The Monto: site specific performances of history in Dublin city by ANU

As part of the Trinity Talks: Dublin’s Hidden Histories series, a new collaboration between the Trinity Long Room Hub and Near FM.

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The Monto is infamous as Dublin’s 19th Century red light district, especially famed in Joyce's Ulysses. On the 100th anniversary of its closure, Near FM’s Ciarán Murray is joined by Brian Singleton, Professor in Trinity’s School of Creative Arts, to discuss how and why sites across this area became the inspiration for interactive theatrical performances, and how companies like ANU Productions created performance pieces of Dublin’s inner-city institutions.

In this live recording, Professor Singleton will explore how these performances uncover the hidden histories behind the sites and buildings of Dublin city--sites ranging from the Gloucester Street Laundry on Sean McDermott Street, the last of the Magdalene institutions to be closed in 1996; to the houses 14-17 on Moore Street where the first provisional government meeting took place in the last days of the 1916 Rising. The focus on performance around these sites brings to the fore not a past that glorifies the history of the state, but a past of the people who had lived, suffered, fought, or been incarcerated in those sites--people whose roles in history have been downplayed, hidden, forgotten or erased.

Brian Singleton holds the Samuel Beckett Chair of Drama and Theatre at Trinity College Dublin, and was Academic Director of The Lir - National Academy of Dramatic Art at Trinity College Dublin. He is a former President of the International Federation for Theatre Research and former editor of Theatre Research International (Cambridge University Press). His research interests include orientalism and interculturalism in performance, as well as contemporary Irish and European theatre. His book ANU Productions: The Monto Cycle was published in 2016 and he is also writing a new monograph provisionally titled Theatre and Performance and Neoliberal Ireland.
This talk will be subsequently broadcast on Near FM. You can listen to Near FM online www.nearfm.ie/livestream or on 90.3FM.
Performances by An Góilín Traditional Singing Club.

These events and subsequent radio series are supported by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television licence fee.

Please let us know if you have any access requirements, such as ISL/English interpreting, so that we can facilitate you in attending this event. Contact: tlrh@tcd.ie