Words & Illustrator: Mary Murphy
Composer: Tom Lane
Director: Marc Mac Lochlainn
Story of a Day – Scéal Lae brings storytelling and music together in a joyful collaboration between Galway’s children’s theatre company Branar and Galway Music Residency for the Galway International Arts Festival. As ConTempo Quartet along with their conductor set up on one side of the small Cube stage, on the other side a small boy is dreaming in his vertical bed and magically his dreams are all depicted on a large screen behind him. His day is just beginning and we travel with him as he delights in the ordinary and finds beauty in the everyday, accompanied by the sound of the strings beautifully rendering his wonder and excitement in musical form.
The boy likes to explore words for their meanings: winter is made of home, he tells us, while summer is made of dancing. As the boy readies himself for school (class is made of children!), actor Eoin O’Dubhghaill deftly introduces his character as funny, cheeky and full of curiosity and optimism. Cleverly, all of his thoughts and actions are beautifully illustrated in soft and colourful drawings on the screen in sync with the actor’s words and this technique really brings to life the story of this particular day. On his way to school he sees, as usual, the alone cat and the alone cow, he gets on his bus as usual and school begins as it does everyday.
However, this day turns out not to be ordinary, as there is a new girl in class called Naya and of all things, for her show and tell, she brings along a new musical instrument, a kalimba, something magical to add to the wonder of the everyday. The story continues in this gentle vein, with an imaginary visit to an invisible house where an invisible father plays on a seesaw with his invisible children, all brought to life by Mary Murphy’s ethereal illustrations, disappearing just as fast as the boy’s morning dreams. Unexpected interactions with some very small audience members ensue when bubbles appear on stage as the dishes are washed after dinner but credit to O’Dubhghaill, he takes all unplanned interventions in his stride.
Marc Mac Lochlainn’s production is a gorgeous evocation of a day in the life of a child and the children present for the show appeared both transfixed and unexpectedly participatory. As an adult audience member, this reviewer was charmed and wholly engaged with the performance, with the combination of a wonderful sound score by Tom Lane, Murphy’s exquisite illustrations and O’Dubhghaill’s mischievous and perfectly judged depiction of a small boy’s day making for a magical forty-five minutes of theatre. There are performances in Irish (Branar is committed to the use of Irish in its work) and English throughout the run and a ISL/Relaxed Performance is also taking place.
Runs until the 20th July 2025.
