Fishamble marks its 10th anniversary of Silent by Pat Kinevane

MediaCoop filming Pat Kinevane performing Silent in the O'Reilly Theatre. Photo by Ste Murray.

​10 years ago Silent, the story of homeless McGoldrig resonated deeply with audiences in Ireland in the midst of a homelessness and mental health crisis. It went on to tour the world and win an Oliver award. As frighteningly relevant now as it was then, Fishamble marks its 10th anniversary by bringing Silent and Pat Kinevane’s extraordinary performance to audiences in a new way. 
 
“Hopeless, helpless, in-the-way person”

SILENT is the touching and challenging story of homeless McGoldrig, who once had splendid things. But he has lost it all - including his mind. He now dives into the wonderful wounds of his past through the romantic world of Rudolph Valentino. Dare to laugh at despair and gasp at redemption in this brave, bleak, beautiful production for which Fishamble and Pat Kinevane won an Olivier Award in 2016.

This summer, Fishamble is proud to celebrate 10 years of producing Silent by Pat Kinevane, directed by Jim Culleton, by inviting audiences around the world to take a fresh look at this heart wrenching performance in a specially filmed version.
 
This beautifully filmed performance from the stage of Dublin’s O’Reilly Theatre, will premiere in partnership with An Grianán theatre in Letterkenny and Dunamaise Arts Centre from 18 – 20 June, as part of the Nasc Network’s Lasta festival. It will then have its US digital premiere with long-time partner Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles on 25 June before later this summer touring digitally to the Irish Arts Centre in New York, Solas Nua in Washington, D.C., and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
 
After first premiering at The Mill theatre in Dundrum in 2011, Silent has gone on to tour all over the country and to 15 countries internationally. In 2016, Pat Kinevane and Fishamble won an Olivier Award for this remarkable piece, making Fishamble the first Olivier Award-winning Irish theatre company.
 
Over the years, Fishamble has presented Silent in collaboration with First Fortnight, Mental Health Reform, Samaritans, the Mental Health Arts Festival, and to an audience of those experiencing homelessness directly, in collaboration with Dublin Simon Community.
 
Speaking of Silent ... 10 Years On, writer and performer Pat Kinevane said:
“In 2008 I began writing SILENT. The Epidemic of beautiful Souls ushering their own lives from light into darkness made me critically sad.  Failed Government economic policies on Housing and Mental Health Services spurred me to complete the final script with roaring woe and weeping anger. The first performance in 2011 began a rollercoaster of tours Country and Worldwide. I truly believed that the show would become obsolete and the Homelessness and tragic Suicides would ebb away.  How wrong I have been.  10 years on the compassionless parliament continues and its failed policies are even worse but, I will humbly continue to give voice to the victims of no shelter and still-Victorian mental care.  All my love and gratitude, Pat x”
 
Director Jim Culleton said, “I am delighted that Fishamble is marking the 10th year of Silent with this specially filmed version, which we look forward to sharing with audiences in Ireland and, with the support of Culture Ireland, internationally, in partnership with some of our key international presenters. It has been a fantastic decade sharing this very special production of a play that as timely now as when it began. Thanks to all the audiences, theatres, and partners who have made it possible. We hope you enjoy the film version, and look forward to being back touring live again soon.”

Awards for SILENT:
WINNER: Outstanding Performer – Visiting Production, Helen Hayes Award 2020
WINNER: Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, Olivier Award 2016
WINNER: Argus Angel Award, Brighton Festival 2012
WINNER: Fringe First and Herald Angel, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011
 
What the critics said:
‘passionate...stunning...carefully wrought production...an artist of the theatre.’ CRITICS’ PICK Ben Brantley, New York Times
 
‘writing and a performance of unflagging and effortless panache that grabs your heart and squeezes tightly.’ Lyn Gardner, Guardian
 
‘a must-see if ever there was one’ The List
 
​​Fishamble and Pat Kinevane have a long working history together. Fishamble produced Pat Kinevane’s first play The Nun’s Wood in 1998, followed by his second play The Plains of Enna in 1999. Fishamble is very proud to have commissioned, developed, and produced three solo plays written and performed by Pat, which continue to tour extensively. They are Forgotten (since 2006), Silent (since 2011) Underneath (since 2014), and Before (Since 2018), all directed by Jim Culleton. 

The plays have been performed in over 60 venues throughout Ireland. In 2019 Pat Kinevane won a Herald Archangel Award for 'sustained and excellent' contribution to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Silent has won Olivier, Fringe First, Helen Hayes, Herald Angel and Argus Angel awards, and Underneath won Fringe First, LA Stage Raw and Adelaide Fringe Best Theatre awards, and was nominated for Offie/Off West End and Total Theatre awards. 

​The productions have toured throughout Europe, with partners including Dance Base (Edinburgh), Soho Theatre (London), CCI (Paris), Prague Fringe Festival, Lokal Festival (Reykjavik), International Theatre Festival (Sibiu), Tron Theatre (Glasgow), Cymru Theatr Clwyd, Irish Festival (Oulu), GLAS (Geneva), Home (Manchester), INFANT Festival (Novi Sad), Brighton Festival, Hotbed Festival (Cambridge), nu:write (Zagreb), and to Leuven, Kaiserslautern, Trabzon, and all across Bulgaria. In the US, in association with Georganne Aldrich Heller, they were presented by the Irish Arts Center, New York, and in Boston Center for the Arts, the Source Theatre in Washington D.C. and the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles. In Australia, Silent toured with APA to Perth and Melbourne, and Underneath toured to Adelaide.  Fishamble plays by Pat Kinevane continue to tour extensively in Ireland and abroad.
 
Press information: Sinead O’Doherty, O’Doherty Communications +353 86 259 1070  sinead@odohertycommunications.com

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