A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings
(2019)
In a kitchen, in a theatre, two storytellers and their audience find something remarkable; a very old man with enormous wings.
Inspired by Gabriel García Márquez’s marvellously offbeat short story, we use a combination of storytelling tools including music, puppetry, live video projection and the willingness of the audience, to bring this story to the stage in search of its beautiful, strange, emotional richness.
Since its premiere in 2019 ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’ has toured all over Ireland, the UK, North America, New Zealand, the Europe.
Aimed at audiences aged 8+ and has played in both young audience contexts (London’s Unicorn Theatre, Edinburgh International Children’s Festival) and to general audiences (Auckland Arts Festival, the Abbey Theatre)
“Theatre exists for shows like this…fifty minutes of near theatrical perfection”
The Arts Review ★★★★★
“Transcendentally beautiful”
The Scotsman ★★★★
“Imperiously Entertaining”
The List ★★★★
“Remarkably Inventive”
The Times ★★★★
“A model of ingenuity through humble means”
The Irish Times ★★★★
“With complex ideas, beautiful stage imagery and a literary style that fits a prose master, there is as much for adults to enjoy about [this] family-friendly fable as there is for children”
Sunday Business Post ★★★★
“Sublime production”
Musings In Intermissions ★★★★
“Brilliantly, wittily, inventively told”
The Wee Review ★★★★
“Unmissable”
Everything Theatre ★★★★★
“Totally engrossed”
Edinburgh Festivals for Kids ★★★★★
“So brilliantly conceived” –
Bouqetsbrickbats ★★★★★
– Cast + Crew
Based on the short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Directed by Dan Colley
Adapted by Dan Colley, Manus Halligan + Genevieve Hulme Beaman
Produced by Matthew Smyth
Set and Objects designed by Andrew Clancy
Lighting designed by Sarah Jane Shiels
Composition and Sound Design by Alma Kelliher
AV Design by Eoin Kilkenny
Production Management by Eoin Kilkenny
Stage Management by Olivia Drennan
Photography by Ste Murray
Cast 2019 – 2021
Manus Halligan
Genevieve Hulme Beaman
Cast 2022
Karen McCartney
Cillian Leneghan
Cast 2022 – 2023
Karen McCartney
Manus Halligan & Aidan Crowe
Cast 2024
Genevieve Hulme Beaman
Manus Halligan
– production history
2019
Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge
Dublin Fringe Festival (Project Arts Centre)
Abbey Theatre (Peacock), Dublin
2021
Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge
Everyman Theare, Cork
An Grainan, Letterkenny
Belltable Theatre, Limerick
Baboró Children’s Arts Festival (Mick Lally Theatre), Galway
Linenhall, Castlebar
Backstage Theatre, Longford
Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray
2022
Watergate Theatre, Kilkenny
Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge
Young at Art Festival (MAC Theatre), Belfast
Project Arts Centre, Dublin
Edinburgh Festival Fringe (Summerhall), Edinburgh
Westival (Town Hall Theatre), Westport
2023
STET, The Hague, Netherlands
Irish Arts Center, New York, USA
Ottawa Children’s Arts Festival, Ottawa, Canada
Brighton Festival, Brighton, UK
Imaginate, Edinburgh, UK
Farnham Maltings, UK
Hemsted Park, Cranbrook, UK
Norden Farm Arts, Maidenhead, UK
The Quarry Theatre, Bedford, UK
Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, UK
Lakeside Theatre, Colchester, UK
Norwich Theatre, UK
South Street Arts, Reading, UK
The Berry Theatre, Hedge End, UK
Connaught Theatre, Worthing, UK
2024
Stratford Circus (in association with Unicorn Theatre), London, UK
Auckland Arts Festival, New Zealand
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada
Vernon, British Columbia, Canada
Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada
The Unicorn, London, UK
Pop Up Festival @ Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, Stockholm, Sweden
Funded by Arts Council Theatre Project Award and made in the context of Collapsing Horse’s residency in Riverbank Arts Centre, supported by the Arts Council and Kildare County Council. International touring supported by Culture Ireland.
