I very rarely add petitions on Poethead, but in the case of The Abbey Theatre’s baffling exclusion of women artists from the 1916-2016 Centenary I am willing to make an exception for a number of days. The issue of authority in the literary arts has always been problematic in Ireland. In poetry, in literature, and now in theatre it is usual for exclusions to occur. That exclusion is hurtful, demeaning and abusive is too much for me. That I saw my heroine Olwen Fouéré holding up a bit of paper calling for parity of esteem this morning has really angered me. They should be throwing roses at her feet. The idea that a skewed exclusionary narrative represents the intellectual and creative development of the idea of ‘State’ is not on. It is not acceptable. Eavan Boland referred to the absence of women artists in the canon as a ‘suppressed narrative’, there are too many fine Irish women artists for this type of exclusion to manifest at critical junctures in state celebratory events, in this instance a centenary event.
Petitioning The Board of The Abbey Theatre, #WakingTheFeminists – Equality for women in Irish theatre
Background: On Wednesday 28 October, the Abbey Theatre, Ireland’s National Theatre, launched its programme to mark the centenary of the 1916 Rising – an event that ultimately led to the founding of the Irish State. The Abbey Theatre and its members were actively involved in both the Rising itself and the debates around the founding of the Republic. 1 out of the 10 plays programmed in the 2016 programme are written by a woman – 3 out of 10 are directed by women. #WakingtheFeminists is a campaign by Irish artists to demand change of the systems that allow for such chronic under-representation of the work of women artists at the Abbey Theatre, and in Irish theatre generally.
The Gabhra Valley which runs through Tara/Skyrne has been bisected in order for an Irish Government to facilitate a population explosion and it’s attendant urban sprawl. The M3 will be tolled and people will live in cheap houses provided by the wisdom of Meath County Council who are re-zoning the lands. This is our response to climate change, to the fragile archaeological landscape at Tara, wherein 39 sites of integrated relation were subject to separate demolition orders (contracted to private archaeological companies) in the absence of state policy on heritage preservation and in denial of the inter-connectedness of the sites. Tara is the burial place of kings and the suffered bisection is intimately related to a government that cannot address issues of concern with regard to preservation of heritage in a country where successive planning legislations have consistently eroded community right to protest at decisions made by profit-driven companies. A national development and transport plan that is weighted toward government appointed boards and vested interests, that wholly removes both employment and pride.
The fecund Irish public shall pay to drive the road in a time of deepening oil crisis and resource wars because the government tells them that this is modernity, indeed, the Taoiseach who presided over the vandalism completely discounted the role of Tara in it’s cultural context and commented on ” Snails and archaeology” holding up progress. The planning process and intimate links between successive environment ministers and lobbies are being scrutinised at EU level, whilst we are consistently fined for breach of habitat directive by the EU. This however is little to the act of vandalism of a valley to profit a greed-ridden administration who pride themselves on going to the US and playing the fat leprechaun.
From : Sign the Petition
Chris Murray 