During 2022 The Ministry For All Beings ( code name TM FAB) came to life. A secret agency, working to protect and promote the rights of all beings, human and more-than-human, by creating radical, playful and collaborative artistic happenings.Children and adults all over Ireland trained to become TM FAB Agents of Change. .In the Autumn of 2022 TM FAB worked with over 500 people on an artistic mission called 'Create The Future'. Together we built a giant dome in a creative celebration of our connected place in the web of life that is planet Earth.
Muckabout was an interactive theatre experience for early-year audiences that explored the importance of free 'Play' and connection to the earth. Children were invited to play barefoot on a ton of soil while adults took a seat and quietly reflected on what 'Play' is now, what it was for them as children and what they hope it will be in the future. Created as part of The Earth Project, a two-year project exploring soil. Supported by The Arts Council, The Civic Theatre Tallaght, and Tallaght Community Arts.
Grow was a participatory theatre project and performance that explored the question, "where is a good place to grow?" Investigating our relationship with place and planet. The project took place in Tallaght in Dublin, produced in partnership with Civic Theatre Tallaght and Tallaght Community Arts and supported by The Arts Council and South Dublin County Council.
Sensing Soil was a collaboration between artists, researchers, and place. Exploring the greek myth of Persephone as an allegory for the turning of the seasons, we explored the ancient roots of the story. We created a participatory performance that invited the audience to step into the world of the story. Participants wandered through the meadow, spoke to birds in trees, and took part in a ritual around the well. Created in collaboration with Touchstones and The Abbey Meadow Callan as part of The Earth Project, a two-year project exploring Soil. Supported by The Arts Council.
This production was an epic adventure through strange lands and stormy seas. Voyage followed a young boy's journey into an imaginary world as he finds his courage and rebuilds his reconnection with his father. 'Voyage' was supported by The Arts Council and supported by The Strollers touring theatre network.
The Vagabond is our little canvas venue, a place to have your feet on the earth and your imagination open to the stars. Over the years, it has held space for small theatre shows, storytellers, puppet shows, performances, music, comedy, yoga sessions, gatherings, and more. It has visited fields, forests, gardens and city parks. We love it dearly, and now and again, we get to put it up and experience the magic once more.
Using detailed paper models and playful storytelling, Magic Bookshop explored the archetypal threads that weave through the Grimm's Fairytales. The show takes place during the tea break in the bookshop. Once the stories are told, the audience is invited to browse the shop and take home a book. Commissioned by Roscommon Arts Centre.
A band of traveling tellers from the far North told the tale of a young girl's adventure to bring back the sun. Described as 'a window of beauty in the madness of the consumer season', the show had its first life on the streets of Dublin before taking to venues with a national tour. Inspired by Lucia and the Light by Philis Root. Funded by the Arts Council and supported by the Nomad touring network.
Set Sail allowed us to create two more chapters in our series of untold stories from Gullivers Travels. We were taking on the challenge of creating two simultaneous performances. We made a Lilliputian bakery needing the audiences' help to bake piles of tiny bread delivered by boat, to a hungry giant. On the other side of town, participants were helping to load mysterious cases into the hold of a ship ready to go on a fantastic voyage to a far-off land. Commissioned by The Model Arts Centre and The Hawkswell Theatre for Culture Night.
Inspired by Gullivers Travels, we created two interactive installations in two different locations. At The Harkswell Theatre, participants were invited to help Gulliver choose the Lilliputian artifacts, that he would present to the Royal Academy. In The Model Arts Centre, we built the shanty shack for the tailor of Lilliput. Participants could join him inside as he explained his measuring techniques and tried to unravel the mystery of the giant footprints that had destroyed his house. Commissioned by The Model Arts Centre and The Hawkswell Theatre for Culture Night.
An intuitive participatory storytelling performance inspired by the gifts of nature. Participants young and old, were given a collecting basket and invited to forage for inspiration. Before heading back to the storytelling tent to work with the Story Weavers, to create a new and spontaneous story with live improvised music inspired by place. Created initially at The Earth Song Festival and developed during a residency at Kilruddery House and Gardens. Story Weavers toured to a variety of unusual venues.
As part of the Tallaght Unwrapped Festival, we brought the story of The Selfish Giant to life in the Library. We were offering the people of Tallaght an opportunity to gather together to hear this classic tale performed with simple props and engaging storytelling. Before they stepped out into the cold winters night to experience an outdoor extravaganza inspired by the story and created by the community. Commissioned by Tallaght Community Arts.
Inspired by Anna Newell's question to us, "where do things go when you forget them?" Losha explored themes of memory and time. Audience members gathered close to an angular pod to hear Losha, the star-maker, tell them stories of the things she liked to collect; small things, important things, things that have been forgotten. Created under the mentorship of Charlot Lemoine of Vélo Théatre, France. Supported by The Arts Council, Roscommon Art Centre, and Roscommon Arts Office.I
At the Temple House Music Festival, we invited a team of 25 national and international artists to come together, to meet each other, to play, collaborate and create an evolving festival field full of fun and creativity for children and adults. The result was an enriching weekend of unexpected happenings and playful exchanges in a beautiful setting.
Inspired by the book, The Paper Princess by Elisa Kleven. This was a playful interactive theatre experience that explored the themes of bravery, hope, and home using the technique of Toy Theatre. We invited participants to a birthday party and asked them to help us make many paper princes and princesses. Then it was time to settle down for a story and disappear into the magical miniature world inside the Toy Theatre. The Paper Princess Toured Nationally and appeared at The Stamsund International Theatre Festival and The Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
The Connections Project brought together young people and professional artists to devise and create as equals. Setting out with nothing more than the title of 'Inside Out' as a prompt. We produced a piece of multi-media theatre in one week, which explored the relationship between gaming and reality. The artists and young people worked as a collaborative team. They wrote, designed, made projections, and created music. Their work was woven together to create a show which featured the teenagers as projected characters. Allowing the young people to be both audience and performer, both inside and out. Social Entrepreneurs Ireland supported the Connections project.
This was an ingenious adaptation of Alice's adventures in Wonderland, set in the gardens of Kilruddery House, Bray. The audience was invited to follow four Alices and one White Rabbit down the rabbit hole and join them on an adventure through a real-life wonderland. Participants took part in a giant Caucas Race, took advice from The Cheshire Cat, and tucked into an enormous mad hatters tea party. With live music by Kila's Dee Armstrong and Eoin O'Brien. Commissioned by Killruddery Arts.
Inspired by the idea that children always prefer to play with the box rather than the present. We created a story about two children who receive an empty box for Christmas. Soon enough, they find themselves on a magical adventure into their imaginations. Beginning with the material of cardboard and paper, we explored themes of materialism, play, and creativity. Commissioned by The Mermaid Arts Centre. Restaging and tour supported by The Nomad Theatre network.
A rambunctious physical theatre performance without words. A young man on a train meets a mysterious girl and her mother and soon finds himself lost in a dreamlike world of mixed-up fairytales. Grimm Jam toured nationally, visited the Glastonbury music festival and The Stamsund International Theatre festival Norway. Supported by The Arts Council.
The Grandmother was a heartwarming physical storytelling performance using minimal props. The show tells the story of a lonely and bitter old woman who opens her door one day to discover that she has a grandson, George has come to stay. Whether she likes it or not. Inspired by recordings of Grandmothers talking about their experiences of grand-motherhood. The piece explored themes of loneliness, connection, friendship, and play. The Grandmother toured Nationally and visited The Stamsund International Theatre Festival, Norway.
Exploring the world of dreams and things that hide under the bed. Chilly in the dark times was a physical theatre production using puppets and object manipulation to bring dreams to life. Commissioned by Young at Art. Toured Northern Ireland.
A bittersweet physical comedy exploring the dreams of two women stuck in the most mundane of jobs, processing other people's lost property. The piece explored themes of friendship, limitation, and hope. Toured Northern Ireland and appeared at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it was described as 'Poignant, brilliant, and at times oddly uplifting theatre' by The Stage.