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Will hit the airwaves this Wednesday at 6pm on Athlone Community Radio 88. It will follow an interview with producer Alan Meaney and Director Aoife Connolly

Made with the support of the BAI’s Sound & Vision Funding Scheme.

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To Listen Live Online go to www.athlonecommunityradio.ie on Wednesday 16th of November at 6pm and Saturday 19th of November  at 2.30pm.

It has been a busy few weeks for the team behind Chasing Butterflies as we have just completed recording the play for radio with support from the Sound and Vision funding scheme, a Broadcasting Authority of Ireland initiative and produced by Alan Meaney. A big undertaking considering the piece was written for stage and enjoyed critical success at the Cork Arts Theatre Writers Week. But as we delved into rehearsal last week it seemed to unfold by itself and reveal layers of narrative that could only be explored within this very specific process. Recording for radio has given us the opportunity to really hone in on the internal worlds of the characters and  magnify the colour and intensity of their inner lives.

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The biggest challenge for me as director was the intense level of concentration involved. Having to listen to every single word uttered, every breath, nuance, tone, texture and rhythm of sound and not forgetting duration of silence. And somehow knowing how/when to gauge it as a single entity in itself and within the context of the play. Each line needs to inspire the imagination of the listener so they too  grasp and engage in the world of the play and in essence stay tuned-in to the piece!!.

I know in my practise as a director I have a tendency to be predominantly driven by the physical form – my inspiration always starts with the actors bodies on stage – their relation to each other and the space so the challenge to solely rely on the voice to portray the interlocking worlds of the play was daunting. But I believe we got there in the end through deep exploration of text in rehearsal and the physical work-out on location.

The effect of working on location was most interesting  – We found the physical placement of  ‘Big Story’ in the woods – his constant meandering  in the wilderness alongside Annie’s couped up state in her hollow empty kitchen and J.J’s boyish energetic antics  really helped inform the delivery of their words and instantly gave the actors a charged energy and focus to each line.

Sound Editor Alan Meaney and I are in the midst of the long and arduous task of editing but from all accounts the piece is shaping up very strongly and we’re delighted with the process. Above is some pics of the work in progress. Watch this space to find out where you can see and hear Chasing Butterflies live on stage and radio in the coming months and news of a sister piece in the pipeline…..