Hi folks, Working as a collective is proven to be better for us and I like to consider myself a practitioner rather than a preacher of good practices based on what I believe are our natural values. Through the organisation we're combining arts and environmental activism or "artivism" so I'm networking and learning from others and then weaving these different strands into participatory performances that we share with tourists and locals. We'd like to empower people to become actively responsible for themselves rather than leaving it up to representatives to lead them on a passive cathartic journey.

I believe it's a combination of experiences that shape us: Culture and Environment are at the heart of our phenomenological existence but I feel like we're in the dark about the natural world or the nature of our own fragile existence. Nature will regenerate but we have a finite existence and our dependence on the planet to sustain us is my concern as we increase in numbers and its time we started thinking like John Gray says in Straw Dogs, thoughts on humans and other animals, about the Gaia hypothesis - 'the theory that the Earth is a self-regulating system whose behaviour resembles in some ways that of an organism - embodies the most rigorous scientific naturalism...For Gaia, human life has no more meaning that the life of a slime mould.' 

Now I'm not expecting people to be walking and talking existentialism but there is a relationship between the leisure industry and labour and we're often striving to attain things to make us happy when if we slowed down, looked around and took time to smell the roses we may discover we would be happier living frugally and consuming less. I'm as guilty as anybody of being a consumer and finding excuses to buy new toys but I hope that with these toys I can show people some of the beautiful spaces and places in the west of Ireland and take us on participatory performance to awaken our conscience. 

I'd like our festival and organisation to be an uplifting performer that moves people to want to be creative and continue striving not to strive too much to make the world a better place. 

We need to bear in mind that the majority of people don't sit around writing articles about our performance footprint or discussing poetry or literature unless they're into it and if we want to persuade you or others that the arts is food for the soul then we need to create some of connection to effectively communicate with you. So I guess this is an appeal to you to participate and tell us what you think of our performances.

The Arts are a means of communicating our feelings and also self-discovery. The work that most moves us is simply truthful and often a little risky.There is a sense of intimacy and vulnerability that creates a sense of empathy with the person who is courageous enough to be expose themselves warts and all. It doesn't have to be polished to perfection. Truth shines out and a good storyteller captures that truth, which is beauty.

Truth or Intimacy are themes that interest me because I rarely feel I am honest or intimate with people at the level I'd like to be. A natural reserve grows wild and free and yet remains trapped within me. Though all the world's a stage, the theatrical stage may be the only place to actually perform and discover something new about ourselves  in the presence of the spectators or witnesses. 

The hardest part is not the delivery but the  uncertainty of reciprocity. Living rurally does not prevent one from flourishing or creating the kind of work that may not always be appreciated but the point of performing for an audience whom we interact with daily and who don't necessarily share the same vision can be pretty challenging. But trying to create work to inspire people to see we have a shared responsibility to our community to act accordingly by participating in things that may not be our cup of tea makes it worthwhile.

We do what we do though how many of us really think about the consequence of our actions whether we are performing on stage or picking up a piece of litter in the street or tossing a cigarette butt on the floor. I live with my father who had Parkinson's and his punding drives me crazy at times. This is when he starts gathering things around him or picking things up and putting them in the strangest of places, which frustrates us all and often ends with us shouting at him, what are you doing?

His behaviour or actions are beyond his control as he’s on medication and suffers from a debilitating neurological disease. Not that it’s an excuse for everything he does or doesn’t do but I have less excuse for losing the rag with him when he seems to be willfully resisting his son controlling his actions.

So in this year of re-evolution we’ll be looking at what causes us to revolt for our independence and we’ll start by examining some of the things that lead to dis-ease within our communities. These theatrical performances are more to do with love than hate and our inability to communicate due to our culture and social taboos that force us to cope rather than share our troubles with our community until "the centre can no longer hold." It's only thence discover we are not alone and that we don't have to be all things to everybody but have faith in the strength of our community.

So we’re looking forward to recreating our sense of identity as part of a growing community of artists who dare to be different and explore new and unfamiliar territory for many of us. The only thing I can say for definite is that there will be tears of joy and sadness shed for ourselves. So come along. Joy will be found in our journey together and not only in reaching our destination.