Rebellion meets nature in Macnas’ Halloween show

Macnas performance company will return to the streets of Galway City on Sunday, October 26, at 5.30pm, with this year’s Halloween spectacle, An Treun – the summoning of the Lost.

The spectacle, which Macnas describes as “part ecological fable, part dreamscape, part rebellion”, will be reprised for an outing in Dublin in early November.

An Treun, which will be “a spectacular, shape-shifting parade”, according to Macnas CEO Johnny O’Reilly, has been inspired by a long-lost tale by Dracula author Bram Stoker and by the haunting call of the corncrake, a bird that was once common in Ireland, but is now confined to small areas of a few Atlantic counties.

Brams Stoker’s forgotten story, which was discovered in the archives of the National Library of Ireland in 2023, is filled with folklore, magic and mischief. At its heart is something small, strange and precious; the corncrake. Once heard throughout Ireland’s meadows during the summer, it is now very rare, due to changes in farming.

An Treun will be directed by Louise Lowe, co-artistic director of ANU Productions, while her co-artistic director Owen Boss will be the lead designer.

Louise and Owen co-founded ANU in Dublin in 2009 and it’s one of Ireland’s most innovative companies, often creating immersive shows with strong social themes, with Louise as director as well as creator.

More recently, she has been involve in television, working as a director and short film writer/director in that medium, in Ireland and abroad.

Like Louise, designer and visual artist Owen has worked on award-winning productions, nationally and internationally. He makes off-site work as well as designs for stage and he is renowned for large-scale immersive designs, which should make him a perfect fit for Macnas.

Describing the pair as “incredible creative powerhouses and visionaries”, Johnny O’Reilly of Macnas said the company was delighted to have them on board for Halloween.

Louise describes An Treun as “a work about holding on and letting go. It’s a reminder that culture and climate are not separate things – they’re intertwined, pulsing through each other like blood and birdsong”.

In collaboration with the Macnas creative crew, her aim is to generate “a world for An Treun to return to, not as a nostalgic echo, but as a force. As protest. As hope”.

With Louise and Owen “conjuring up pure magic with the wonderful Macnas team in our workshop in Athenry”, Johnny O’Reilly says this year’s spectacle promises to be a memorable one.

People can “expect Macnas' signature collaborative creativity, electric energy and joyous abandon” in Galway on Sunday, October 26,  and also at the Bram Stoker Festival in Dublin in early November.

For more information on An Treun – the summoning of the Lost go to www.macnas.com.

Pictured: Louise Lowe, the co-artistic director of Dublin-based Anu Productions, will direct this year's Halloween spectacle, An Treun – the summoning of the Lost. Her co-artistic director at Anu, Owen Boss, will be its lead designer.