30 Years: Longford Backstage Theatre celebrates three decades in the arts

The past is a foreign country. Time goes by in a blink of the eye. Go back ten years, Ireland is voting to reflect a social change, the citizens will make gay marriage legal.

Twenty years ago the Provisional Irish Republican Army ended its armed campaign and ordered all units to dump arms.

Then dial the clock back 30 years and another referendum on divorce is a litmus test indicating a changing country.

Longford in 1995 was a very different place. Patterns of socialising are different.

Young people go out in the county town four nights a week. People from all over the midlands are drawn to Longford for the nightlife.

There are other social options opening up besides pubs and nightclubs. Longford's appreciation for dramatic performances was well established by the mid 1990s.

The Tops of the Town and St Mel's Musical Society are thriving, while Backstage Theatre Group has been on the go for almost a decade.

The theatre group had formed a bond with Longford Slashers GAA club, and the idea of a purpose built space took shape.

“That relationship was already there. The two groups were working together quite successfully.

“While it might seem like an unlikely marriage, maybe it was already a love affair,” Mona Considine, the Artistic Director of Backstage Theatre, outlined.

Describing Backstage Theatre is no easy task. It's a 214 seater auditorium and the adjacent Atrium Gallery, but it has also developed into a piece of cultural infrastructure for the region, a hub for artists of a variety of disciplines. The logo incorporates an acorn and an oak leaf; hinting at the growth from simple origins.

“It started out as a theatre and a theatre space, but what Backstage is now is far more than just performances,” Mona says, “It facilitated a blend of touring productions; music, theatre, dance Alongside this there were community performances, local community groups and schools were using the space to perform.”

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The idea to have a dedicated theatre happened organically. In the early 90s Backstage Theatre Group were building a reputation for quality amateur drama productions. The demand for tickets to the shows meant the Longford Slashers function room was a regularly sold out venue.

“Year after year audience demand was increasing,” Mona explained, “They started thinking “maybe we should have a dedicated space”. They realised there was no theatre in the Midlands area, and this was something needed, so they started to think bigger.”

The theatre group and the GAA club formulated plans. Having a sitting Taoiseach as your local TD didn't do any harm either.

Backstage members Mick Reilly, Olly Kenny, Noel Strange, Denis Glennon and Philip Cox along with Slashers notables like Mick Gilleran, Hugh Brennan, Noel Caslin, Tom Donlon and Martin Jennings, were just a few of the names that inched the project forward.

A patronage scheme saw the theatre group raise £20,000, back when that sort of money was hard to come by.

“It was a very ambitious plan, and very forward-thinking. Fair play to those people for thinking big and bringing this to Longford,” Mona said of the instigators.

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Over the decades the incongruity of a partnership between a GAA club and a drama society has been observed by outsiders.

However when considering the community ethos of both organisations, it makes an awful lot of sense.

The advent of the Canal Studio space, which opened in 2010, facilitated a further evolution for the theatre.

“It's a space where work is created and developed. Where we have artists in residence and offer more support to those artists.

The addition of the studio really helped us add other dimensions to what we're doing,” Mona outlined.

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Not only does it offer a dynamic programme of inspiring theatre, it provides a platform for artists and companies to present their work.

Such support is a recognition that art has an enormously important part to play in society: “I think art centres throughout the country play a key role in developing the arts, and a follow on is participation in the arts. It's critical to ensure art happens across the country, and not just in cities.”

At the time of planning the movers and shakers in the project visited Hawkswell in Sligo, The Ardhowen Theatre in Enniskillen and Siamsa Tíre in Tralee. The idea was to base the Longford venue on models that worked.

Albert Reynold's offered simple advice: “You only get one shot at this, so do it right first time.”

Mona believes a thriving arts circle, one that nourishes the wider community, pays a dividend to society. “Those art centres, theatres or venues play a huge role in ensuring that arts happens. Guaranteeing people get a chance to take part in the arts, and maybe even think about being artists. That's really important.”

Longford has a particular love for drama. There are amateur groups dotted all across the county. For each of these playing in Backstage is the GAA equivalent of playing Pearse Park.

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“We're a space where they can come and perform and have a large audience for their work,” Mona says, “There are opportunities for them to connect with professional artists and professional companies. A chance, on some occasions, to work with those companies.

“The Drama League of Ireland (DLI) is so important in offering learning opportunities, like the summer schools, but it's nice to have something on your doorstep. A chance to interact and also to see performances at a professional level.”

Over three decades Backstage theatre has hosted internationally acclaimed actors and companies to tread the boards.

“We've definitely had the best companies in the country perform here,” Mona says, “Because we're here as long as we are we've developed relationships with companies like Druid. We're on the touring map, so we're on their radar when they're planning tours. It comes down to how we look after the artists, how we make sure they feel welcome.”

Such companies are a real thrill for attendees. “I love to stand at the back and listen to audiences coming out and hear what they're saying and not necessarily ask them because people tend to be nice, most of the time.

“It's nice to just listen, you get a sense of how much they've enjoyed the piece, or not. It's lovely to feel the buzz after a really good show, people are just on a high when they're leaving.”

A recent visit by Galway's best known group was a case in point. Druid's three one act comedies gave the audience a unique insight into the machinations of a play.

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“Between the shows they changed the whole set. It was taken down piece by piece and transformed into a new location. They exchanged a windows for a doors, altering the tiniest detail, a post office is changed into a sitting room. It was amazing for audiences to witness that, and they sat through the interval transfixed by the workings,” the Backstage Artistic Director tells.

Aside from their role as host Backstage has also played a vital role in the creation of award winning drama: “One special memory was the work on the Dead School, which was a Nomad Theatre Network production. It was created here. They had a week in development and a week in production.

“It opened here before going on a tour of Nomad theatres,” Mona recalls, “It ended up in the Dublin Theatre Festival, in 2008, then we brought it from there to the Tricycle in London. I was really proud of that production, working with Padraig McIntyre, the director and all the actors and the crew.

“The fact the writer, Pat McCabe, has a strong Longford connection made it even more special. That's a standout for me, but we've worked with a number of amazing artists.”

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“We also had Maisie Lee, as Artist in Residence for three years. While here she made a children's show Luminaria. That was made in 2020 for touring in 2020,” the Artistic Director said.

That was a fraught period of world history, a time that impacted profoundly on the entertainment industry. To creating something enduring in such an environment is significant: “We brought Luminaria to the ARC, the National Children's Centre in

Dublin. It recently returned to Longford as part of the Longford Lights programme. I'm hoping this is a launchpad for it to have another life. It was really special to bring it back for our 30th anniversary.”

Another enduring piece of art created under the residence programme is Catherine Young Dance's ‘Floating on a Dead Sea’. It's a piece rooted in the century old struggle over land played out in the Middle East.

Inspired by Young’s time in Palestine it features a cast of international dancers, stunning visuals by filmmaker Luca Truffarelli and live music directed by Martin Schärer.

“This is her fourth year with us,” Mona says, “I'm really proud of the work we make with Catherine. Her art is really important because it's just so good, so relevant, of such high quality and addresses really important subjects.

“It attracts audiences that aren't necessarily purely a dance audience. We see people who generally come to theatre or music, not dance, coming to Catherine's shows. She has amazing live musicians on stage in her work, but it's also about the topics that she covers; humanity and social injustice.

“She deals with those topics so well, and the audiences are always really moved by her work.”

This year the theatre commenced their fifth annual Activate Residency Programme. The programme offers bursaries and short term residencies at Backstage Theatre to artists across three different strands.

“Since 2020 we've issued calls for five residencies, so five bursaries of up to €5,000, and one or two weeks access to the studio, and local accommodation. Last year we had 75 submissions for that programme, from all over the country,” Mona outlined.

“Each year a Longford artist is selected by a panel as part of the programme. They're selected on merit, but there is always at least one Longford artist in it.”

The three strands are: artists from all genres; a collaboration with Shawbrook Studios; and the final strand focuses on young people, children and education.

“We've Emer Barry as one of our Activate Resident artists this year and Darren Yorke as well. We've had Luke Casserly and Eimear O'Reilly. We've had Robert and Patrick from Harp Media. There's really exciting work happening in Longford, really exciting artists emerging from the county.

“It's fabulous to see, and it's nice to think that maybe we've played a small part in it.”

Mona is particularly pleased with the way the Activate Residency Programme has developed: “Every year we've delivered more than the five we planned for. That's because of the demand. We've always budgeted for five residencies and we've always delivered more.

“The most we've delivered in one year is nine. This year we're delivering eight. The demand is so big for this. Artists need this kind of support.

“It's really important. Through the programme we're building relationships with new artists all the time.”

Mona believes the programme benefits Longford as much as it does the artists. “Those artists come from all over the country.

They stay in Cathedral View for at least a week, sometimes a little more than a week. So they spend time in Longford.

“That's not just time spent in Backstage. They eat locally. They might have a drink locally. They spend time in the town shopping or whatever.

“That's really good economically for the town. What I'm often struck by is, I have never heard a negative comment from any of those artists about Longford, ever. In fact, I've heard the opposite.

“I've heard about how much they love coming to Longford. One of the actors from Luminaria, when down for the presentation during Longford Lights, we were walking away from the show and he was saying, “Oh, it's great to be back in Longford. I love coming to Longford”. That is good for Longford.”

Mona says the professional groups also love to visit the venue. “I really want Longford people to know these artists love coming to Longford, really enjoy being in Longford.

“They think Longford people are really nice, because we are.”

Such observations are why Backstage Theatre can be proud of its mission to enhance the cultural landscape of Longford, celebrate artists, enrich the lives of people in our community and continue the growth that has been so much a part of the last 30 years.