Anu Productions
Encyclopedia
ANU Productions is a theatre company based in Dublin, Ireland, It exists to create an artistically open working environment where artists can both investigate their individual practice and collaborate together.
The company state that they are devoted to an interdisciplinary approach to performance / installation that cross-pollinates visual art, dance
and theatre
in an intensely collaborative way. Examples of this can be seen in Basin, Memory Deleted and World's End Lane.
. Exhibitions include Camera Obscura at the Lighthouse Cinema Smithfield (2009), Punctum at Project Arts Centre
for Project Brand New (2008), Tumbledowntown for The Artists room at Hotel Ballymun, Pleasures and Wayward Distractions at Broadstone Gallery (2007) and Art and Possibility at Irish Museum of Modern Art
(2007).
She was Resident Assistant Director at the Abbey Theatre 2008 -2009. Assistant Directing credits include: The Pride of Parnell Street (Dublin & New York / Fishable) This is Our Youth (Bedrock) Rank (Dublin Theatre Festival & Tricycle London / Fishamble) and The Wonderful World of Dissocia (Calypso).
Together they will reveal the interpenetration of place and culture, creating an evolving work of historical and contemporary detail. Each production spans a specific period od intensive regeneration and renaming from 1925 - 2013.
World's End Lane explores the area as a notorious red light district
(Monto
) in the days leading to its dramatic closure in April 1925. A major regeneration followed when streets previously littered with brothel
s were demolished and the land gifted to the church to create a Magdalene home for women known locally as The laundry.
Laundry will be a major site-specific production following the real stories of some of the women who lived there. To combat the squalid conditions and intense poverty
in the 1970s, most of the original tenement
dwellings were demolished to make way for a new social housing, this was the world of
The Boys of Foley Street when the changing lives of four young men were captured in an RTE
radio documentary (1975). This production will follow what happened to those boys, as they became men.
Finally, on the site of the latest regeneration (Liberty Corner) the company will re-install the infamous caravan (VARDO) of local Romany fortunetellers Lily (Gypsy Rose) and Terriss Lee. Theirs is the only family who have lived in the area from the 1920s through all its incarnations. At the heart of this project is the extensive family archive of the Lee's, their Romany heritage and the impact they had on generations of their community.
The company
ANU was founded in 2009 by 5 artists from various disciplines Owen Boss (visual artist), Louise Lowe (director), Hannah Mullan (producer) Sophie Motley (director), and Sarah Jane Shiels (lighting designer).The company state that they are devoted to an interdisciplinary approach to performance / installation that cross-pollinates visual art, dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
and theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
in an intensely collaborative way. Examples of this can be seen in Basin, Memory Deleted and World's End Lane.
Owen Boss
Owen holds a Masters of Fine Art from the National College of Art and DesignNational College of Art and Design
The National College of Art and Design is a national art and design school in Dublin, Ireland.-History:Situated on Thomas Street, the NCAD started as a private drawing school and has become a national institution educating over 1,500 day and evening students as artists, designers and art educators...
. Exhibitions include Camera Obscura at the Lighthouse Cinema Smithfield (2009), Punctum at Project Arts Centre
Project Arts Centre
Project Arts Centre is a multidisciplinary contemporary arts centre located in Dublin's Temple Bar that showcases cutting-edge visual art and performance....
for Project Brand New (2008), Tumbledowntown for The Artists room at Hotel Ballymun, Pleasures and Wayward Distractions at Broadstone Gallery (2007) and Art and Possibility at Irish Museum of Modern Art
Irish Museum of Modern Art
The Irish Museum of Modern Art also known as IMMA, is Ireland's leading national institution exhibiting and collecting modern and contemporary art. The museum opened in May 1991 and is located in Royal Hospital Kilmainham, a 17th-century building near Heuston Station to the west of Dublin's city...
(2007).
Louise Lowe
As a theatre maker her work includes: Still Life Still (Prime Cut Productions), Come Forward to Meet You (Upstate), World's End Lane (Nominated Best Production, Irish Times Theatre Awards and Winner Best off-site Production at Absolut Fringe, it was also nominated for Fishamble New Writing Award), Deano (Young Urban Arts / City Arts Centre / Dublin City Council Co-Production), Right Here Right Now (Prime Cut Productions, Grand Opera House Belfast), Working on Fingal Ronain (Robert Wilson Centre New York), Memory Deleted (Winner Best Production Award Belltable Unfringed), Basin (Dublin Fringe Festival 2009, Winner Best Supporting Actress Award Irish Times Theatre Awards), Corners (Project Arts Centre), Down The Valley (Belltable Unfringed: Winner Spirit of Innovation Award 2009), Rock, Paper, Scissors (Dublin Fringe Festival: Nominated for the Spirit of the Fringe Award / RTE Audience Choice Award), 100 Minutes (Project & Samuel Beckett Theatre), Sunny Days (Project Brand New), Scenes from Family Life (National Theatre, London: Connections), The Bus Project (Dublin Fringe Festival), Baby Girl (RDS Dublin & Everyman Palace Theatre Cork), Xspired (Project Arts Centre commission), The Spider Men (Helix / Everyman Palace Theatre) and Tumbledowntown (Winner Spirit of the Fringe Award / Breaking Ground Per Cent for Art Commission).She was Resident Assistant Director at the Abbey Theatre 2008 -2009. Assistant Directing credits include: The Pride of Parnell Street (Dublin & New York / Fishable) This is Our Youth (Bedrock) Rank (Dublin Theatre Festival & Tricycle London / Fishamble) and The Wonderful World of Dissocia (Calypso).
Productions
- Corners - Project Arts CentreProject Arts CentreProject Arts Centre is a multidisciplinary contemporary arts centre located in Dublin's Temple Bar that showcases cutting-edge visual art and performance....
- Down the Valley - Innovation Dublin
- BASIN - Dublin Fringe FestivalDublin Fringe FestivalThe Dublin Fringe Festival allows artists to develop and present their work by submitting their application which is subsequently reviewed by the programme manager. The festival is open to both Irish and international participants....
2009 - Memory Deleted - Unfringed Festival
- World's End Lane - Absolut Fringe 2010
- The Party - Bewley's Cafe Theatre
- The Truth of the Moon - Absolut Fringe 2010
The 4 Part Project
This is a four part geographical project spanning the history of Foley Street and its environs over the last hundred years. The comprising productions are the already produced WORLD'S END LANE, LAUNDRY, BOYS OF FOLEY STREET and finally, VARDO CORNER'Together they will reveal the interpenetration of place and culture, creating an evolving work of historical and contemporary detail. Each production spans a specific period od intensive regeneration and renaming from 1925 - 2013.
World's End Lane explores the area as a notorious red light district
Red Light District
Red Light District may refer to:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris* Red Light District Video - a pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California...
(Monto
Monto
Monto was the nickname for a one-time notorious red light district in Dublin, the capital of Ireland...
) in the days leading to its dramatic closure in April 1925. A major regeneration followed when streets previously littered with brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s were demolished and the land gifted to the church to create a Magdalene home for women known locally as The laundry.
Laundry will be a major site-specific production following the real stories of some of the women who lived there. To combat the squalid conditions and intense poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
in the 1970s, most of the original tenement
Tenement
A tenement is, in most English-speaking areas, a substandard multi-family dwelling, usually old, occupied by the poor.-History:Originally the term tenement referred to tenancy and therefore to any rented accommodation...
dwellings were demolished to make way for a new social housing, this was the world of
The Boys of Foley Street when the changing lives of four young men were captured in an RTE
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
radio documentary (1975). This production will follow what happened to those boys, as they became men.
Finally, on the site of the latest regeneration (Liberty Corner) the company will re-install the infamous caravan (VARDO) of local Romany fortunetellers Lily (Gypsy Rose) and Terriss Lee. Theirs is the only family who have lived in the area from the 1920s through all its incarnations. At the heart of this project is the extensive family archive of the Lee's, their Romany heritage and the impact they had on generations of their community.
Awards and achievements
- Nominated two Irish Times Theatre AwardsIrish Times Theatre AwardsThe Irish Times Theatre Awards recognize outstanding achievements in Irish theatre. The awards were founded in 1997 by The Irish Times. It established awards in numerous categories, ranging from design, to acting, to overall production...
for Best Production 'World's End Lane' and Special Judges Award. - Winner Best Off Site Production Award, Absolut Fringe 2010
- Nominated Fishamble New Writing Award 2010
- Nominated best actress award, Absolut Fringe 2010
- Winner: Best Production Award, Belltable Unfringed
- Winner: Best Supporting Actress Award, Irish Times Theatre Awards 2009
- Winner: Best Actress Award, Absolut Fringe 2009