Ar Ais Arís
Most recently toured to Dublin as part of First Fortnight Festival 2026
Ar Ais Arís Production Information
Overview
A moment of departure. A moment of return. A moment of reckoning.
Irish language literature and visual poetry are combined in virtual reality to make this work, inspired by texts from Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Pádraic Ó Conaire and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill around the theme of migration. Brú’s team of performers, creators, designers and composers have come together to create three unique 180° films, immersing audiences in a fusion of movement, text, music and Connemara landscape through the use of VR headsets. Lose yourself in this evocative, contemporary take on some of the finest writing in the Irish language.
Ar Ais Arís is a commission as part of Galway 2020/ NUIG’s Aistriú project. Ar Ais Arís has been presented at home and abroad in festivals including Galway International Arts Festival, the Arts Council’s Brightening Air, Cairde Arts festival, Earagail Arts Festival, Drop Everything Montreal’s Green Season and as part of Canada Ireland Foundations Toronto and Solas Nua Washinton DC’s programme.
Nóiméad imeachta. Nóiméad fillte. Nóiméad breithiúnais
Déantar litríocht na Gaeilge agus filíocht fhísiúil a chumasc i réaltacht fhíorúil chun an saothar seo a láithriú, a fuair inspioráid ó théacsanna le Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Pádraic Ó Conaire agus Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill faoi théama na himirce. Tá foireann taibheoirí, cruthaitheoirí, dearthóirí agus cumadóirí de chuid Brú tar éis a theacht le chéile le trí scannán 180° uathúla a chruthú ina dtumtar an lucht féachana i gcumasc gluaiseachta, téacs, ceoil agus thírdreach Chonamara trí ghléasanna cinn VR a úsáid. Téigh ar seachrán sa léamh corraitheach comhaimseartha seo ar chuid de sméar mhullaigh na scríbhneoireachta Gaeilge.
Is taibhléiriú nua le Brú Theatre Ar Ais Arís, arna choimisiúnú mar chuid den tionscadal Aistriú ó Gaillimh 2020/NUIG.
Production Team
Director: James Riordan.
Producer: Jill Murray.
Dramaturg: Máiréad Ní Chróinín
Performers: Victoria Mc Cormack, Stephanie Dufresne, Anna Mullarkey.
Music Composer: Anna Mullarkey.
Production Assistant: Kate McBrearty.
Musician: Ciara O’Connor.
Sound Designer: Jenny O’Malley.
VR cinematographer: Paul Kinsella.
Costume Designer: Clíodhna Hallissey.
Make-Up/Hair Designer: Michelle Ruane.
Voice-Over, Language Consultant: Caitlín Ní Chualáin.
Áistriú Creative Associate: Marianne Ní Chinnéide
Ar Ais Arís FEEDBACK
“Absorbing, evocative and sometimes unsettling”
Ar Ais Arís Reviews
Deirdre Falvey
The Irish Times
The format of Brú Theatre’s Ar Ais Arís emerged from pandemic restrictions. Director James Riordan explores themes of emigration, using VR headsets to bring us from where we sit on the waterside at Galway Commercial Boatclub, suitcases ready, out to Connemara. Based on work by Máirtín Ó Cadhain, Pádraic Ó Conaire and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, the three very short pieces – dance, song, performance – are absorbing, evocative and sometimes unsettling.
Tue Sept 21 2021
Andrew White
Broadway World
Philomela’s violent tale told with ethereal artistry.
Director James Riordan blends ancient ritual and modern technology, while the music of Julianna Bloodgood is compelling.
In collaboration with two innovative young companies from Ireland, Dublin’s Murmuration and Galway’s Brú Theatre, we have a vision of the future of theatre which takes the new technologies of sound and film in stride. The results are pieces that occur right next to you, enveloping you in a warmth you won’t find outside of that snug in your favorite pub.
The first revelation, of the high-tech variety, comes from Brú Theatre’s “Ar Ais Arís,” three contrasting scenes on the theme of migration. Performed in Irish, you will have the English translation ready to hand, should you so choose. And before going into the performance/viewing area you’ll be reminded that just as America is a nation of immigrants, Ireland is a nation of migrants, and its relationship with that inexorable pull of foreign lands—America, England, wherever—is one that has meant different things at different times.
One minute, a woman from the 1910’s prepares for her daughter’s departure as if for a funeral—return to Ireland was seen as impossible in those days. The next, a dejected young woman from the 50’s who has tried and failed to survive abroad returns home, and dances and drinks with abandon outside the old village church, while men gossip rudely about her. Finally, an emigrant of our own time sits in a spartan apartment with visions of the water back home, inescapable.
These vignettes are staged in the open air, on location in Ireland. As filmed by VR Cinematographer Paul Kinsella, once you put on your headset and headphones, everywhere you look is Ireland, and the three women you encounter will look you in the eye, only you, and as their stories unfold—often through movement alone—you can almost feel the breeze one minute, the next minute checking your feet because, at the water’s edge, the water seemingly engulfs your shoes. Virtual Reality at its theatrical, intimate, best.
Brú Theatre’s Artistic Director, James Riordan, demonstrates how VR can create a riveting experience, and the proximity of the actor to the camera frees his performers—Victoria Mc Cormack, Stephanie Dufresne, and Anna Mullarkey—to use an often-remarkable minimalism, mingled with moments of abandon that play out against a rugged, beautiful landscape.
Nov. 04, 2024
Broadway World - Same as ABOVE????
Nov 2024
Virtual Reality at its theatrical, intimate, best.
Brú Theatre’s Artistic Director, James Riordan, demonstrates how VR can create a riveting experience, and the proximity of the actor to the camera frees his performers—Victoria Mc Cormack, Stephanie Dufresne, and Anna Mullarkey—to use an often-remarkable minimalism, mingled with moments of abandon that play out against a rugged, beautiful landscape.