Premiere of Nochtaithe (Unveiled), an artistic response to the survivor testimonies gathered and archived as part of NUI Galway’s Tuam Oral History Project, will premiere online from 2pm-2.45pm on Saturday 1st May, followed by a panel discussion afterwards with:
• Dr Miriam Haughton and students from Drama and Theatre Studies, NUI Galway, will talk about devising, creating and producing Nocthaithe.
• Survivors from the Tuam Mother and Baby Home, Christina Carroll and Patrick Duffy, will talk about their personal stories.
• Dr Sarah-Anne Buckley and Dr John Cunninghan, NUI Galway Department of History, will talk about their roles in the Tuam Oral History Project.
• The talk will be chaired by Conall Ó Fátharta, NUI Galway.
Nochtaithe will run from the 1st-31st May online at: https://youtu.be/nnPbkZG9yQ0
About Nochtaithe (Unveiled)
Staff and students from Drama and Theatre Studies at NUI Galway drew from the survivor testimonies gathered and archived as part of the Tuam Oral History Project, as core material to devise a selection of scenes, further contextualised by the various institutional histories in Ireland.
Nochtaithe features performance, dance and movement, poetry, performance art, installation, music, digital media, audio extracts from survivors of the Tuam institution, interviews with Tuam Oral History Project Personal Investigators, Dr Sarah Anne Buckley and Dr John Cunningham, and NUI Galway archivist Dr Barry Houlihan. The sound design also includes a guest performance by acclaimed poet and novelist Elaine Feeney.
It features a live performance of ‘Emer’s Dream’ by celebrated Irish musician Colm Mac Con Iomaire, providing a visceral soundscape that captures the tragedy of the history, but also acknowledges the courage of survivors for sharing their most intimate and difficult memories.
Nochtaithe hopes to facilitate a site of intergenerational dialogue which acknowledges the harrowing experiences of survivors and their families, while also suggesting there is potential for social and cultural transformation through listening to others, through education and by carefully confronting a shared past fractured by trauma.
Nochtaithe was made with the support of the Tuam Home Alliance, and NUI Galway would like to acknowledge their generosity and courage in sharing their life stories.
