Torrential rain did not deter actors from performing an elaborate outdoor spectacle on Galway’s Claddagh Basin on Friday night.
Fíbín an Taibhdhearc’s production of “An Fear Liath” or The Grey Man commanded a full house on the city’s waterfront for the one-hour play which was staged as part of the Galway International Arts Festival.
As Afloat reported previously, billed as a tale that “walks between this world and the next”, the plot in the Irish language moves between reality and superstition, making the most of all five senses as night falls.
When a fishing vessel with four crew fails to return, the skipper’s daughter, Joan, returns home to demand answers and clear her family’s name.
Stage for the play is a floating pontoon on the Claddagh basin, and a JCB proves its versatility for the cast kitted out in bright yellow sou’westers and oilskins.
Headphones provided at the entrance ensure the audience have no acoustic issues for the narration as Gaeilge, underpinned by a powerful musical score.
A team of sub-aqua divers are employed for the “search” for the vessel, with members of Bádóirí An Cladaigh hauling up the sails of several Galway hookers.
Spotlights around the Claddagh basin then fall on a floating shipwreck, with “An Fear Liath” or the “Grey Man” on board.
The plot draws on a west coast superstition that a person never dies at sea, but is pulled into another medium by this otherworldly figure or “grey man”.
Stage for the play is a floating pontoon on the Claddagh basin, and a JCB proves its versatility for the cast kitted out in bright yellow sou’westers and oilskins Photo: Eileen O'Donohoe
Written by Philip Doherty, who has been artistic director with Fíbín for the past three years, it was directed by Fran Nunez of the Galician National Theatre/Centro Dramatico Galego of northern Spain. The production also involved Dutch theatre company Tryater.
Doherty’s collaboration with Fíbín has already broken new ground. He wrote “Fiach”, the first “drive-in play” in Ireland which was staged out in Indreabhán in August 2020 in the early stages of the pandemic.
He also wrote and directed “Cogadh na Saoirse”, a play about the war of independence involving a cast of 50 on 14 stages across a four-acre site and musical direction by Julie Feeney.
With this world premiere of “An Fear Liath”, Doherty, Nunez, Fíbín and partners create a captivating night-time adventure, stretching boundaries to make the most of Galway’s Atlantic setting. There was prolonged applause for this performance – one would only wish there were credits.
"An Fear Liath" plays for one more night, Saturday July 27th, at the Galway International Arts Festival.
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