Last week, the Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival returned to the island town for the first time since 2019, marking not only its tenth anniversary, but 100 years since Beckett attended Portora Royal School (now Enniskillen Royal Grammar School, ERGS), from 1920 to 1923.
Mary Heaney, board, Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival; Sally Rees, Festival Manager; Carlo Gebler, board; Councillor Barry McElduff; Liam Browne and Seán Doran, festival curators, Arts Over Borders; and Christopher
Curated by Seán Doran and Liam Browne of Arts Over Borders, the five-day multi-arts festival ran from Thursday, July 21 to Monday, July 25, and featured an eclectic programme of events, including a line-up of homegrown and international world-class talent.
Speaking to The Impartial Reporter on the final day, Festival Manager Sally Rees, who has been involved with Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival from the offset, said she was delighted to see it return.
"I think it has been fantastic to have the festival back again in Enniskillen. I certainly feel like there was a real buzz, and the audience and the artists have really enjoyed the welcome that the people and the places of Enniskillen have given them.
"So, for me, it always comes down to that – bringing people together to enjoy the arts but also to work together on the arts and create a sense of community.
“I think that's one of the highlights of the festival," she said.
Robert Northridge delivering a lecture on the possible impact of the post-war times and Enniskillen town on the young Samuel Beckett’s schooldays. Photo: Arts Over Borders, Facebook.
The festival began on the Thursday with the opening lecture lead by Robert Northridge, former vice-principal of Portora, and an old Portoran himself, who questioned and discussed the impact of the time and town on the young Samuel Beckett’s schooldays in the aftermath of The Great War and during the Irish Civil War.
This was followed by the opening concert, where Liam Ó Maonlaí, supremo lead singer and songwriter of Hothouse Flowers, brought his special Irish and spiritually-influenced songs to Enniskillen to open the festival, for the first time.
Liam O'Maonlaí in concert. Photo: Tim Flaherty.
Both opening events were hosted in The Steele Hall of ERGS (formerly Portora).
The festival continued over the weekend and saw the welcome return of three Happy Days ‘made in Fermanagh’ productions of Beckett’s plays that have now become classics in the festival's repertory, including 'Ohio Impromptu', 'Walking for Waiting for Godot' and 'Inferno-Not I' – the latter of which was staged in the deeply atmospheric setting of Marble Arch Caves (see review, overleaf) – as well as several newly-commissioned live performance, sound and film installations.
Lalor Roddy and Vincent Higgins pictured with Adrian Dunbar ahead of their performance of Ohio Impromptu on Devenish Island. Photo: Cordula Treml/PA.
‘Line of Duty’ star Adrian Dunbar returned to his home town to once again direct 'Ohio Impromptu' on Devenish Island – his fifth time doing so.
Talking to PA during the festival, Adrian explained that he first became engaged with Beckett’s work when he saw a performance of the play, 'Waiting For Godot', in 1980, but that his involvement in the festival was the trigger that ignited a deep passion for his work.
“A literary festival around Samuel Beckett is an absolute no-brainer,” he said.
“He’s such an exemplary person in so many ways. He’s a bit of a hero of ours and so it was a no-brainer to get behind it and, of course, to promote the town and promote this part of the world.”
The festival also featured a strong musical programme of Schubert Lieder and art-song, with four recitals across four days from acclaimed international singers Dame Sarah Connolly, Konstantin Kimmel and Ema Nikolowska, closing with Schubert’s Winterreise on the Monday evening.
All the concerts were with pianist Julius Drake.
Actor, Toby Jones. Photo: Donnie Phair.
Acclaimed English actor Toby Jones performed readings over the weekend, firstly The Graveyard Readings Texts at Breandrum Chapel, Enniskillen on Saturday afternoon, and secondly, extracts from 'Krapp's Last Tape', on a boat floating amid the reeds of Lough Erne on Sunday morning.
As the festival came to a close, Sally acknowledged the importance of volunteers in making Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival a reality.
Actors who performed Beckett's play 'Waiting For Godot', as part of the 'Walking For Waiting For Godot' event: Andrew Bennett (as 'Vladimir'), Rory Nolan ('Estragon'), Ned Dennehy ('Pozzo'), and Alex Murphy ('Lucky') with (front) Enniskillen
"For me, the [festival] ‘body’ is the work of Beckett, and the ‘blood’ that flows through that body is the ideas created by Seán and Liam, but the beating ‘heart’ and the ‘engine room’ are definitely the volunteers.
"I think people don't really appreciate just how much work they put in behind the scenes to actually make things run smoothly," said Sally, adding: "[The volunteers] do everything from box office, front of house, running around with flyers to performing in the caves, driving artists from the airport every day and driving them around town, to social media and marketing.
Producer, Brian J. Falconer. Photo: Donnie Phair.
"Really, we could not exist as an organisation without the work that the volunteers do in this community to actually keep the show on the road, and also to step in when the wheels fall off, like they sometimes do," she told this newspaper.
Hazel Dineen and Eric Todd with Joanne and Alex Knowles. Photo: Tim Flaherty.
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