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IT TOOK 600 people, 21 choirs, 18 dancers, 10 actors, six aerial dancers, the RTÉ concert orchestra and 80 crew members to put it together.
And last night, RTÉ’s Centenary show – which was a year in the planning – was deemed a massive, goosebump-inducing success.
The ambitious 85-minute-long show, which was broadcast live from the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre was broken up into 18 chapters, and told Ireland’s centenary story through song, dance and poetry.
Some of Ireland’s best known singers, musicians and performers – like Imelda May, Jack L, Gavin James, The High Kings, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Sharon Shannon, Dónal Lunny, and Celine Byrne - were gathered for what RTÉ dubbed “a special one-off cultural celebration”.
It didn’t feel like the same faces trotted out for another appearance. Instead, there was a sense of new ground being broken, with an eye to the path just trod.
This was more than a historical retelling: it was also proof of how important arts and culture are for Ireland itself, and how essential music and storytelling is for the Irish psyche.
Bein’ Green
When Imelda May sang her version of The Muppets’ song Bein’ Green, what was a musical risk turned into a rousing celebration of the highs and lows of being Irish.
In another unexpected moment, just after May’s performance, members of over 20 choirs stood up from their seats, momentarily confusing those around them, to join Celine Byrne for a rendition of You Raise Me Up. The audience became the performers, in a wonderful bridging of the gap between what was happening on stage and off.
As Colm Wilkinson sang U2′s One, portraits of Irish people flashed up behind him. The variety in the range of smiling faces was both striking and heartwarming, as Wilkinson sung of how difference does not preclude unity.
The dark and light times
Over 85 minutes, Centenary tracked the history of Ireland, touching on not just the positive times but also the darker elements of Ireland’s past. It explored the impact of the Great War, the Suffragette movement, the Rising itself, Michael Collins, the 1913 Lockout, emigration, Italia 90, the church sex abuse scandals, and the marriage referendum.
In a nod to Ireland’s beloved Reeling in the Years, it included archive footage of lump-in-the-throat moments over the past 100 years.
The Easter Rising was conceived by people who believed in the power of Irish culture. Centenary paid tribute to their beliefs by highlighting the importance of the arts in Ireland, not just as a source of entertainment, but as a way of celebrating and interrogating our country’s past.
The show hit so many high notes that it was compared by viewers to when Riverdance was performed during the interval of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest.
As a measure of how successful an event – particularly one which celebrates Irish culture – has been, that’s certainly the best comparison those behind Centenary could have wished for.
The significance of the show (which is available to watch on the RTÉ Player) was not lost on those involved in putting it together. Ahead of her performance, Imelda May – whose grandparents were involved in the Rising – commented:
To commemorate [the Rising] with music, art and poetry across our country is very fitting considering that the Rising was led, not by traditional soldiers, but by poets and artists fighting with passion and pride. It is no accident that the emblem of our free country is a harp; a musical instrument. I think of that and those men and women every time I look at my passport… with gratitude and pride.
Managing Director for RTÉ Television Glen Killane described arts and culture as being “at the very heart of the Irish identity”, saying that it is “fitting that Centenary is the culmination of RTÉ 1916, to reflect on the Rising itself and the nation we have become”.
What did you think of Centenary? Tell us in the comments.
Fantastic news hopefully they will succeed and makes this awful disease disappear.
Apologies a few phone typos made above.
Great news. There weren’t any typos above.
God I hope they come up with a cure quick. My family obviously carry this gene and it’s a tough illness to leave with. I’m probably a carrier of the gene so any developments are welcomed by me and my family even though it may be too little to late for some of them.
Bit self involved there. The breakthroughs are welcomed by your family cos you’ve a chance of getting it. Right… I welcome all breakthroughs in finding cures for horrible diseases, even if I’ve no chance of getting said disease.
Not at all I’d happily welcome a cure for idiocy I just don’t see it coming anytime soon. Do you Tom?
Ouch
Thomas you’re a great man, so full of humanity. Good on ya for welcoming all such breakthroughs equally. Feck pat and his family who could be living with a death sentence and the chance of living in misery for years because his first reaction would be how much this could help them because that’s just selfish and self serving. What a b*stard that he should first think of his loved ones when news of a possible breakthrough that could lead to help for them is released.
Tom who said you have no chance of getting it. My in law got it in his 80s. So never say never. And why would you begruge any famiy the chance of a cure. I am disgusted by your small mindlessness.
Thomas some families are predisposed towards certain illnesses, someday you’ll grow up and be less of an uncontrollable knob and though you’ll probably never be a man you may mature enough to regret making such ignorant comments in public and letting yourself down so badly….
Brilliant news…my almost 90 yrs old mum has Parkinson’s, lives alone, out everyday….won’t be any use to her poor love, but hopefully to others in the future….you are brilliant people and all the wonderful research you do.
Its news when there is a cure.This is just a PR exercise for more funding.
I find these articles incredibly frustrating,ten years from now there will still be no cure for this awful affliction.
Probably best that they don’t publicise this and any other break through’s cause they don’t need the funding to continue research
Ten years from now they would definitely be no closer to a cute if they don’t get any funding, as far as i am concerned they can run down the street naked shouting eureka if it gets them the funding they need to research this further and hopefully make a breakthrough
*cute = cure
What have you ever done for society butter bean?
- If I was gambling man I’d bet you take a whole pile more than you give…..
If their work is good enough they will get funding without the publicity stunts, getting peoples hopes up and then nothing is pretty low.
They published it in a research journal and the media have picked up on it. Publishing in journals is an essential part of scientific research and enables their work to be built upon by other scientists who may use it to follow other avenues of enquiry. Should they just keep it to themselves so the scientific community don’t know what they’re doing, can’t verify what they’re doing and may waste money doing the exact same research not knowing it’s already been done? And if a media outlet should pick up on this study and ask for comment by the scientists in question should they just refuse? And so what if they make comments about funding being essential, it is! It’s not as if these guys earn fat paycheques doing this work. It’s often quite low paid stuff for the expertise involved. Scientists carrying out research are constantly fighting for funding from wherever they can get it so why shouldn’t he take a pop at the availability of funding? And who’s hope are they getting up? They explicitly state it won’t directly lead to a cure but perhaps enable advancements towards a cure. If he hadn’t made the comment about needing continued funding would your boxers still be twisted or what? If these guys were to turn around and win a Nobel prize for this would you be b*tching about it then or be congratulating them for being the pride of the country? Some people’s default setting is to moan. It’s ridiculous.
If it is a greater understand of how aggregates of misfolded proteins occur and proves to be right that is significant. I believe the theory up to now was that misfolded proteins acted on neighbouring protein which were correctly folded to misfolded. That would be much more difficult to control than a damaged gene producing the mutated protein. It at least gives a starting point for a cure.
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