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2020 Unique Outdoor drama Wexford

30th, celebrates Irish playwright Festival Opera

September Moves Online

| For 2020
EXAMINER Ireland’s World-Renowned Opera Festival

Takes Place Online From October 11-18

IRISH

Teach an Phiarsaigh, the cottage belonging to Patrick Pearse, one of the leaders of Ireland’s 1916 Rising
unning now until October the Moon, Hyacinth Halvey, Henry as an ancestral castle in
17,Ireland’sprestigious the- The Gaol Gate, McDonough’s 1870. Lady Gregory is known
Ratre company Druid is vis- Wife and the revolutionary to have holidayed there with The fully online ‘Waiting for Shakespeare… The Festival
iting 14 venues in County Galway Cathleen ní Houlihan, which Henry and his family. in the Air’ will take place from 11 – 18 October and feature
to deliver unique outdoor per- she wrote with Ireland’s great The fascinating visitor expe- performances, interviews, recitals, a gala concert, lectures
formances of one-act plays by poet, W.B. Yeats. rience at Kylemore reveals the and pop-up events.
AugustaLadyGregory. There will also be perform- abbey’s history of tragedy, Audiences from home and abroad will be invited to expe-
Born in 1852, Lady Gregory ances of Galway writer Tom romance, education and spiritu- rience the magic of Wexford Festival Opera from the com-
was a talented dramatist and Murphy’s first play, On the ality. Outside, the gorgeous fort of their own homes as the power of music digitally
folklorist and a key player in the Outside. grounds include a six-acre brings together opera lovers and the wider worldwide com-
development of Ireland’s liter- Some of Galway’s world- Victorian Walled Garden, munity of regular Wexford-goers.
ary culture. She was also a famous, historic sites will pro- delightful woodland and The festival will open with Rossini’s Petite Messe
founding member of Dublin’s vide the backdrop for the per- lakeshore walks and an Solennelle, dedicated to victims of the coronavirus pandem-
acclaimed Abbey Theatre. formances. Among these is enchanting neo-Gothic Church. ic, and close with a live concert from the National Opera
The DruidGregory tour was Teach an Phiarsaigh, the cot- The DruidGregory tour is House featuring renowned American lyric coloratura sopra-
launched in the historic setting tage belonging to Patrick part of the re-imagined Galway no Lisette Oropesa, with the Wexford Festival Orchestra,
of Lady Gregory’s Coole Park Pearse who was one of the lead- 2020 European Capital of conducted by Francesco Cilluffo.
home, and uses music, dance, ers of Ireland’s 1916 Rising. Culture program, which will The online celebration of music will encompass many of
poetry and song to pay tribute The Irish Workhouse see an extensive series of the- the ambitions set out by Artistic Director Rosetta Cucchi in
to her extraordinary spirit and Center at Portumna also hosts a atre, music, sport, poetry, film the previously announced program, with the inaugural
influence. performance, as does the stun- and visual art events run until Wexford Factory, a professional development academy for
Tony Award-winner Garry ning nineteenth-century, March 2021. young Irish and Irish-based singers, being retained.
Hynes is directing the Kylemore Abbey, one of Over the next six months it Academy singers will be mentored by professional opera
DruidGregory company, which Ireland’s fairy-tale destinations. will offer both live and digital singers such as tenor Juan Diego Flórez and will also per-
includes another Tony Award- Located in the heart of components ranging over 28 form scenes from Verdi’s Falstaff from the National Opera
winner, Marie Mullen, playing Connemara on the Wild projects and hundreds of events House, which will be streamed online.
Lady Gregory. The plays being Atlantic Way, Kylemore Abbey on the theme of ‘Language, Other events will include a star-studded gala concert fea-
performed are The Rising of was originally built by Mitchell Landscape and Migration’. C turing some of the opera world’s top performers, most of
whom performed in Wexford early in their careers.
A special dinner-time recital by the celebrated Irish sopra-
no Celine Byrne, as well as a new opera by artist-in-resi-
dence and composer Andrew Synnott will also take place.
Pop-up performances, which will take place daily in
Wexford town in accordance with social distancing guide-
lines, will ensure a local community element to the festival.
The re-imagined festival highlights the indomitable cre-
ativity and spirit of Wexford Opera, which was founded in
1951.
Over the last 69 years the festival has built an internation-
al reputation for excellence, with thousands of opera-lovers
from all around the world annually flocking to the former
Viking stronghold in Ireland’s Ancient East.
Wexford’s commitment to the highest artistic standards
has seen it emerge as one of the world’s leading opera festi-
vals and anticipation for the seventieth anniversary celebra-
tion of the classic art form next year will be high.
Full details of the 2020 festival, including a downloadable
brochure and a personal video presentation by Rosetta Cucchi,
The Irish Workhouse Center at Portumna is available through www.wexfordopera.com. C