A Council-lead Galway City community outreach programme which was transformed into an international touring play has received a second run with its original cast – 15 years later.
Here We Are Again Still, an important piece of community theatre by award winning playwright Christian O’Reilly, explores the themes of social isolation, community, and the power of friendship.
The programme is being showcased as part of #YourCouncilDay on July 5, which is highlighting the role of county and city councils in supporting people in their daily lives.
Commissioned in 2008, by Megs Morley, Public Arts Officer at Galway City Council, the play was born out of storytelling workshops with the residents of Walter Macken Place in Mervue.
Following its local debut, the play toured 17 venues in Ireland from Dublin to Kerry, and was also performed in the USA in Chicago, Portland, and in a women’s prison in Wilsonville, Oregon.
The play, which was initially composed and performed in 2009 during major refurbishment work of the housing complex, comprises conversations on a bench outside Walter Macken Place, and touches upon issues raised during the storytelling workshops such as social isolation, mental illness, and the importance of community.
Walter Macken Place, the oldest social housing development in Galway City, largely comprised of single apartments, has a high demographic of elderly people and also houses many residents dealing with issues which require high levels of support.
The reading of the play on May 29 2024 with Christian, re-assembled the original cast of Eamonn Hunt, Bríd Ní Neachtain, and Andy Kellegher as well as members within the audience who had taken part in the initial creative process.
The performance was followed by a community discussion and workshop, with the aim of instigating a new programme of creative activity with the current residents.
“This was a wonderful occasion to be part of, to know that those involved in the original project still cared,” said Adam Stoneman, Creative Communities Engagement Officer with Galway City Council.
“The intention with reviving this play was largely to recognise the work the Council has done in the past, as, particularly with cultural work, there can be a sense of chasing what is novel and constantly moving forward.
“By supporting this through the Creative Ireland programme, resources can get channelled to places which don’t traditionally receive cultural funding from other sources.
“Given this, it made sense to make use of this wonderful project which had done so much to engage the residents on a creative level and bring it back to light.
“Walter Macken himself was a Galway writer and dramatist whose work was socially conscious and touched on issues such as poverty and deprivation, so there is a nice link there to the themes of Here We Are Again Still.”
