How Do We Care? SoloSIRENs Festival 2023

SoloSIRENs is a participatory festival bringing theatre artists and South County Dublin communities together to consider and explore the nature of care in our society. How do we care? Who does the caring? How are the carers supported? And how can we care better? The festival will include a series of performances, workshops, and discussions exploring care from many angles and in many guises.

SoloSIRENs is a theatre-making and producing collective based in Tallaght and in residence at Civic Theatre. SoloSIRENs amplifies female identifying voices onstage and beyond, collaborating with other theatre artists and with a local, intercultural and intergenerational community collective. Formed in 2019, the collective has expanded and evolved as they continue to explore the feminist aesthetic in community theatre practice. Crucial to a feminist aesthetic is a focus on care.

Development on How Do We Care? began in autumn 2022 with community workshops and research, engaging with intercultural groups, healthcare providers and carers.

Festival Programme

Week 1: Care and Migration
2 and 3 November: Thread by Tatiana Santos
4 November: Body and Place workshop facilitated by Neltah Chadamoyo and Tatiana Santos

Week 2: Care and Health
16 and 17 November: The Tightrope Walker by Jenny Macdonald
18 November: Health/Care workshop facilitated by Jenny Macdonald and Joe Salvatore

Week 3: Care and Class
30 November and 1 December: “We will examine…”: a class life in art – A performance essay by Veronica Dyas
2 December: Care/Class workshop facilitated by Veronica Dyas

Week 4: A Caring Society?
14 and 15 December: Careground by the SoloSIRENs Collective
16 December: Closing workshop facilitated by SoloSIRENs Collective

The full festival programme can be accessed at https://solosirens.info/festival

SoloSIRENs Festival is supported by Creative Ireland, Irish Hospice Foundation, South Dublin County Arts Office, the Civic Tallaght, and Arts Council of Ireland.