Five world and four Irish theatre premieres are promised in this year's Galway Arts Festival programme. Lorna Siggins, Western Correspondent, reports.
More than 400 writers, artists, performers and musicians from Australia, Canada, North America, Mexico, Europe, India, Iceland, Israel, Palestine and Peru will be involved in this year's event.
The official festival programme, announced yesterday, includes "raw physicality" from Jim Vincent's Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the Macnas festival parade and an expanded visual arts dimension.
Commissioned work for the arts festival will include the world premiere of King Ubu, Vincent Woods's new version of Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi.
International work includes The Gimmick, set in Harlem in the 1960s during the civil rights movement, written and performed by Pulitzer Prize nominee Dael Orlandersmith.
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Lambchop, Annoushka Shankar, Richard Thompson, the Tiger Lillies, Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill are among the musicians who will feature.
A series of six live concerts will include David Gray, UB40, the New Orleans All-Star Party and Simple Minds.
Street theatre will include The Bizzarium Street Aquarium by Les Sages Fous, along with Teatro Pachuco from Mexico, Spain's Cirq Civil and Australia's Icarus, complete with giant kangaroos.
For younger audiences, there will be the world premiere of The Clerk and the Clown, a collaboration between Mark Doherty and Mikel Murfi, while award-winning author Eoin McNamee will read in libraries throughout the county.
The visual arts programme includes an exhibition based on the theme of the sea by Hughie O'Donoghue in the new Fairgreen Gallery in Galway city, and on the Aran island of Inis Oirr's Áras Éanna Arts Centre.
David Mach's sculpture, entitled Hell Bent, will be installed by the new Galway City Museum, which is also hosting exhibitions by Josef Albers and Hans Beenhakker.
The festival's comedy element includes Owen Roe O'Neill, Adam Hills, David O'Doherty and the Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players.
Literary events will include performances by novelists and authors such as Caryl Phillips and Paddy Agnew of The Irish Times.
The 29th festival is the first under the baton of new artistic director Paul Fahy and it runs from July 17th to 30th.
Meanwhile the rival "complementary" Project 06 festival, which runs from July 16th to 30th, has lined up some 167 acts and performances.
This includes a festival ball, an apocalyptic puppet show entitled Gael Gore and a live art bus which will collect its audiences along a city route.
Project 06, which held talks with the arts festival last month in a bid to resolve differences, is publishing its full programme at the weekend.
The rival festival, which refuses to be called a "fringe", has a number of voluntary collaborators. Morning, Noon and Night is the title of its parade portraying 24 hours in the life of a Galway street. There will also be a triple bill by Galway Youth Theatre among a plethora of plays in various venues .
Project 06's extensive children's programme incorporates workshops on activities such as yoga, balloon modelling and circus skills.
Its music programme includes Mairtín O'Connor, the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain, the Saw Doctors and a number of other events ranging from jazz to traditional to rock to classical.
Literature events include collaborations such as that between crime writer Ken Bruen and musician Johnny Duhan, together with a poetry slam for 13-year-olds.
Galway Arts Festival
The programme includes: Macnas festival parade, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, David Gray, UB40, Street theatre from Mexico, Spain and Australia
Project 06
The programme includes: Project 06 Ball with Maimin Cajun Band, The Saw Doctors, Mairtín O'Connor, Little John Nee; Children's theatre and workshops; The Irish Eye visual arts show