Luke aims to enchant with poetic Gondla
In just over two weeks’ time, a new production of Nikolay Gumilyov’s play Gondla will illuminate the stage of the Town Hall theatre, fully equipped with wolf masks, a battle scene, smoke and a live score.
This will be the first performance of the play – written in 1916 – in almost 100 years and will be Galway filmmaker Luke Morgan’s first time directing a full-length drama.
Although initially a little apprehensive about delving into the theatre world when asked to read the script, translated from Russian by Philip McDonagh, Luke’s background in film and his approach to directing made him a strong candidate to direct Gondla.
“I haven’t been involved in [professional] theatre before, but the way that I rehearse a film with an actor or actors would be very theatrical,” says the director, a GMIT graduate in Film and Documentary,
“One thing that drew me to theatre is that when you film something, it’s there forever, but with theatre it exists only in that moment and then it’s gone forever.
“People spend their whole life in the theatre and they don’t have anything to show for it at the end of their career, it’s just a collection of these little moments that will never happen again.”
That fascinates Luke, who set up the Theatre Room to experience these very moments by facilitating writers, actors and directors to perform a one-act plays every month.
Hailing from Oughterard, Luke has fond memories of growing up watching street spectacles such as the Macnas Parade and being terrified but exhilarated at the same time, emotions he hopes to evoke among those who come to see Gondla.
Gondla will be at the Town Hall Theatre on Friday and Saturday, August 19 and 20. Tickets at €15 /€12.50 are on sale from www.tht.ie, 091-569777 or at the box office.
For more details on this production see this week's Tribune here