Galway Advertiser 1980/1980_10_09/GA_09101980_E1_008.pdf 

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LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
It may have been some what over-ambitious of the Taibhdhearc to have under taken a difficult production like Lucia di'Lammermoor. Nonetheless Pat Heaney's courage at attempting such a serious venture must be praised. It is relatively easy to present light-hearted Strauss musicals where neither action nor music require the same demands as a Donizetti production.. Talent and time are needed in abundance to ensure the success of the show. Both were given unsparingly in the Taibhdhearc produc tion. Inevitably there are weaknesses, particularly in some of the male chorus sections. On the other hand there are tremendous chorus sections where the results of long rehearsal are obvious. It is some years now since Galway has had its own p r o d u c t i o n od s e r i o u s opera. Since there is no lack of musical talent in the company and no apparent end to M r . Heaney's energy, every encourage ment should be given to sustain an effort along these lines. Lucia di Lammermoor is a tragedy and the musical score h almost relentless in its solemnity. Paul Corbett as violinist played with the sensitivity of one who felt the value of every note. Could this extremely talent ed young man be persuaded to give his own solo concert sometime? The Taibh dhearc theatre could pro vide an ideal forum. Lighting was excellent throughout the show and never missed a cue. In general the stage sets were good, particularly the set for the marriage scene. How ever, the set for the opening of Act II looked unfinished, sparse and had the absurd addition of three full grown trees growing inside the house. I had no idea life in the 19th century was so rushed. In the opening act everyone bounded on stage at an inexplicably furious pace. This was acceptable for the hunters, whose costumes incidentally were lovely, but was less convincing when Lucia and her maid entered with similar haste. Performarces by the

principals were in general excellent. Peadar O Treasaigh was not at ease in his part; Tomas O Seanain has a fine strong voice but was h e s i t a n t in c o m b i n i n g action and song smoothly. By contrast, Seosamh O Corbaid whose voice is very musical, if somewhat soft, moved very well and conveyed meaning to his songs. However, could someone unglue the tome from his hands? Is it plausible to carry your Bible into a for ws t on a dark night when chasing after some one? Lucia was played by Treasa Ui Thiarnain, who seemed to thrive on the difficulty of the music. She has also developed into a fine actress and her final scene where she sang continuously for what must have been at least 20 minutes was particularly memorable. This is prob ably the most difficult musical part she has ever played, but she has proved herself capable of under taking any role. No elaboration of the plot has been given because of its inevitability. The music is what's important and should definitely be heard. Backdrop

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Members of the Church of the Holy Family, Mervue, Altar Boys' Choir photographed with their parish priest Very Rev. Fr. Kelly who conducted them on a tour of Maynooth College on the occasion of the choir's annual outing. a direct and personal way, and would like to contribute as a sign of their apprecia tion for the sacrifices made by the two dead men. As always, the material support is only an expression of the attempt to fulfil the much more fundamental human need for a shoulder to lean on, in what must be a continuing and shocking tragedy for those immedi ately involved. T H E SMALL MAN Those who watched Seamus Brennan, on the "Late Late Show" on Saturday night last, will not only conclude that he is one of the most polished and diplomatic performers in Ireland today, but will also suspect that the Galway man who came to be known as the "Flaherty of Mount Street" (remember Wash ington Behind Closed Doors?) has been searching around for a new political hallmark as he decides to try for a seat in South Co. Dublin. Seamus had some interest ing mathematics, in round figure approximations, which seemed to suggest that, if he had his way, Fianna Fail would become the party of the small businessman, the selfemployed risk-taker, and even perhaps, the familyrun building concern? In any case, he seemed to make it perfectly clear that he saw no hope in being able to use the public sector to solve the job-providing problems of Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s. Of course the public sector did "valuable work" but we have, it seems, to look elsewhere--to those people who are "plagued" by simple tax-forms, and V.A.T.--for "productive employment." Seamus had the same thing to say on radio earlier in the evening. In neither case did he spell out what he included under the heading of "Public sector." Specifically there was no mention of our semistate successes, and of the vast numbers of Irish people Fianna Fail, under Lemass in particular, suc ceeded in keeping gainfully employed in Ireland in the past through such produc tive public sector ventures. The man who just resigned from Fianna Fail H.Q. did not say it, but it would seem he is partial to cuts in public spending, and an emphasis on "productive, technical jobs." In spite of what his party proposed, and did, under Jack Lynch and Martin O'Donoghue in their successful effort to get back into office in 1977? It is a debate that should continue. THINKING O U T L O U D After all Senator Brennan says he has disagreements with people about policies, and is not interested in personalities--even when that personality may be Eamon de Valera, and Seamus knows as well as anybody else that getting him on stage at an Ardfheis would be something of a show-biz coup! The basic attitude which one of the most successful political engineers of the 1970s showed, on the "Late Late" in any case, would seem to tend towards the thinking of our friend Professor Milton Friedman, who is still the guiding figure behind what Mrs. Thatcher is doing in the U.K. Recent comments here at the outset of the Friedman series on RTE, drew an amazingly wide post-bag, mainly in agree ment with the view that you have to take the new economic Godfather with considerable caution, and see what he has to offer in an Irish context. It is a debate which has been going on in other quarters too, but apart from an excellent series in the Irish Times by Paul Tansey some weeks ago, it has been rather patchy here at home. One of the best broadcasting contributions was the BBC Radio 4 documentary " I s There Another Keynes Out There?" which was pro duced by Will Hutton. The bones of the issues dividing the Keynes school from the monetarists, with suitable variations in between, were given in an article by Hutton which was publish ed in The Listener on 4th September last. It is worth looking up, if you are interested in this sort of thing. Hopefully RTE will get around to expanding the debate in the Irish context quite soon, though past experience suggests that any chances of contributions being published in the RTE Guide in any serious detail are slim. It only goes to show that all public sector enterprises do not necessar ily have the same character istics. THE PROFESSOR AGREES Meanwhile followers of Professor John Kenneth Galbraith, the Harvard economist, will be glad to have noted that the London Observer (with a rank and file member of the I.T. & G.W.U., Dr. Conor CruiseO'Brien, as Editor in Chief) has gently nudged the tall Canadian who has been so successful at popularising economics in witty paper backs, into print, to take up the debate on behald of the Democratic "Left" once again. Readers of this paper may be interested to know of Professor Galbraith's reaction to our suggestion that he and other of broadly similar mind failed to keep their doctrines up to date after the 1973 oil crisis, and that consequently there was a danger in regard to the model of economic manage ment the western world had pursued on a fairly success ful scale since the last World War, that we throw out the baby with the bathwater. Having stressed that his comments were made in desperate haste as he was just boarding a plane for Italy (lucky guy!), he goes on to say that he fully agrees with the piece (or compila tion) in the Galway Advertiser. Prof. Galbraith continues: As to the failure, I mostly think it was on inflation and, perhaps,' underestimating the tasks of large-scale management. The first failure I feared and rather warned against; the second I certainly did not foresee. What a wonderfully frank and honest admission can be gleaned from that last sentence. And how forth coming American academics usually are, even when approached by small fry from small countries. It is almost as if they feel they have a duty to share their wisdom with the big wide world in a way that may not always be the case where debates of serious social and economic policies on the Irish scene do not always benefit from the accumul ated wisdom of a frequently more reluctant academic' community. Is this the first admission that the "tasks of large-scale public manage ment" may, in fact, be a different type of ball game once the state gets dug in to a certain degree? And this suggestion from the Har vard man any real relation ship with what Seamus Brennan was hinting at? On first looks, I would think not. But it is a matter worth pursuing. Compiled by Nollaig O Gadhra

eanings

BYRNE-MORLEY APPEAL In this respect we also commend the Galway Muintir Mhaigh Eo people for organising the Benefit Dance and Social in aid of the Byrne-Morley Fund in the Sacre Coeur on Friday night (10th). There is no T H E H E L P I N G HAND need to recall the tragic and There is still something shocking circumstances particularly worthwhile leading to the foundation of about voluntary schemes of this fund, and while we assistance to one's neigh assume that the widows and bours. For while the word families of the Gardai in "charity" is no longer question are adequately favoured, the fact remains provided for under existing that we all rely and expect it circumstances, that is hardly in different forms and in the point. The real point is different c i r c u m s t a n c e s . that it is nice to know that Only when one is familiar ordinary citizens also care in

With the advent of the winter t.v. schedules, the winter schedule in social affairs also seems to be getting off the ground and consequently the quite impossible task of keeping in touch with all the news of interest in this town. The Mayo Junior Chamber people have set something of a headline with their Mayo Industrial Enterprise scheme, which probably did not make the headlines in as big a way as it deserved due to the petrol strike. Taibh dhearc na Gaillimhe are to be commended not only for their production of Lucia Di Lammermoor but also for giving the proceeds of last Monday night's perform ance to the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Even though social services have eased much of the more degradingly hard cases of misery in recent times, groups like Vincent de Paul continue to provide very necessary and very efficient types of support in a manner that official agencies can never hope to do.

with the situations can one realise that lending a helping hand to those who need it, does really benefit those who give as well. There is nobody who does not need a shoulder to lean on in some situation and at some time. Frequently the need is as much emotional as material. Certainly the efforts of Galway's Social Services Council to high light their work and raise money during the month of October is obviously fully worthy of all our support. One always seems to sound so condescending when we say we must support our brothers in need. But truly, the little given with a degree of genuine concern and human understanding can work wonders.