Running time
Approximately 90 minutes
Touring company
Five people: Lisa Lambe, Eva Carroll, Caoimhe Ní Mhaolagáin, Graham McLaren as director and company manager, and one touring technician. Michael Mushalla leads North American booking and presenter relations but is not part of the travelling company.
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 modular 20 foot kitchen table with microphones and live looping. The table may be constructed or sourced locally to an agreed specification. The work is suited to proscenium and studio theatres as well as non traditional playing spaces.
Technical approach
The company anticipates touring with a compact sound, looping and lighting package designed for small and medium scale venues. This will be supplemented by each presenter’s equipment and infrastructure where required.
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
In some settings, a small number of audience members may be invited briefly into the social space of the gathering. Any participation will be clear, contained and shaped with the presenter in advance.