Irish Examiner view: Loss leaves an empty space

Corcadorca’s final act

Corcadorca: from left, Enda Walsh and Pat Kiernan; Eileen Walsh and Cillian Murphy; a scene from 'The Trial of Jesus'.

When referring to the artistic institutions of a city, it’s easy to default to a museum or art gallery — an identifiable physical presence. Not all institutions are made of plaster and concrete, however.

Theatre company Corcadorca, which announced yesterday that it is to shut down, was one such institution in Cork — one which derived much of its stellar reputation from some imaginative use of locations on Leeside.

Innovative productions which ranged in size from the small-scale Disco Pigs to the immersive The Trial of Jesus are among the bullet points on a list of impressive productions. The fact that those productions used venues in Cork from
Patrick’s Hill and Bell’s Field to Fitzgeralds Park and the Irish Distillers premises underlined the connection between the company and its home city.

Hollywood star Cillian Murphy famously got his start in Disco Pigs over a quarter of a century ago, but Corcadorca’s legacy goes far beyond one illustrious graduate. Genuine links between local communities and artistic companies can sometimes remain aspirational, but in the case of Corcadorca those links were not only genuine but self-evident in its use of Cork as a creative space.

It’s particularly disappointing to see Corcadorca wind down at a time when exchequer funding of the arts has stepped up significantly with the basic income for the arts scheme. The demise of a company such as this leaves an empty space in the cultural life of Cork — in the life of Cork, full stop.

That means there’s an opportunity for another company to step into the breach and replace Corcadorca, of course. But any such company has big shoes to fill.