Sounds Like Folk

Sounds like Folk's guest for this episode is the wonderful Jo Mangan. Jo first worked with Siamsa Tíre 12 years ago on our site-specific piece 'What the Folk' which toured to Dublin Theatre festival, Cork Midsummer Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe. Jo is Artistic Director of The Performance Corporation and ss recent Director/CEO of Carlow Arts Festival, she pioneered digital work including VR Cinema and a VR Festival Campus. Among other amazing things, she created the BIG House Festival and was Director of the Bram Stoker Festival. Her awards include multiple Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards, the UK based Clore Leadership Fellowship and the prestigious Fedora Digital Prize. Jo also founded The Performance Corporation's SPACE Programme - Ireland's longest-running multi-disciplinary international artists residency with a current focus on Arts and Immersive Technology. Jo never fails to inspire and ignite new directions and ideas in the world of creativity, it is always a pleasure to be in her company! Enjoy!

In this week's special episode of Sounds Like Folk Joanne presents a specially curated episode wrapped in the legacy of Siamsa's choral work and music to date - highlighting some chosen pieces from the National Folk Theatre's music catalogue. We hear some well-known favourites as well as some newly composed pieces from the repertoire down through the years, while celebrating the unique arrangement of traditional songs as large choral, harmonised works. As well as using dance, song and music from Ireland's rich tradition, and newly composed pieces, Siamsa Tíre can share our unique embodiment of our particular type of folk theatre, a theatre for and of the people.

Joanne's next guest is multi-award-winning opera/music-theatre composer, librettist and stage director, Conor Mitchell. Joanne first met Conor in 2013 when he composed the score for Siamsa's production Imigéin. Conor's unique music blends the worlds of stage design with contemporary visual arts and finds new ways to engage his audience through socially relevant, politically charged subjects. A double Ivor Novello nominee and double Fringe First winner, he is the recipient of the Arts Council Northern Ireland Major Individual Artists Award - the highest honour bestowed by the agency - and a life fellow of the Arts Foundation for composition.

Sounds Like Folk has returned with host Joanne Barry at the helm! Her first guest in the new series is Aoife Spillane-Hinks, a director who works in both Ireland and the United States. Aoife is the founder and lead artist of the Literary Department at Axis Ballymun in Dublin, has trained as a director on the Rough Magic SEEDS programme and holds a BA in Folklore and Mythology from Harvard University and an MA in Drama and Theatre Studies from NUI Galway. She is also the co-founder of Then This Theatre. Joanne was delighted to reconnect with Aoife again after many years and chat with her about her passions and work to date. Enjoy!

Sounds Like Folk returns for a third series and in the first episode Joanne is really thrilled to chat with Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, one of Ireland's finest traditional singers and herself an ‘alumna' of Siamsa Tíre. Muireann is a multi-award-winning traditional singer and musician from Corca Dhuibhne in West Kerry and is a leading exponent of the sean nós style. Her repertoire also includes songs from a wide variety of folk and contemporary sources. Here she chats to Joanne about music, singing, performance and motherhood.

In this very special episode of Sounds Like Folk, Joanne chats to the young voices of Siamsa Tíre's Training Academy! First Grace, Mary, Sarah, Sadie, Sean, Jamie & Layla Kate share what Siamsa means to them and then later the Advanced Class students and Community Cast members tell Joanne about their incredible journey so far.

On the fourth episode of season 2, Joanne chats to an old friend, dance artist Cindy Cummings. Over the years, Cindy has collaborated with Siamsa Tire on a number of productions and projects including Oilean, Revolution and Tearmann. She is an independent dance artist based in Co. Kilkenny, whose practice manifests in a wide range of forms with several unifying themes. Her recent productions include: What I Don't Know About Autism (Jody O'Neill/Peacock Theatre); The Big Chapel X (Asylum Productions/Abbey Theatre); The Water Boys and The M House (Equinox Theatre Company/KCAT Arts Centre). Currently, Cindy is Dance Artist in Residence at the Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny developing a new collaborative project with composer and musician Dave Boyd. This is a fascinating conversation, so enjoy the chat!

This week Joanne chats to Little John Nee, a new friend and Associate Artist with Siamsa Tíre. Little John is a writer and performer based in Co. Galway and his style of storytelling theatre with music has won him international recognition. He was elected to Aosdána in recognition of his contribution to Irish culture in 2016 and his most recent collaboration with Laura Sheeran, a film/stage hybrid called 'Drone Bone Jetty,' premiered at Galway Theatre Festival 2021. We hope you enjoy the chat!

On this week's episode, Joanne chats with actor, writer, producer and director Sarah Jane Drummey. Sarah Jane began her performance career with Siamsa Tire, going on to collaborate with theatre companies such as Druid and Rough Magic which saw her play pivotal roles on some of the world's main stages. Joanne and Sarah Jane mull today on her beginnings with Siamsa, and her career to date, which sees her write, produce and direct her own films. Enjoy!

Get ready folks because Sounds Like Folk is back for a second series! Host Joanne Barry returns with another round of fantastic guests and insightful conversations for our audiences to enjoy. The first guest of the second series is Rob Heaslip, a dance artist who began his career with the National Folk Theatre. Through his work, he asks how the performing body can be a vessel for intertwining dance, design and voice and often plays within an ultra-folk context. So get ready for a fascinating conversation and we once again hope you enjoy this ‘coming together!'

It seems timely that the last episode of the current Sounds Like Folk podcast series belongs to Jonathan Kelliher, Artistic Director of Siamsa Tire. Jonathan and Joanne go on a journey through his years with Siamsa, from Teach Siamsa Finuge to the Core Group and finally, to his current role. He speaks about his strong connection with North Kerry Dance, and they chat about what it's like being a part of a company like Siamsa. All the while, they reflect and dream about its past, present and future. Enjoy!

This week Joanne chats to another generation of Community Cast performers: Derwin Myers, Helena Brosnan and Jamie Flannery. Members of the cast since they were children, the trio reflect on their memories, proud moments in the National Folk Theatre, the importance of the education within Siamsa and also their hopes and aspirations for the future. Enjoy!

Marianne Kennedy is a lecturer in Drama, Theatre and Performance and Head of Production and Curation of Drama and Theatre Studies at NUI Galway. Marianne is a theatre-maker with 20 years professional experience as a producer and director in the Irish language, performance and traditional arts. She also spent six years as the CEO of Siamsa Tire. Her conversation with Joanne is an interesting and passionate conversation about the Irish language, theatre, and its presence on this country's stages and theatre spaces.

On this week's episode, Joanne chats with Michael Keegan-Dolan, an award-winning choreographer, theatre-maker and the Artistic Director of Teaċ Daṁsa. Formed in 2016, Teaċ Daṁsa's aim is to forge stronger connections with the native traditions, language, and music of Ireland in the classical form. Here Joanne and Michael talk at length about working in the world of folk theatre, musing on the highs, the lows, the music, the people, and everything that makes it worthwhile. Enjoy!

This week's podcast comes ten years after Siamsa Tire was invited to perform at WERK, hosted by Thisispopbaby, the company which is co-directed by today's guest Phillip McMahon. Both companies appear to inhabit very different theatrical worlds which is why Joanne wanted to chat with Phillip, a Dublin-based director and playwright who holds a strong belief in active citizenship and taking responsibility as an artist to create places that people want to be in – be that in a theatrical setting or in the everyday. Enjoy!

This week's episode is a mixture of chat, memories and musings on the future of Siamsa with three of the company's most beloved cast members. Anne is Training and Development Officer with Siamsa and long-serving folk artist. Noirin is a teacher, former board member and Community Cast member, who has toured and performed with the company for many, many years. While Pierce is a wonderful singer/performer and second generation Siamsa cast member. His father Liam (RIP) was one of the founding members of the company. Enjoy!

Hosted by Joanne Barry, the National Folk Theatre's Repertory Director, Sounds Like Folk will trace folk voices, past and present. In the second episode of the series, Joanne meets musician, collaborator, broadcaster, and new Siamsa friend Ruth Smith. Ruth is a multi-instrumentalist and is a regular presenter on RTÉ Radio 1 where she shares her knowledge and passion for folk music every Sunday evening on her show Simply Folk. She tells Joanne about how this grá for folk tradition came to be and how her new role as Associate Artist with Siamsa Tíre will help to strengthen this relationship.

Hosted by Joanne Barry, the National Folk Theatre's Repertory Director, Sounds Like Folk will trace folk voices, past and present. In the first episode, Joanne chats to internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy about her Siamsa Tíre Community Cast roots and her incredible career to date. Paula is a regular guest at the world's major opera houses and concert halls performing a wide variety of repertoire. Previously a member of the Ensemble at the Oper Frankfurt, Paula's roles have included creating the title role Carmen in Barry Kosky's iconic production, Octavian Der Rosenkavalier, Dido Dido and Aeneas, title role Pénélope, Fauré and Polissena Radamisto.