Firdt Fortnight 2013 Programme

For tickets visit firstfortnight.ie

Challenging Mental Health Prejudice

Through Creative Arts

2013Challenging Mental Health Prejudice

Through Creative Arts

2013

Ireland’s Mental Health Arts FestivalDublin, Jan 2nd to 12th 2013

www.firstfortnight.ie

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At the heart of First Fortnight is a small group of seven people who dedicate all their spare ti me to making this happen. But when it comes to the running of the festi val itself we are going to need a hand. In fact, we are going to need several hands. If you would like to volunteer and be a part of First Fortnight 2013 we’d love to hear from you. We need people from all backgrounds, so please get in touch if you can help at all. Visit www.fi rstf ortnight.ie/volunteer for more info.

VolunteersWe’re Going To Need Some Help With This...

Need To Talk?

There are always people out there to talk to if you need to. If you don’t feel you can talk to your friends and family there are people there to listen. We have compiled a list of helpful organisati ons and helplines which can be found at www.fi rstf ortnight.ie/fi ndhelp.

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First FortnightWho We Are

First F

ortnigh

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What happens when you change the space? What happens when you create a diff erent environment in which to tackle a diffi cult issue? Since its incepti on in 2009, First Fortnight’s key aim has been to challenge mental health sti gma and prejudice through the creati ve arts. We believe the arts allow us to create a space where people can talk about mental health issues in a very non-scripted manner and help to change people’s percepti ons about an issue that eff ects us all.We are an arts-based mental health organisati on, a festi val and, from December 2012, a mental health service provider with the exciti ng launch of the First Fortnight Centre for Creati ve Therapies.A charity-based organisati on, First Fortnight is run enti rely by seven volunteers.

VOLUNTEER TO BE A PART OFFIRST FORTNIGHT2013

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For tickets visit fi rstfortnight.ie

Solpadeine Is My BoyfriendThe New Theatre

Theatre

Wed 2 - Sat 5 Jan, 7.30pm, €12

Solpadeine is My Boyfriend is about change. It’s more than a haircut or going to college. It’s the changes you can’t control, can’t come back from, like growing up, emigrati ng, and that moment you realise: you’re not who you thought you were going to be when you wrote about it in 3rd class. Described by Irish Theatre Magazine as an “unfl inching confrontati on with both depression and the psychic paralysis of post-boom Ireland”, Stefanie Preissner’s touching, thoughtf ul and humorous one-woman play was one of the standout hits at the 2012 Dublin Fringe Festi val.

“In Solpadeine Is My Boyfriend, Stefanie Preissner shows herself to be a serious talent well on the road to becoming a major one.” - Irish Examiner


The Therapy SessionsThe Workman’s Club

Music & S

poken W

ord

Wed 2, Fri 4 & Fri 11 Jan, 8.30pm, €5

From music to poetry to literature, anything will go as some of Ireland’s brightest musicians, poets and writers gather in an inti mate space to get whatever it might be off their chests. Expect surprise guests and sets from acclaimed singer-songwriter Róisín O, intricate, sun-drenched melodies and a huge sense of fun from This Club, epic and emoti ve anthems from dREA, brilliant baroque folk songs from The Man Whom and Belfast-based singer-songwriter Chris Campbell.

There’s also the chance to catch Dylan Tighe – one of the stars of the Dublin Theatre Festi val – perform songs from ‘Record’, his raw and immediate take on his personal history of mental health diagnoses, as well as the brilliant VerseChorusVerse who will preview songs from his forthcoming debut album and recent covers EP, ‘Six Songs’.

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Aside from music, there’ll also be thoughtf ul, insightf ul and humorous poetry peppered throughout the night from some of the city’s most assured wordsmiths. Curated by the great Stephen James Smith, that disti nguished line-up consists of Elaine Feeney, Sarah Clancy, Derry-based Abby Oliveira, the wildly funny Kalle Ryan, acclaimed poet Colm Keegan, John Cummins, Eddie Keegan, Come Rhyme With Me’s Una Mullally & Vickey Curti s and playwright and poet Stefanie Preissner.

Also, expect a huge range of surprise guests to be added to the ever-evolving Therapy Sessions line-up with last year’s surprises including We Cut Corners, Delorentos, Julie Feeney, Mark Geary, Tieranniesaur and Pugwash. All for just €5. Unmissable!

Music & Spok

en Word

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Tarnation (with post-show discussion)

Irish Film Institute

Sat 5 Jan, 4pm, Standard IFI Prices

Praised as “a fi lm of remarkable power” by esteemed US fi lm criti c Roger Ebert, Jonathan Caouett e’s documentary on growing up with a mother with schizophrenia has earned huge acclaim since its release in 2003. Culled together from 19 years of snapshots, answering machine messages, video diaries, early short fi lms, and more, this riveti ng one-of-a-kind documentary receives a rare Irish screening, which will be followed by a post-show discussion.

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Film

ShortSpace: Irish Short FilmsFilmbase

Thur 3 Jan, 7.30pm, €5

Aimed at inspiring discussion around the diffi culti es of living with mental illness, this series of shorts will include works by a number of internati onal directors including ‘Jeudi 19’ by Raphael Holt; ‘Africa’ by Matti Harju; and Kealan O’Rourke’s IFTA-winning short, ‘The Boy In The Bubble’. The programme also includes a preview of fi lmmaker Ann-Marie Kelly’s riveti ng documentary, ‘Wally’, which charts a young Irish rapper’s struggle with depression and helps to demonstrate the healing power of creati ve communicati on.

Filmbase

Tue 8 - Fri 11 Jan, 1.15pm, FREE

Looking for a bit of a lift as the Christmas holidays fade into the past? Look no further! First Fortnight will screen a series of short fi lms to enjoy your lunch-break too. What’s more, they’re completely free!

Lunchtime Lift

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treet Art Visual Art - DE:Tox

Filmbase

Fri 4 - Sat 12 Jan, FREE

From twisti ng your head into Glen Neath’s large wooden ‘body’, to taking a glimpse through Lee Barry’s grandmother’s grief, First Fortnight’s 2013 ‘DE-TOX’ exhibiti ons aim to challenge percepti ons.With ‘The Pale Glass Star’, Sinead McDonald draws on her 2012 First Fortnight work as she uses a series of single word stories and light based pieces to look at the duality of light and darkness and its relati onship to mental health. ‘Vanishing Point’ sees Melissa Lavender re-work an early photo of her great-grandmother who was taken to an asylum in the 1930s, suff ering from post-natal depression, and thought to have died there. However, 60 years later, it was discovered that she was alive, recovered, and sti ll living at the asylum. There are no photographs of her during those lost years. Viewed close up, the large image is an unreadable patt ern of marks. As you move away from the work, the marks change into a recognisable person.

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Street ArtVarious Locations

Wed 2 - Sat 12 Jan, FREE

From Maser’s beauti ful ‘Always Read the Small Print’ artwork on Grantham Street below, to ADW’s eye-catching ‘Labelz Are for Jars, Not For People’ slogan on Wellington Quay, chances are you’ve already seen the work of these talented street arti sts etched on a number of walls across Dublin city centre. Conti nuing to play a key role in helping challenge percepti ons around mental health, look out for fresh new creati ons by the country’s very best street arti sts over the course of the 2013 festi val.

Visual & Street Art

Sarah Flynn’s ‘Spinnet’ sees the arti st transform familiar objects, disrupt the idea of their representati on and questi on our presumpti ons that things are, as they appear. Her concise and contained minimal installati ons are aimed at engaging the viewer in someti mes confl icti ng emoti ons of our preconceived ideas as to what we consider the norm, drawing att enti on to social and insti tuti onal relati ons.


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Please Can You Make Some

Noise For... Mental HealthLecture Theatre, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2

DiscussionWed 9 Jan, 7pm

Too oft en, mental health is an issue which is silenced. It is kept behind closed doors and people are discouraged from talking about it. Our debate will reverse that trend by shining a spotlight on the topic and encouraging people to make as much noise as possible to help end the prejudice and discriminati on that engulfs mental health issues.Amnesty Internati onal and First Fortnight have put together a panel of high profi le speakers all with personal experience in relati on to mental health. These top class orators will bring their own unique and lively perspecti ve to the issue of mental health prejudice and discriminati on. Following the introducti on, a debate will open up between the speakers and with the audience, chaired by Amnesty Internati onal Ireland’s executi ve director, Colm O’Gorman. To maximise the audience and create even more ‘noise’, the event will be live-streamed by other mental health organisati ons in this country and around the world. As well as questi ons from the audience we will be taking tweet questi ons to ensure that we make as much noise as possible and take a step towards ending mental health prejudice and discriminati on.Keep an eye on www.fi rstf ortnight.ie for full details on speakers.


SilentSmock Alley Theatre

Thur 10 - Sat 12 Jan, 8pm, €12

“Hopeless, helpless, in-the-way person”. Homeless Tino McGoldrig once had splendid things. But he has lost it all - including his mind. He now dives into the wonderful wounds of his past through the romanti c world of Rudolph Valenti no, in this brave, bold, beauti ful producti on. Winner of the Fringe First and Herald Angel Awards at Edinburgh Festi val Fringe 2011 and Argus Angel at Brighton Festi val 2012, Pat Kinevane’s internati onally acclaimed one-man producti on, produced by Fishamble: The New Play Company, has wowed audiences across the world and off ers a multi -faceted insight into homelessness and the sti gma surrounding mental health problems.

Thea

tre

In Associati on With

Join us for a post-show discussion on January 10 on the issues faced by people living with a mental health diffi culty on the margins of society. With: Pat Kinevane, writer and actor of ‘Silent’; Orla Barry, director at Mental Health Reform; Sister Stanislaus Kennedy, Social Innovator.

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Box of FrogsThe Mill Theatre, Dundrum

Theatre

Fri 11 Jan, 8pm, €12

Combining music, comedy sketches and stories, Box of Frogs is a revue around the subject of mental health problems. Seeking to de-mysti fy, debunk and ulti mately have a laugh with what really goes on inside our heads, the play features a well-known cast of actors and comedians who share their stories in a work writt en in collaborati on with talented actress and playwright Isobel Mahon. An audience is invited in to be

entertained by the thoughts of a cast featuring much-loved actress and TV star Mary McEvoy; stand-up comedian, journalist and Newstalk presenter Dil Wickremasinghe; and writer, comedian and frequent media contributor, John Moynes. Caroline FitzGerald (White Woman Street) once again directs an unmissable project following a well-received run at Dublin’s Smock Alley Theatre earlier this year.

In Associati on With


Le Galaxie, We Cut Corners,

Kopek & VannThe Button Factory

Sat 12 Jan, 8pm, €12

The fi rst unmissable gig of the year, First Fortnight closes with another diverse bill of some of the country’s fi nest musical talent – and few are greater than Dublin electro-pop outf it Le Galaxie. Stepping up a gear in 2012, the four-piece were behind one of the releases of the year in their acclaimed ‘Fade 2 Forever’ EP. Joining them on the bill this year are Dublin rock band Kopek, who have made waves internati onally, att racti ng plaudits from Classic Rock Magazine, Metal Hammer and Kerrang following the release of their debut album, ‘White Collar Lies’. Similarly making in-roads in the UK are We Cut Corners with their criti cally acclaimed debut ‘Today I Realised I Could Go Home Backwards’ recently receiving a UK release. Opening on the night are ones-to-watch Vann, who’ll hope to put an early mark on 2013 with their pulsati ng and melodic electro-rock.

Music

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Event Calendar

Event CalendarSee www.firstfortnight.ie for more

Wednesday 2 Jan Solpadeine is My Boyfriend New Theatre 7.30pm The Therapy Sessions Workman’s Club 8.30pm

Thursday 3 Jan Solpadeine is My Boyfriend New Theatre 7.30pm Shortspace Filmbase 7.30pm

Friday 4 Jan Visual Arts Launch Filmbase 6.30pm Solpadeine is My Boyfriend New Theatre 7.30pm The Therapy Sessions Workman’s Club 8.30pm

Saturday 5 Jan Tarnation IFI 4.00pm Solpadeine is My Boyfriend New Theatre 7.30pm

Tuesday 8 Jan Lunchtime Lift Filmbase 1.15pm

Wednesday 9 Jan Lunchtime Lift Filmbase 1.15pm Make Some Noise... Earlsfort Terrace TBC

Thursday 10 Jan Lunchtime Lift Filmbase 1.15pm Silent Smock Alley 8.00pm

Friday 11 Jan Lunchtime Lift Filmbase 1.15pm Silent Smock Alley 8.00pm Box of Frogs The Mill Theatre 8.00pm The Therapy Sessions Workman’s Club 8.30pm

Saturday 12 Jan Silent Smock Alley 8.00pm The Big Gig Button Factory 8.30pm

Music Discussion Theatre

Visual Arts Film Spoken Word

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Get The AppFor iPhone & Android

Download the FREE First Fortnight mobile app for iPhone or Android today. View the full festi val lineup, purchase ti ckets, read about every event, follow the interacti ve Street Art Map and more... all on your smart phone.

See fi rstf ortnight.ie/app forinfo and to download.

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THE CLARENCE HOTEL

Documents

Firdt Fortnight 2013 Programme