Time for RoolaBoola
ROOLABOOLA, the Linenhall Arts Centre’s ever-popular annual children’s arts festival, is back!
The festival takes place from today (Friday) until Monday (October 31), offering another great programme of theatre, music, exhibitions and workshops for young people and their families.
One of the highlights of this year’s RoolaBoola is the family show The Far Field, a spellbinding musical production by Ceol Connected for families with children aged from three to six. This show brings the realm of fairies and folklore to life with interactive traditional music, puppetry and storytelling performance.
We meet Lonán the farmer, who discovers a magical whistle hidden in a hare’s nest. Suspecting that it belongs to the fairy folk who live at the edge of his farm, our hero decides that the whistle should be returned to its rightful owners. What follows on his journey to the far field are strange and wonderful musical encounters with Cara the cow, a mischievous hare, shiny singing stones, and a hooley under the hawthorn tree.
This lyrical gem visits the Linenhall on Sunday (October 30), with performances at 12 noon and 1.30 p.m.
Other top quality shows taking place over the weekend include Collapsing Horse’s exciting and imaginative space romp Conor: At the End of the Universe, for families with children from four to six years of age, with shows on Saturday (October 29) at 10.30 a.m. and 1.45 p.m.; Monkeyshine Theatre’s big-hearted epic tale of high seas adventure Voyage, for families with children eight years and up, on Monday (October 31) at 12.30 and 3 p.m.; and for the very young (six months to two year and their parents/guardians), there’s the soft and tactile experience of The Shape of Things by top Irish theatre company Branar together with Scotland’s Starcatchers, taking place on Saturday (October 29) at 11 a.m. and 12.30 and 2 p.m.
Amongst a range of workshops from mask-making to badge-making and animation is Wordplay, a fantastic opportunity for avid readers, writers and bookworms aged from 10 to 14 to spend time with authors Patricia Forde (The Wordsmith) and Geraldine Mills (Gold) on Saturday (October 29) at 3.30 p.m. It’s a chance to chat with both authors about their most recent books, and also to engage in some word play and brainstorming, with lots of audience interaction.
There’s also an improvisation and storytelling workshop with Niamh McGrath and Keith Singleton for ages eight to 12 on Monday (October 31) at 10.30 a.m., in which participants can sharpen their acting chops with theatre games, improvisation and storytelling. Niamh and Keith are also presenting a slapstick performance workshop for ages five to seven at 12.30 and 2 p.m. on Monday. This is an active physical theatre workshop packed with fun, games and hilarious ways of falling over!
As well as three exhibitions running over the weekend - The Captivated Eye and The Cabinet of Wonders, both in the Linenhall foyer, and The Beautiful Beasts in the gallery - there’s also the drop-in workshop, Beastly Badges, which takes its inspiration from The Beautiful Beasts exhibition on and lets you design your own personalised badge to wear with pride. For ages four and up, it takes place on Sunday (October 30) at 10 a.m. and 4.30 p.m. and Monday (October 31) at 10.30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
You can view the whole programme online at www.thelinenhall.com or see the printed programme, available from the Linenhall Arts Centre, Linenhall Street, Castlebar. To book, telephone (094) 9023733 or log on to the website, www.thelinenhall.com (no booking fee).
The Linenhall Arts Centre acknowledges the financial support of the Arts Council and Mayo County Council in making this festival possible.