Return to theatre is bread and butter for Manchán Magan

Writer, documentary maker and performer Manchán Magan, who lives in north Westmeath, is bringing his unique show ‘Arán agus Im’ to Backstage Theatre in Longford this Thursday, October 7.

In this theatrical performance, Manchán bakes sourdough bread while offering insights into the wonders of the Irish language .

The shows, a wonderful celebration of language, land and local Irish food, is bilingual and entirely understandable to Béarlóirí (English speakers).

In it, Manchán explores potent words of landscape, terms of intuition and insight, and the many phrases that bring to life the mysterious glory of our natural world.

The show is a wonderful celebration of language, land and local Irish food.

It addresses subjects such as what the word for the lonesomeness of a cow bereft of her calf ‘diadhánach’, can teach us about our current methods of food production, or why one needs to orientate oneself to the sun to give directions in Irish.

“We need to find a way of talking about the Irish language – about the sublime beauty and profound oddness of this ancient tongue that has been spoken on the island for 2,500 to 3,000 years, and is now slipping slowly from our grasp,” says Manchán.

Explaining the inspiration for the show, he says: “I just knew that I wanted to take people out of the norm, which is what theatre does.

“But I didn’t want all the conventions and trappings of theatre, of a three-act play.

“I imagined creating this little sanctuary on stage in which flour from Irish fields and water from Irish rivers could be transformed into a potent metaphor for our connecting to language, landscape and life.”

Tickets for Arán agus Im on Thursday October 7 at, 8pm are €15/€12 and available on 043 33 47888 or Backstage.ie.