by Saoirse Anton

One of the arts highlights of May has to be the Bealtaine Festival. Running throughout the month of May, Bealtaine is a nationwide festival spearheaded by Age & Opportunity aimed at celebrating the arts and creativity as we age. With my non-columnist work hat on I have been chimmersed in my local Bealtaine Festival and it has set me thinking about the different chapters in a person’s engagement with the arts throughout their lives. From the first time we are brought along to a family show as small children, right through to participating in Bealtaine events and beyond, there are different stages in our artistic lives that need to be nourished.

Chapter 1 – Baby Steps

You might not think that a little baby would get much out of a theatre trip, but you might be surprised. I’m not suggesting you try to sit through an unabridged production of King Lear with your little one, or expect them to appreciate the subtleties of a good Brechtian production, but the impact of early years performances should not be underestimated. Studies have shown that children’s brains develop more in the first three years than at any other point in life, so it makes sense that we would want to provide children with high quality theatre experiences in those formative years. There are some fantastic practitioners out there, like Anna Newell, Lyngo Theatre Company, Starcatchers, Ipdip Theatre and, of course, our national children’s theatre The Ark. Think back on some of the early art experiences you might have had, be it theatre shows, seeing buskers on the street, singing songs in playschool, or any number of things, and think about how it has influenced your tastes today.

Chapter 2 – Schooldays on Stage

As we get a little older, school often becomes one of our main avenues to the arts and theatre. We participate in Nativity plays at Christmas, go to drama classes and youth theatre, enjoy Theatre in Education plays in the classroom and go on school trips to the panto or other shows. For many people this can be their first introduction to theatre, and it is so important. Theatre is a powerful educational tool, but it is also an opportunity to enjoy a shared experience with friends and classmates, a chance to flex our own creative muscles, and to grow into ourselves through energetic childhood and awkward teenage years.

Chapter 3 – A Whole New World

I probably experienced this particular chapter a little more intensely than many, given I studied drama at university, but I think many of us can relate to the experience of leaving school and suddenly discovering that there is so much more to the theatre than the handful of plays we dissected for the Leaving Cert. This is the chapter where you might develop a keen but short-lived interest in a bizarre, niche theatre style, and also the chapter where you might find an enduring life-long love for particular writers, theatrical styles or plays. It’s the chapter where you’re probably pretty broke, but have the time to queue for last minute rush tickets or go to that odd little play at 11am in the back room of a pub. The chapter where you test your horizons and enjoy the independence to discover what you really enjoy.

Chapter 4 – Next Generations

This chapter brings us back around to the early years, but instead of being the little ones discovering it all for the first time, we get to enjoy it through sharing it with a new generation. It might be your own children, or nieces and nephews, or friends’ kids, but there’s a particular joy in sharing in a child’s early experiences of art. You can rediscover old favourites by bringing your child to see shows from your childhood like Bosco, and discover new gems in tandem with them. The chance to enjoy theatre in early childhood is a massive gift, and getting to provide that is its own sort of gift too.

Chapter 5 – Be selfish

I don’t mean you to be selfish in a bad way, but there comes a point where Chapter 4 has wound down and the children I mentioned in the last paragraph are a bit more self-sufficient - perhaps they have flown the nest and are deep in Chapter 3 and come home at the weekend regaling you with tales of their first time watching an improv troupe or discovering the wild world of performance art, or perhaps they are in Chapter 4 themselves. This is the chapter where you get to be delightfully selfish and enjoy whatever it is you want to see, without having to follow the lead of others like in Chapters 1 and 2, keep up the appearance of “cool” that feels vital in Chapter 3 or please the whole family like in Chapter 4. This might look like spending much of your month of May enjoying free events in your local Bealtaine programme, or revelling in undisturbed enjoyment of your favourite play on a solo trip to the theatre, or meeting up with friends to revisit a show you first saw together in college.

There’s a new sort of freedom that comes with each Chapter, so make the most of it and book yourself (and maybe some little ones) a ticket to the theatre, whatever chapter you find yourself in right now.