Wednesday began with the third installment of the “film festival” our directors are holding (we watch a different movie each week). This week, the film was
a movie chronicling the hunger strikes in Northern Ireland in the 1980s by Bobby Sands et all. To say the film was disturbing and mildly traumatizing would be an understatement. But I couldn’t let it get to me, since I had to quickly finish up a few pieces of homework on my break between the movie and the dreaded Music Class.
After the Music Class of Doom, we made dinner, then at 8:15 my household left to meet Caoilfhionn at the cathedral for our Parade Rehearsal. She walked us to Fisheries Field, where on one side there was a large field with the Galway Arts Festival Big Top being set up, and on the other was a row of workshops belonging to Macnas. As we passed the buildings, we could see large, metal shapes looming from doorways, and as we entered the main room, we saw a woman putter paper maché on what looked like a giant wicker-framed rabbit.
We filled out all necessary paperwork and were then told that we were going to be part of the Shoal of Fish and were given large aluminum fish with CD eyes on the ends of long poles to carry about. It was about this time that the Artistic Director, Noeline, came in and took us outside for our “rehearsal”. Believe me, I’ve met my fair share of crazy and eccentric theatre people in my day…but I think she takes the cake. I don’t know how she was so high-energy under all the stress and chaos she must have been facing, but she pumped us up and thought up a routine for us to do with our fish and called us back for another rehearsal on Saturday to walk the parade route.
(P.S. We totally forced Caoilfhionn to participate even though she was very hesitant about it. So for any Irish people reading this blog who might know her, CAOILFHIONN WAS IN THE PARADE.)
While we were being fitted for our costumes (black shirts with plastic things that I think were supposed to represent gills but really looked like something out of Buzz Lightyear: Star Command), they asked if there were any volunteers to come to a meeting the next day and learn how to do the makeup for the group. Not wanting to ever pass up an opportunity and feeling very high and mighty about my extensive background of one makeup class, I volunteered.
…which I immediately regretted doing the next night when I was forced to go directly from my music class to the meeting, skipping dinner. Under the impression that I and my Canadian friend Courtney would just be learning the makeup for the Fish, I was a little intimidated when they said that I’d pretty much be doing the makeup for everyone…all 200 people or so. I left the meeting feeling dazed and confused (though slightly excited by the technique of using a loose-woven strip of muslin and spirit-gumming it in pleats to a person’s eyebrow to create really awesome eyebrows). Tired and hungry, I decided to make the sacrifice and stay in Thursday night.
Friday afternoon had us seeing our first play for the theatre class: Palace of the End written by Judith Thompson. It was a testimony about the Iraq war (and war in general) given in roughly 30 minute monologues by characters of real people: Lindy England, David Kelly, and an Iraqi woman who was married to the leader of the Communist party at the rise of Saddam and who eventually turned out to be a ghost. I thought it was brilliant and absolutely loved it. It was some of the best writing and acting I have seen in a long, long time.
Friday evening I met up at the College Bar (yes, this college has a bar on campus) with a group of people and then moved to the Crane, where a guy named Baby Gramps was strumming on his guitar (he was hilarious). We then went to the Roisin Dubh before most of us got tired of the hot, crowded, and loud atmosphere and decided it was as good of a time as any to head home.
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