The Five Lamps Arts Festival

Rationale
To have an annual arts festival which is area based but not exclusively so, as it is an arts festival and so some of the audience may stretch to geographical areas which are outside the immediate area.

The festival is to be based roughly in the Five Lamps area and the venues to be as follows, Connolly House, St Agatha’s hall and church, Ballybough community centre, Carleton Hall, East Wall theatre, Charleville Mall library and some other local venues. There are a number of commercial venues that have agreed to take visual art.

I work in the geographical area and in the arts area so I want this to work. My vision is to have an arts festival which is all encompassing in that it embraces all art forms and that it would over time bring the arts to a new audience. I want the local community to have a respect and an enthusiasm for the arts. I don’t want the festival or what it does to seem as if it is being imposed on the locale. I want it to grow. I believe that the arts can be an enabling factor in community development. There are a number of communities in the area,
The indigenous Dublin inner city community, this community is further divided into sub-groups attached to various parishes e.g. St Laurence O’Tooles, East Wall, St Agatha’s
Irish students/young people living and renting in the area who may move out to the suburbs or back to where they come from
Various transient non-national groups from Africa, India, China, Brazil, Russia, Poland etc
The population of workers who spend a lot of their working day in the area but at night go back to the suburbs.
Commuters on their way to work that pass through the area

Proposed Time-table for the festival

Monday 20th April
Play by Canadian writer directed by Laura Thornton. This is a one-man show about a gay man who is murdered and the story is told by various characters that live near the main character. 8pm in Connolly House at the five lamps

Tuesday 21st April The Five Lamps Theatre Company

A walk called Aristocrats and Dockers led by Pat Liddy which will include St Agatha’s church about 5pm
A new play by Niamh Gleeson in a rehearsed reading Eithne McGuiness, Cliona Cassidy and Sean McDonagh. This is Dear Frankie based on the life of Frankie Byrne

Wednesday 22nd April
Puca Puppets
Niamh Lawlor will do two shows in the Library for the festival. The shows are to be aimed at younger children. I think we should encourage the children in the schools to be the audience. She is going to do a show in Sherriff Street community centre for the festival so I will have to organise a time for this

Opening of the Visual Arts section of the festival. The venue has yet to be decided for this but it may be Ballybough Community centre

Thursday 23rd April
6pm Launch of a book of poetry by Gerry McDonnell about the Ballybough area. This is a possibility as I have to ask Donal O’Kelly if he would mind doing this before his own show
The Cambria by Donal O’Kelly in Liberty Hall at 8pm. This is wonderful show based on the writings of Douglas an escaped slave who became a friend of Daniel O’Connell

Friday 24th April
Traditional music concert in
Liberty Hall by Ceoltori Clontarf

Saturday 25th April and Sunday 26th April


Drawing Room Opera Company recital (Connolly House or church or Hall)
Organ recital St Agatha’s church
Muticultural Music may be linked with music in St Agatha’s
Dance display
Visual Art walk
Readings in the library organised by Ita O’Driscoll of fontwriters 2pm Charleville Mall library