Luke Casserly & Shanna May Breen
Handle with Care with Luke Casserly & Shanna May Breen
Root
In Ireland, there was a time when a squirrel could travel from the north of the island to the south of the island through tree-travel alone. Today, that forest is gone and is replaced by the fact that Ireland now has the lowest tree cover in Europe. Root is a performative enquiry that explores what might happen if we hand the microphone over to a tree. ‘Hello’ ‘hello’ ‘how are things going?’ The project began in March 2021 with the planting of 1000 indigenous Irish trees in the centre of Ireland. Originally a residency with the artists Shanna May Breen and Luke Casserly was scheduled for May. Due to the current situation, the artists will remain in Ireland, they will receive online support from brut and will present their first insights to the Viennese audience via an online rehearsal visit.
As a duet, Shanna May Breen and Luke Casserly are constantly attempting to stretch out new ways of looking at the planet’s climate crisis through sound, travel and performance. Their work to date has brought audiences on a suburban train to a beach to explore our human connection to the material of plastic (Mould Into Shape, 2019); created a sound project in a gallery that invited participants to look out a window and notice the different forms of plastic on the street (Mould Into Shape: A Street View, 2019); and sparked a national network of listeners and planters, who received a soundscape and packet of meadow seeds in the post to examine Ireland's biodiversity decline in their gardens (1000 Miniature Meadows, 2020).
Shanna May Breen completed her MA in Advanced Theatre Practice at The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama in 2014 and is currently studying a diploma in Climate Entrepreneurship at Trinity College, Dublin.
Luke Casserly holds a BA in Drama and Theatre Studies from Trinity College, Dublin and is currently an Associate Artist with Pan Pan Theatre Company. Shanna & Luke are Resident Artists at Dublin FringeLAB.
Credits
Created by Shanna May Breen and Luke Casserly
The project Root and the residency is realized in the framework of Be SpectACTive!, a large-scale European cooperation project, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
CapoTrave/Kilowatt (IT), Artemrede (PT), Bakelit Multi Art Center (HU), brut (AT), BUDA Kortrijk (BE), Cafè de las Artes Teatro (ES), Domino (HR), Divadelná Nitra(SK), Dublin theatre festival (IE), Göteborgs stadss kulturförvaltning/ Stora teatern (SE), Institution Student Cultural Centre (RS), Occitanie en scène languedoc-roussillon (FR), Plesni teater (SI), Tanec praha (CZ), Teatrul national Radu Stanca (RO).
www.bespectactive.eu
Dates & Tickets
May 2021
Free admission. Please register via ticket button.
Online via zoom
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Be spectACTive!
Be SpectACTive! is a large-scale European cooperation project – co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union – which operates in performing arts through artistic productions and participatory practices aimed at involving the citizens and spectators in creative and organizative processes. Its members are European festivals, theatres, cultural organisations, universities and a research center.
