Boyle connections run deep in ‘The Hill of the Hares’
The cast of the play 'Hills of the Hares' with Raymond Keane mask and movement facilitator and Lisa Sweeney mask maker.
A new play ‘The Hill of the Hares’ written and directed by Boyle native Maria Tivnan will be staged at Roscommon Arts Centre on September 5th after its premiere in Galway.
The play, by Fregoli Theatre, has themes of rural life, farming and nature.
Maria Tivnan, originally from Boyle, is now based in Galway. She has a PhD in Drama and Theatre Studies from the University of Galway.
Giving another Roscommon aspect to the play, Maria’s cousin Jarlath Tivnan, also from Boyle, is part of the cast, and the artist Lisa Sweeney who designed the poster and made the mask for the hare is from Roscommon Town.
Maria received her secondary education at the Convent of Mercy in Boyle and grew up in the rural townland of Corr na Miolta, on the outskirts of Boyle, which translates as Hill of the Hares.
The piece is fictional and based around friends Cass and Michael (played by Jarlath Tivnan) who meet again after nine years on the day of a funeral in the place they called home.
Their meeting marks a pivotal moment, heightened by the reappearance of an elusive hare. As past and present intertwine the play delves into the intimate lives of its characters tracing their shared history and unspoken wounds.
Maria explained that the play is about belonging, grief loss and love.
She is delighted to bring it to Roscommon Arts Centre “because this is the landscape where it came from. I think it's important that these plays travel because not everybody can go to Dublin or where urban hubs are.
“I'm in a privileged and lucky position to be able to have written something and to have it be brought to life by really amazing artists, and then to have that seen by people.” Her passion for theatre and the creative arts stemmed from her life growing up in Boyle. “A lot of my passion for theatre would be from my primary school days in Loughglynn. We had an amazing drama teacher, and I absolutely loved her and drama.”
Of course, the Boyle Arts Festival, heavily influenced her getting into the arts. “There was an art workshop that I started when I was four. There was a lady called Sue Hill, and I adored her as did everyone who went.”
Maria spoke highly of Roscommon Arts Centre where she was an artist in residence during 2020. Although she couldn’t physically be there due to Covid restrictions she did plenty of work digitally. “It was terrible that we couldn't be physically there and in and around the community. The centre supported nine artists to live through a time when you wouldn't get work.”
The play ‘Hills of the Hares’ is for over 16s as the topics referenced are of a sensitive nature. Tickets to the show are €16 and are available from Roscommon Arts Centre.
