How you can help Solas Nua without spending a penny

We know that times are hard and that many of you can’t afford to make a donation to us. You’re still in school, you’re out of work or you’re just plain broke. We can relate.

If you can make a financial contribution to Solas Nua this year we would very much appreciate it, but if your enthusiasm to help outstrips your means you can still make a difference by getting involved in our end of year social media campaign. Bonus; participation costs nothing!

Here are six practical ways to help us in the New Year. Commit to one or all six and let us know how you got on so that we can say thanks!

FACEBOOK
Ask five people you know to friend us on Facebook.
facebook.com/solasnua or facebook.com/capitalirishfilm

TWITTER
Commit to retweeting two tweets per month for 2012.
twitter.com/solasnuacht

YOUTUBE
Subscribe to us and share our videos on Youtube.
youtube.com/solasnua

FOURSQUARE
Do you come to lots of our events? Make sure you sign in so your friends know where you are!
foursquare.com/solasnuacht

BLOG
Sign up for our blogs and share them with your friends. solasnuacht.wordpress.com.

Or do you blog? Then consider writing about our events and sharing it with your audience.

CRAICHEADS
Are you 18 – 30 years old? Want free tickets, priority access to all our artists and fabulous swag? Consider becoming a Craichead, our street team that spreads the word about Solas Nua and its events. DM us on Twitter for more info.

Thanks to all our friends and followers for your support. We hope to see you in 2012!

It’s Awards Season

It’s been a busy week for us at Solas Nua.  We’ve got The Performance Corporation in town and they are hard at work rehearsing Swampoodle which will run for 1 week only in mid-May, tomorrow is our Capital Irish Film Festival Fundraiser The 20th Anniversary Party for The Commitments, and in the midst of all of that we have been making appearances at all the most prestigious awards ceremonies around town.  It’s been quite a run this year and it’s just so amazing to be recognized for all the hard work that everyone puts into Solas Nua productions.

First up on DC Awards tour was the Mayor’s Arts Awards, presented by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.  As per Linda’s instructions we began to congregate, dressed in our very best and looking ever so elegant, around Kennedy’s Bust in the always beautiful Kennedy Center; Donors, Staff, Board Members and Friends of Solas.  We were nominated for an “Innovation in the Arts” award along with Contemporary Music Forum/VERGE Ensemble, Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Company, The Double Nickels Theatre Company, Inc., FotoWeekDC, and The Studio Theatre.

We waited with baited breath, As Deirdre Burke (Cultural Attaché for the Irish Embassy) and Dr. Paul Virander came out to announce winner of the “Innovation in the Arts” award.  We took home the award that night, and Linda Murray, our ever brilliant Artistic Director, took the stage to accept it.  The Solas Nua afterparty was held at Mie N Yu in Georgetown where we rehashed the evenings events.  We are so very proud and grateful to have been given this award and congratulate all of those who were nominated and those who won in their categories.  We have a truly unique and innovative arts community here in Washington and are so privileged to work alongside of you all.

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Last night saw us once again dressed to the nines for what we affectionately call Theatre Prom.  It’s the night when all the hard work that our amazing theatre community puts forth throughout the year is recognized in a ‘Drama Desk’ like atmosphere, the Helen Hayes Awards.  The Solas Nua entourage met at Againn to a pre-awards-ceremony cocktail and then ventured over to Pennsylvania Avenue and the Warner Theatre.  Outside of the theatre were all of DC’s finest theatre in combinations of taffeta, lace, silk and chiffon.  You could feel the energy and excitement as camera crews were interviewing people left and right.  We made our way into the theatre ( which is beautiful), and settled in for the next 2 1/2 hours.

Solas Nua production were nominated for two awards this year:

Outstanding Sound Design, Resident Production
Matt Otto, Johnny Meister and the Stitch, Solas Nua

and Outstanding Choreography, Resident Production
Diane Coburn Bruning, Improbable Frequency, Solas Nua

Each was up against a talented group of nominees, sadly we didn’t take home either award that evening, but we are honored, just the same for being recognized, in the DC theatre community.  

Of course the best part of the Helen Hayes Awards, besides honoring all of the talented artists in DC, is the afterparty at the JW Marriott next door to the theatre.  It was a sea of formalwear as we walked the 2 blocks to the hotel ready to put our dancing shoes on.  The place was ready for us, complete with bite size foods, sweets to keep us going all night long, a dance floor and a photobooth (still waiting for those digital copies to be available online).  The first brave souls on the dance floor were no amateurs and set the tone for the rest of the night of dancing.  Highlight: Synetic Theatre company members showing off their best moves.  Everyone was ready to shake their tale feathers and those Solas Nua ladies sure know how to bust a move (too many dancing clichés, perhaps).  In any case we had a fantastic time and hope to be back next year.  

 

Book Day 2011

Well, we made it.  Another Book Day has come and gone, and we are no worse for the weather, or at least that’s what we keep telling ourselves.  This was my first Irish Book Day so I had no idea what to expect.  I woke up earlier than usual thursday morning in order to commandeer the ZipCar Toyota Takoma that would serve as our supply runner for the early part of the morning.  We had the truck loaded with books, tables, and banner by 7:45 and on our way to the Dupont Circle Metro Stop soon after (New York Avenue Metro station had been up and running since 7am that morning).

As we began setting up our lovely volunteer at the North side entrance we recruited another, waiting patiently for us to set up the books, he asked if we needed a hand and helped us carry the rest of the boxes of books to the table, at which point we had collected a healthy number of folks around the table interested in which titles we were giving away.

We had stations set up at Metro Center and Galleryplace/Chinatown as well.  This year’s titles included:

The Master – Colm Toíbín
The Táin – translated by Ciaran Carson
Benny and Omar - Eoin Colfer
Netherland – Joseph O’Neill
Slammerkin – Emma Donoghue
Breakfast on Pluto – Patrick McCabe

to name a few.

Books went quickly and by 4:30 we were down to or last 60 books, we started the day with 15,000 mind you.  by 5pm we were completely out and packing the last of our Metro Center stations up and heading back to the office to begin preparing for our closing act of the day, Craicdown!

Craicdown, for those who don’t know, is our annual mash-up with Washington Improv Theatre (WIT).  It’s an evening of hilarious improv theatre all with and Irish twist culminating in the esteemed Riverdance competition.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and it was a refreshing change from the typical St. Paddy’s Day festivities happening around the city.

We got a sneak peak at our upcoming performance Swampoodle

So we survived to plan another Book Day, next year maybe we’ll give away 20,000 books, Lord help us all.

Tracing Form

Ever wonder what our Capitol’s monuments and buildings would look like if they were condensed into blocks of concrete and colored glass.  This is the subject of Suzannah Vaughan’s Tracing Form, currently on exhibition at Flashpoint Gallery.  Suzannah has created abstract representations of some of the more iconic structures around DC through the medium of concrete and colored glass.

Creating much of the work in this exhibition before ever reaching Washington DC, she did a significant portion of her research on the buildings through online inquiry, looking at the architectural plans of each structure along with images found on the internet to inspire her works.  In her pieces we see The Hirshorn, The Lincoln Memorial Columns, The Metro and many more Washington staples.

Alongside these concrete, heavy sculptures Suzannah has included an installation piece comprised of strings aligned configurations reminiscent of architectural drawings.  Suzannah is interested in the idea of imagined spaces that exist when architects begin drawing up plans.  Many architect’s designs that will never make it off the cutting room floor, and Vaughan is more interested in these creations than the final building that come to be.  Through her installation she has created a 3-dimensional representation of architectural renderings, segmenting an otherwise “non-existent” space.  What we realize is these spaces that we may not overtly recognize become obvious when broken up by something tangible, like a line of red string.  Suzannah’s installations are developed within the spaces she encounters, so each is different and dependent on the potential for imagining space within the location.

At the moment Suzannah is altering her installation piece to include luminescent string that will further demonstrate this idea of imagined, etherial and natural spaces.

Suzannah will be in Washington DC until the end of February working and researching the subjects of her current exhibition, as well as many others, and will then create new works based on her personal experiences with these structures.

Tracing Form will be at Flashpoint Gallery until February 12, 2011

That’s a Wrap! (via capital irish film festival)

The films have been all been mailed out, The Capital Irish Film Festival has officially come to an end. Saturday marked the closing of the 2010 Capital Irish Film Festival.  It was 10 days filled with the very best Irish Films. We opened the Festival with My Brothers, which couldn't have been a better choice.  Bringing together all the elements that encompass Irish film.  There was laughing and there were tears as we watched these three brother e … Read More

via capital irish film festival

Interventions

Perhaps you were strolling through Rock Creek Park over the last few weeks and happened upon an unexpected site, white lines tracing the curves of dead tree limbs throughout the park. Perhaps you took an extra moment to look around at your surroundings and wonder how long those trees had been there, when did they die and fall, was it last winter perhaps or farther back. Did you trace the lines of the tape to see where the tree limbs began and where they ended.

Karl Burke has spent the last few weeks in DC on a residency with us here at Solas Nua. While here, he explored the trails of Rock Creek Park and performed, what he calls, Interventions. Karl is interested in ideas of time and space.  His Interventions explore these ideas within the context of nature.  While in Rock Creek Karl traced the path of those dead tree limbs with simple electrical tape, and then photographed the spaces.  Karl will sometimes leave his Interventions in place, but in this case he removed them immediately after photographing.  The result is more than simply the documentation of the event itself, but a lasting work in and of itself.

In tandem with these outdoor interventions Karl has a show at The Fridge DC.  hidden in the rear alley of Eastern Market.  Along one wall you will find the 5 prints described above.  On the far wall of the space a video installation.  Karl tracked the movement of a single square of light across his apartment wall.  Every 10 minutes he enters the screen and traces the outline of the square.  The final component of the installation are 6 constructed frames, each with an added 3×4 running the length of frame.

If you haven’t had a chance to visit the show yet, you must head down to The Fridge.  Karl is on his way back home tomorrow but his work will be up through December 9.

It’s All About Ideas

It’s day 2 of our 3 day mini theatre festival featuring the works of Project Brand New.

Project Brand New is a programme which supports artists making work outside of traditional theatre models… it offers an opportunity to test out ideas at a developmental stage in an informal environment, where audience feedback and discussion is key.

Three 30-minute works in progress, presented in semi-finished forms, ready for the generous critiques of the audience.  The idea is to create a dialogue between artist and audience and take elements of this conversation to rework the plays.  It’s like a play reading on steroids.   Each play is at a different state of completion and each is still working to create a finished and stage ready production.

Twenty-Ten
(THEATREclub)

In January of 201o Dublin’s late night theatre club began the project Twenty-Ten. Each day 50 people received emails from THEATREclub asking a simple questions “What have you learnt today?”  The email recipients were prompted to answer the question via the attached submission form.  What resulted was an interesting and collaborative look into the lives of hundreds of Irish people through the voices of 3 actors sitting at a single table.  Spoken in succession, this seemingly unrelated thoughts somehow weave themselves into a cohesive story of contemporary Irish life, or really life in general.  Some of the excerpts speak directly to living in Ireland while others are simply the thoughts, fears and joys of being human and living in the world today.  the ever-expanding, continuously moving world that we live in.

565+
(directed by Una Mckevitt & featuring Mary O’Rourke)

“565+ is about survival”  The Mary O’Rourke standing in front of you today is far from the woman of 2003.  2003 was the year everything changed, on the advice of her doctor Mary started attending the theatre regularly, and it saved her life.  Since 2003 she has seen over 565 plays.  For Mary, theatre is an escape, and a journey, and a safe haven.  ”You can go to the theatre alone” she says.  You can sit in the dark and you don’t have to talk, you can just be.  Perhaps the most moving of the 3 pieces, 565+ will have you laughing and crying all at the same time, and in the end you feel good about life.

The Ballet Ruse
(Muirne Bloomer and Emma O’Kane)

“Once Upon A Time… 2 budding ballerinas battled for perfection in the sugar-coated world of ballet.  Those hopes and dreams didn’t survive but they did.”  The Ballet Ruse takes a often comical yet poignant look at the absurd world of the ballet.  Beginning with a scene depicting the intense training dancers endure all to stand in the chorus and look pretty (bored out of their minds).  The unrealistic expectations dancers and teachers have for ballerinas, and the lengths through which these dancers will go to achieve these unrealistic and sometimes dangerous ideals.

With 2 performances left you won’t want to miss this.  If this is the caliber of work we can expect from all Project Brand New works I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us in February and June 2011.

Purchase Tickets Here!

Julie Feeney is here!!!

The lovely Julie Feeney arrived in DC on monday night.  She came in on a train from NYC where she had been staying with friends the week prior to her arrival. Her first 15 minutes in the District were somewhat of a mission to stay alive.  Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration but between a cab driver zooming off with the cab door still open, and the elevator doors opening up behind us into the laundry room, Julie was convinced she wasn’t going to make it to her hotel room without something else crazy happening.  But we got her settled safe and sound, and ready for her first performance at the Gibson Guitar Showroom.

I arrived at The Gibson Guitar Showroom Tuesday evening about a quarter to 6, Julie was already there along with 2 NYC musicians Jessica and Dave, who provided vocal and piano backing.  I took a seat and just listened as the three of them ran through the set list, the rawness of the sound without the mics was amazing.   Pairing Julie’s vocals with the subdued soprano of Jessica, creates an almost haunting quality to the songs.

Award-winning composer, singer, orchestrator and producer of critically acclaimed albums, pages and 13 songs. Her unique innovative sound while rooted in classical music straddles the pop and theatrical worlds. She received a 10-minute standing ovation from a capacity audience at Ireland’s premier National Concert Hall recently for her own show. She has just self-orchestrated her music for the RTÉ Concert Orchestra for live national broadcast and is currently touring in U.K., U.S. and France.

Julie played a little over an hour long set, and the audience loved every minute of it.  She graciously signed copies of her two albums as the line wrapped around the room.  If you missed her performance last, don’t worry she’s got 3 more this week.  Tonight she will be performing at The Pinkline Project’s Salon Contra (this show is sold out).  On Thursday she will perform at Goldleaf Studios and Friday she will be holding a pop-up concert (the location to be announced).  Follow us on Twitter to learn the location.

These may be the most amazing shoes I've ever seen

Impossibly Beautiful, a beautifully orchestrated piece

Wrapping up Improbable Frequency

It’s been almost a week since we wrapped on Improbable Frequency which means it’s reflection time.  Here is where we get to do a post mortem, we look back on the crazy wild adventure that was improbable frequency.

So what is it that we have learned.  Well for starters, putting on a musical is quite an undertaking, but that’s what we do here at Solas Nua, we aim high.  We never take the easy way out, because good art doesn’t come out of easy.  And we did it, the show came together in a dizzying array song, dance, and word play like none that Solas Nua had seen before.  Our cast was amazing and we thank all of them for the time and effort they put in.  It was fun guys

What else did we learn, well, when giving people a password to enter a super secret club, using the term ‘cruciverbalist’ may not be your best option.  While it makes perfect sense once you’ve seen the tongue twisting, word bending spectacular, your patrons invariably will look at you like you’re insane and tentatively make their way to the elevator wondering if they will ever remember that crazy phrase by the time they reach the 6th floor.  Word to the wise, pick normal english words like radio waves or atomic… but where’s the fun in that right?!

Perhaps another insightful revelation we stumbled upon is that there’s something to this ‘site specific’ thing.  All the rumblings I’ve been hearing are that people are really excited to get out of the traditional theatre and experience something new.  we’re the only theatre company in DC that is doing this right now, and it’s great that so many people are behind it.  And what’s even better, it doesn’t end here.  We’ve got more fantastic venues ready and waiting to be transformed into the ultimate theatre experience.  We think you’re gonna be impressed with all of them.

Even after all the lessons learned the most important things we have taken away is the amazing dedication of you guys.  With the exception of one or two evenings our house, or more precisely our night club, was full.  We can’t thank you all enough

So that’s it folks.  Improbable Frequency is officially closed and it’s full steam ahead.  November is a cornucopia of events starting with the incomparable Julie Feeney, followed by a special collaboration with Project Brand New including Úna McKevitt’s Conceived and Directed.  Then we round out the month with visual artist Karl Burke.  In short we’ve got a jam packed month with some pretty amazing artists that you will not want to miss.

irish popcorn! returns

the renaissance washington dc dupont circle hotel was the setting monday night for the season debut of irish popcorn!, our bimonthly series of free film screenings.  an audience numbering more than 30 enjoyed drinks and snacked on free popcorn while taking in a free screening of joel conroy’s documentary waveriders.

narrated by irish actor cillian murphy (who starred in the film adaptation of disco pigs and set to a soundtrack that includes such irish rockers as u2 and the undertones, Waveriders traces surfing’s connections to ireland and the development of the island’s present-day surfing scene.

f you missed the screening, no worries–there’s more irish film on the horizon from solas nua: irish popcorn! will return in late november (stay tuned for details) and the Capital Irish Film Festival opens on December 2.

-joe