Portrait of the poet – Siobhán relishing challenge of Eavan Boland project
“An amazing education,” is how actress Siobhán Cullen describes working on Druid Theatre’s latest production, Boland: Journey of a Poet which is running from this Thursday at the company’s Mick Lally Theatre and available on livestream and to download.
Based entirely on words written by Eavan Boland who died last April, it examines her life as a poet and critic and the trail she blazed in Ireland’s cultural and social life.
Dublin-born Siobhán who now lives in London, studied Boland for the Leaving Cert and “had a loose knowledge about her but not about the vast amount she wrote”.
Nor did she know that Boland had lived in Dundrum, “down the road from my family home in Rathfarnham”.
Siobhán, who most recently appeared in Druid’s Once Upon a Bridge in February, is delighted to be back in Galway, and says “there’s a lovely sense of focus, living here 10 minutes from work”.
That work is pretty intensive at the moment “in that it’s only me – and every word in the script is Eavan’s”, she says with a laugh. Those words, taken from Boland’s poetry and critical work, have been edited by author Colm Tóibín and the show is directed by Druid’s Artistic Director Garry Hynes. While Siobhán is the only performer, artist Debbie Chapman will also be on stage, creating a portrait over four live performances.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.