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Though it is nine years since the First Fortnight Festival was launched, with 10 events, this most worthy of charities is still growing awareness of mental health issues through the medium of arts and culture.
It has also grown its reach from a largely Dublin-centred audience to a national one.
This year’s programme, which is already underway, has over 100 events and it will run to the end of January. It is spread across 17 counties and more than 60 venues.
A prime objective of the project is to make the beginning of each year synonymous with mental health awareness, challenging prejudice and ending stigma.
This is done in a variety of ways, including comedy. One of the best examples of this is In One Eye, Out The Other.
This is the first solo comedy show from Tadhg Hickey and introduces us to the character of Feargal, a downtrodden but cheery man who fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming an alcoholic.
The most nominated show at the Dublin Fringe Awards in 2019, it leads you on a surreal and hilarious journey, with many poignant twists, and with quite an ending.
The play travels to Cork, Leitrim and Kildare after its Dublin run.
You only have a couple of days to catch Admin at Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin, but it is worth making the effort.
Winner of the First Fortnight Award at the recent Dublin Fringe Festival, Admin is the story of Oisín McKenna who left Dublin to pursue his dream of becoming socially mobile in London.
Now, he is having an existential crisis in the canned goods aisle at Aldi, trying to remember his mindfulness techniques.
Exploring the relationship between class, capitalism and health, this show is about being poor, precarious and lonely.
While the themes of the play are raw, McKenna’s performance is superb and earned him a nomination for best performer at Dublin Fringe.
There is a moving finale and everything about this show is five-star.
On 15 January there is a one-off performance of Silent at the O’Reilly Theatre in Dublin.
This is a well-known, multi-award winning piece and its accolades include a prestigious Olivier Award in 2016 and a pair of Edinburgh Fringe Festival award.
Acting legend Pat Kinevane’s performance is stunning in a piece that, though bleak in terms of subject, is movingly and powerfully presented.
A free event which is running throughout the month, the National Gallery of Ireland has curated a special digital trail of works drawn from the permanent collection.
The trail highlights the relationship between key works and issues related to mental health. The works will be accessible in the form of a mapped tour on the Gallery’s website.
In a first for the festival, First Fortnight in partnership with Irish National Opera and St Patrick Mental Health Service present How Aria?, the festival’s first opera.
The project has seen service users of St Patrick’s collaborate with composer Amanda Feery and spoken word artist and First Fortnight writer Stephen James Smith to create this new concert aria which will have its world premiere in St Patrick’s University Hospital on Sunday 12 January.
A Desire For Closeness is an exhibition by international artist Nicola Anthony being held at The Presentation Centre, Convent Road, Enniscorthy.
In this exhibition, Anthony has worked with individuals in Wexford who feel isolated, displaced, or lonely. Taking the stories they told about their lives, or the letters they wrote her, Nicola creates an immersive installation which will wrap you up in stories about the experience of loneliness.
For more details of events in your area visit the First Fortnight website.
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