Taking up the challenge

Tom Creed promises an innovative but accessible programme for the 16th Cork Midsummer Festival, says Carl Dixon

TOM Creed is the first Corkonian to hold the position of director of Cork Midsummer Festival. His debut programme runs from Jun 21 to Jul 1.

Creed became involved in theatre while a student in UCC and has since worked primarily as a director. “I directed some small plays in college and started a company called Playgroup with friends,” he says. “My relationship with the Midsummer Festival began with a satirical work called Soap, which was based on a traditional soap opera. Strangely, people actually got quite hooked on it and would come back day after day. It brought home to me that innovative work, even on a limited budget, can really draw people in.”

In 2006, Creed moved to Dublin as associate director of Rough Magic, and in 2008 he became a curator at the Kilkenny Arts Festival. In 2010, he directed his first play at the Gate Theatre, a production of Beckett’s early novel Watt, starring Barry McGovern. “I suppose the Cork City of Culture was over and it felt, to some degree, that theatre in Cork had ground to a halt,” he says. “But I also needed to try things on a bigger stage. I keep travelling to look at international work, as a way of inspiring myself, and to look at art in a broader context.”

With his theatrical career progressing, Creed was wary of the Midsummer job. “Although there is a great team in place, you are responsible for everything from sponsorship to artistic direction,” he says. “I also wasn’t sure I wanted to move back to Cork, as I was quite happy where I was at that time. Yet, at the same time, I felt there was an opportunity to answer some of my own questions as to why I left in the first place, to see what elements were missing that would have allowed me to stay and thrive here in my chosen career. I suppose you feel a greater sense of responsibility when it is your home town, but you bring a personal understanding of the city with you.”

One of his major decisions was to exclude the Spiegeltent. “Cork is a great city for a festival, to a large degree because it already has so many great venues; it doesn’t need another 300-capacity music venue,” he says. “One of the most heartening things about this festival is that the most surprising and innovative shows often get the greatest response. I believe there is a huge thirst for works that are new. A festival should be brave and ambitious, and sometimes challenge people to move outside their comfort zone for these 11 days. If a work would survive outside the context of the festival, then perhaps the festival isn’t the right place for it.”

For Creed, success is innovation and context. The festival should have the audience at its core, and even if the work is challenging, it should be accessible. “For example, we open with Rian, which is a world-class show,” Creed says. “But it is based on the music of Seán Ó Riada, who is from just down the road. My grandmother loved listening to Italian opera at the Opera House, so we are revisiting that concept with the production of Pagliacci at the Everyman.

“I believe that there is a certain logic to the work we have chosen; the city is the stage, the subject, and provides the context. Every show has a relationship with places and communities in the city.” Other work goes one step further by involving the people of Cork directly. Ciudades Paralelas offers a range of perspectives on a city by utilising a variety of spaces; workers in a factory tell of their personal experiences, at the train station writers provide instant narratives for passers-by, and a blind man leads a group onto the roof of City Hall.

“The concept remains the same, but as the work moves from city to city it adapts. It features people from whichever city it is located in, and thus it provides a portrait of a city that has more depth than the normal facade of cathedrals, shops and monuments. It is a reminder that the festival is a communal effort,” he says.

So, as director, how will Creed determine whether the festival has succeeded under his watch?

“As a theatre director, I would like the festival to be somewhere that I would love to bring my own work,” he says. “I would like to think we will help to develop an audience who appreciate this type of work and help to keep it going all year round. Of course, the festival will attract visitors and people comfortable with the arts scene, but I hope that the city will be proud of it and recognise that it is designed primarily for them.”

Rían heads an impressive line-up

Rian: Fabulour Beast, Liam Ó Maonlai and Michael Keegan-Dolan present Rian at Cork Opera House from Jun 21-23. Rian, meaning ‘imprint’ or ‘trace’, explores the tension and harmony between Irish trad music and modern dance.

The Everyman Theatre and Cork Operatic Society present Pagliacci from June 20-26. Conducted by John O’Brien and co-directed by O’Brien and Michael Barker-Caven.

Ciudades Paralelas/Parallel Cities runs at various locations about the city from Jun 21 — Jul 1: Artists from a diverse range of disciplines have been asked to create eight separate perspectives on the city. Each is a unique and intimate theatrical experience in itself.

Playgroup present Berlin Love Tour from Jun 19-30. Hilary O’Shaughnessy leads the audience on a tour of Berlin around the streets of Cork, in a show written by Lynda Radley and directed by Midsummer Festival director Tom Creed.

The Sinking of the Titanic: Gavin Bryars Ensemble, with Philip Jerk, Bill Morrison and Laurie Olinder present Bryars’ iconic composition, first released on Brian Eno’s Obscure label, to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

Bowerbird: Modern Folk and Beyond is at Triskel Christchurch on Jun 29 and 30. Among the guest performers at these two concerts are Andy Irvine, Sam Amidon, Martin Carthy and Serafina Steer.

Catherine Wheels Theatre Company from Edinburgh present White at the Granary Theatre from Jun 21-26. White is a playful show for very young children, a perfect introduction to the theatre for those who may never have been before.

The Italian company TPO present Kindur — The Adventurous Life of Icelandic Sheep at the Curtis Auditorium, Cork School of Music from Jun 21-23. Another show for children, presented with digital technology and multi-media 8.

Solstice returns for 2012 with their This Is Tough Love Everybody Residency, from Jun 27 to Jul 1. Solstice is a platform for emerging artists and this year presents the premieres of six new shows.