Running time
Approximately 75 minutes
Company
3 performers, 1 technician, 1 company manager
Form
Live music theatre with spoken text, song, puppetry and direct address
As the evening progresses, a small number of audience members may be invited to join the women at the table for brief moments, receiving a letter, a testimony or a short spoken text to read aloud, and becoming part of the gathering itself. This is not a participatory format in the usual sense, but an extension of the céilí’s shared social space.
Music
Music is the dramatic engine of The Last Céilí. Traditional songs and tunes do not sit beside the story. They drive it. The show is built through the relationship between voice, fiddle, concertina and rhythm, moving from the energy of a final communal gathering into longing, pressure, parting and release. Live looping allows three performers to create layered sound and a wider musical world while keeping the event immediate and human.
Staging
Designed for flexibility, playing in and around a 20 foot kitchen table with microphones and live looping. The work is suited to proscenium and studio theatres as well as non traditional playing spaces.
Technical approach
We anticipate touring with our own sound and lighting system, designed to support small to medium scale venues. In larger venues, this would be supplemented as needed by the presenting venue’s in house equipment and infrastructure.
Venue types
Theatres, festivals, university settings, museums, heritage sites and civic spaces
Scale
Intimate in means, with the energy and sound of a larger céilí band
Audience engagement
Workshops, conversations, story gathering and partner events can be shaped with presenters and host organisations