A new environmental post-apocalyptic theatre production will have its premier in The Courthouse Arts Centre, Tinahely, County Wicklow on Saturday 7th May at 8pm.
The Play, ‘Hourglass’, is set one hundred years from now in the year 2116. The earth is running out of time and close to total destruction. Continued illegal dumping became a huge problem and slowly the land became positioned and useable. The planet is now ruled by a ruthless governing elite, led by a dictator known as The President, who is hell bent on controlling the Earth’s remaining precious resources.
Even Knowledge and Time are considered commodities, all of which are controlled by large corporations, and only those connected to The President have access to both. A small group of rebels, The Freedom Fighters, are determined to make contact with the people of 2016 to warn them of the impending doom, hoping that they get can make them (US) change their wasteful ways. But oxygen is running out, time is running out, and the ‘Hourglass’ is emptying.
‘Hourglass’, is part of the PURE Environmental Training Programmes for teenagers to create environmental awareness and is a collaboration between PURE, The Courthouse Arts Centre, and Colaiste Bhride Carnew. The theatre programme was facilitated by Andrea Kelly, a professionally actress based in Wicklow; Kevin McRedmond, a sound engineer who also works in music production; and Maeve Hunter, who is a professional textile artist and crafter with experience in set design and costuming. This team of facilitators have worked with the students from Colaiste Bhride since last October devising all aspects of the production.
Ian Davis, Manager of PURE Commented. ‘The students from Colaiste Bhride have devised a really interesting and thought provoking production and are responsible for all aspects of the production, including, the writing of the script, acting, production design, costumes, even the music is their own creation. It really is an amazing achievement.’
Previous PURE special projects and programmes have included animation, music, and of course the community initiative, The PURE Mile. PURE Theatre is another method of creating environmental awareness and the play is suitable for all ages.
Local schools will have a sneak preview on Thursday and Friday with a special showing on Saturday 7th May at 8pm.
For tickets and further information please contact The Courthouse Arts Centre, Tinahely, Co. Wicklow on www.courthousearts.ie or 0402 38529, or PURE on www.pureproject.ie 0404 45547.
The play is set to travel to schools around Wicklow and any interested schools should contact The Courthouse Arts Centre, Tinahely, Co. Wicklow on www.courthousearts.ie or 0402 38529, or PURE on www.pureproject.ie 0404 45547.
TO REPORT DUMPERS AND DUMPING lo–call 1850 365 121
Background to the establishment of the PURE Project:
The PURE project is a partnership project and the first of its kind in Ireland which incorporates statutory and non-statutory organisations, including; Wicklow County Council, Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, South Dublin County Council, Coillte, National Parks & Wildlife Service, and the Wicklow Uplands Council. Funded by The Department of Environment Community and Local Government PURE was established to combat illegal dumping/fly-tipping in the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands. The project was officially launched in September 2006.
The concept of the PURE project developed after a number of forums between the above organisations were held over a one year period, between 2005 and 2006, with the objective of finding a solution to the increase of fly-tipping and small scale illegal dumping activity in the Wicklow/Dublin upland regions, as each of the organisation were affected by the problem.
The project is funded directly by the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government and is the first statutory and non-statutory regional partnership initiative established in Ireland to deal with incidents of fly-tipping/illegal dumping.
The PURE project focuses directly on the fly-tipping/illegal dumping issue and has introduced a number of enforcement, preventative and educational initiatives including:
- A lo-call-phone-line for reporting of fly-tipping/illegal dumping – 1850 365 121
- Dedicated clean-up vehicle which responds to all incidents of fly-tipping/illegal dumping
- GPS/GIS data-base to record all incidents of fly-tipping/illegal dumping
- PURE Promotional/informational material
- Public awareness campaign
- Website – www.pureproject.ie
- Education programmes – Primary school teacher’s pack – PURE Animation, PURE Music, PURE Wisdom, PURE Theatre, etc.
- Community initiatives – The PURE Mile
- Covert CCTV monitoring of affected sites
- Suitable preventative measures
- Media campaign
STATS:
- Over 2,700 tonnes of illegal dumping removed from the Wicklow/Dublin Uplands
- Over 8,000 reports of illegal dumping received by PURE
- Over 8,500 PURE Truck Collections
