Siamsa Tíre Prepares For 50th Anniversary Of First Performance Of Fadó Fadó

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The cast of Fadó gather at Siamsa Tíre on Saturday. Photo by Domnick Walsh

THE cast of Siamsa Tíre, the National Folk Theatre of Ireland are in final rehearsals for the 50thanniversary of its first performance of Fadó Fadó – its first folk production of authentic traditional Irish music, song and dance that portrays rural life in Ireland long ago.

The cast for this year’s summer season of performances will reach over 100 performers comprising of multi-talented dancers, singers and musicians working across five different productions for national and international audiences. The new season opens on Tuesday May 8th and runs through to Thursday, September 20.

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The first performance took place in 1968 in Balloonagh School by Siamsóirí na Ríochta as it was then known, and they went on to perform in a variety of venues in Ireland and abroad, as well as performing on national radio and television.

In 1974, Siamsa Tíre, the National Folk Theatre (NFT) of Ireland was then established as a professional theatre company and has expanded over the years through its’ Training Academies. The founding of Siamsa Tíre, the National Folk Theatre of Ireland, was motivated by a desire to preserve and showcase Ireland’s great wealth of music, song, dance and folklore on stage through vibrant, colourful theatrical entertainment and continue to create new folk theatre productions, drawing on our traditions and rich cultural reservoir.

For this season, Siamsa Tíre will offer a choice of five productions including one brand new show developed to celebrate this special anniversary. All productions are presented through the unique Siamsa style of Irish music, song and dance, and will include:

• Fadó Fadó: Siamsa Tíre’s longest running production, it is an entertaining portrayal of rural Ireland and typical family life across the four seasons 100 years ago;

• Oileán: a celebration of the lives of the community that lived on the Blasket Islands;

• Anam: a new production that successfully toured nationally in 2017. Anam is a showcase of hard shoe style dance from Ireland, Canada and USA supported by traditional Irish music and Sean – nós song;

• Turas: a concert style show that takes you on an enchanting journey of music, song and dance from around Ireland and,

• a new show An Ghaoth Aniar which captures the spirit and inspiration of the west coast of Ireland through Irish music, song and dance in both a traditional and contemporary staging.

Tickets can be purchased for €27.50 from the Siamsa Tíre Box Office on 066 7123055 and family and group rates are available.

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