribes ideas into a visual feast. Patrick was a fantastic addition to the workshop turning ideas into images that gave a pictorial representation to a beautiful “future Belfast” created by the kids.

We were lucky enough to have the BBC documentary filmmaker, James Rogan and his crew filming this workshop. Under his guidance we are cutting together not just a record of the workshop but also a piece of film that we hope to integrate into all the GAC’s work with children in both Kosovo and Cambodia in coming months.

We then went on to spend a week at the Tyrone Guthrie centre that overlooks the picturesque lake Annaghmakerrig. The Tyrone Guthrie centre allows artists to come and work in the quiet and tranquil surrounds – the only requirement being that everyone should have dinner together. We were a rowdier bunch than had ever been there before but we all got to work in the incredible setting. It wasn’t all plain sailing with Michael Lessac falling ill on the first day and ending up in hospital for a couple of days with gallstones!The work too was not easy, with much of the preparation we had done prior to coming falling away. But with some rather genius music created by Jules Maxwell the talented cast began to find their feet.

We moved back to Belfast and into rehearsals in the new Lyric Theatre. We worked in their smart new rehearsal rooms overlooking the Lagan River. It was here that the whole cast demonstrated an amazing ability to write which we used to great effect collating stories that we began to realize could be weaved into the tapestry of the play.It was a new way of working for us and really exciting to be part of. Stacey Gregg, phenomenal up and coming Northern Irish playwright was on hand to give some great suggestions of how to incorporate this work into the final piece.

We left Belfast with a real sense of optimism about the project and a real desire to come back and work with the cast as well as the kids of the Talent Tribe. The real graft begins now as we try to put the whole puzzle together and devise a script. A big thank you to all the actors who gave generously of their energy and creativity.

We also wish Michael Lessac a speedy recovery from surgery and hope he’s back to fighting fit by the time we hit Kosovo!

Nick Boraine (Associate Artistic Director)