Reliving Island Life: Staging Stories of the Blasket Islands

The Blasket Islands are located off the south-west coast of Ireland. No longer inhabited, the Great Blasket Island and its distinctive culture have been documented by a variety of writers and are celebrated today in an interpretative centre on the mainland and in performances by Siamsa Tire, The National Folk Theatre of Ireland. "Siamsa" developed from local initiatives in North Kerry during the early 1960s and is located today in Tralee, Co. Kerry. It aims to present Irish folklore and folk culture through the medium of theatre involving music, song, dance and mime but invariably no dialogue. In this paper, I focus on the production Oilean, based loosely on the stories of the Blasket Islanders, which was initially devised as part of the fiftieth anniversary commemoration of the departure of the last inhabitants of the islands in 2003. Key Words. Folk Theatre, Siamsa Tire, Blasket Islands, Irish Traditional Music. Resumen. Las islas Blasket estan situadas frente a la costa suroeste de Irlanda. Aunque ya no estan habitadas, a lo largo de la historia distintos escritores han documentado lo mas distintivo de la cultura de la isla principal o Great Blasket; asimismo, un centro de interpretacion en tierra firme da testimonio de su legado, como igualmente lo hace Siamsa Tire, el Teatro Popular Nacional de Irlanda. La compania "Siamsa" se desarrollo a partir de iniciativas locales en la zona del norte de Kerry a principios de los anos 60 del siglo XX y hoy tiene su sede en Tralee, en el condado de Kerry. Su objetivo es el de presentar el folklore irlandes y la cultura popular a traves de un tipo de teatro que contiene musica, canciones, baile y mimo, pero con ausencia de dialogos. Este ensayo se centra en la produccion Oilean, basada a grandes rasgos en las propias historias de los islenos. Este espectaculo se concibio para conmemorar en 2003 el quincuagesimo aniversario de la partida de los ultimos habitantes de las islas. Palabras clave. Teatro popular, Siamsa Tire, islas Blasket, musica tradicional irlandesa.