Aesop's tale of the Celtic Tiger should appeal to all

HE MAY not have heard about the Celtic Tiger, but Aesop was remarkably prescient about the Irish economy and how it’s gone from boom to bust over the past decade when he was writing his famous fables – or so reckons playwright and actor, Jack Healy.

Healy, founder of Cork-based Theatre Makers, is currently undertaking a production of Aesop's Fableswhich he co-wrote with fellow actor George Hanover. It opened yesterday and runs for a week at the Gougane Barra Hotel in Cork, aimed at a family audience.

True, the fables were penned over 2,500 years ago, but Healy has no doubt that modern audiences, young and old, can easily relate to Aesop’s tales of anthropomorphic animals.

“I think the core philosophies communicated in the fables are always relevant to the human condition – take the story of the hare and the tortoise and look at the Irish economy over the last decade – is it closer to the spirit of the hare or the spirit of the tortoise?” he asks.

The production, Aesop's Fabulous Foibles and Fables, first saw the light of day at the 2008 Cork Midsummer Festival and since then Theatre Makers has toured the country, with performances in Leitrim, Louth the Midlands, Cork and Kerry.

"It has been very well received. It's very much a collaborative piece and while we have taken a few liberties with the original – in our version of The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, the wolf isn't eaten – it remains very true to the original.

“The stories speak for themselves and, from our point of view, the children identify with every aspect of what’s presented to them. They identify very strongly with the hare, for example, even though they invariably and ultimately take the tortoise’s side,” says Healy.

The decision to stage the play at the Gougane Barra Hotel stems from contact between Theatre Makers actor David Coon, who lives in nearby Inchigeelagh, and hotel owner, Neil Lucey, who has already hosted summer productions there including The Tailor and Ansty.

“It’s just a marvellous venue – a beautifully tranquil spot, and we will have a marquee there for the play so there’s good space to work in, while we will also be running drama workshops all week there for children from six up to 15 years old.

“And the play is just great fun once you start building characters around the core elements from Aesop. The issues that are explored are so integral to the human condition – they are over 2,500 years old, but I can see them being around for a long time to come.”

For details on Aesop's Fabulous Foibles and Fables, and the workshops, both of which run until Saturday, contact Gougane Barra Hotel on 026-47069 or see www.theatremakers.net