Founded in 1980 by students of English at the University of Tübingen in southern Germany, the group has become an institution of Tübingen cultural life (says the local press!), exploring the length, breadth and depth of Irish drama written in the English language.
The group comprises a strong element of the Irish and hibernophile community in the
Stuttgart/Reutlingen/Böblingen/Tübingen area, ex-students who keep in touch and make occasional stage
appearances, guest students from all sorts of English-speaking countries and, still the main body, German students
of English.
All in all, well over 200 actors and actresses have trodden the boards in these past fifteen years (there is a
list of actors
for those who are interested). This has always meant a lot of
fluctuation, but luckily we have a core of activists providing the necessary continuity.
Of course we often found ourselves in the position Michael O'hAodha pinned down once: "
... too many of our
amateur societies are blest with nine or ten women mad to get on the stage and three or four men mad to get off
it
And though we may be based in Tübingen, we do not allow ourselves to be geographically defined or confined by the city limits, and we have played the length and the breadth of Germany. And the last couple of years we have played in the North of England and in Edinburgh. There are even legends of a production in Tacoma (Washington State) under our banner!
Generally speaking, we manage to put on two full-length productions a year, as well as one or two one-act plays per term, our homage to the grand tradition of the short play in Ireland.
In the words of Heinz Kosok, speaking about the group in his review of "Standing in their shifts itself...": Irish Drama from Farquhar to Friel
The list of productions alone . . . gives an indication of the critical awareness, the enterprise and enthusiasm of the directors, stage designers, and actors, as well as the audiences of this amazing amateur theatre. It leads one to dream of similar societies in other university towns all over Europe, each group devoted to the cultural heritage of another country and adopting that country's language . . . - such an undertaking would be worth ten thousand politicians' rhetoric in the painful process of shaping a better understanding between the peoples of Europe.
If we have an impressive list of past productions, we are not content to rest on our reputation and have a
number of current projects
that we are working on at the moment.
You might also be interested in our current book
on the state of contemporary Irish
theatre, which will be published on the 22nd of November, and launched in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin on the 12th of December.
We meet every Tuesday (at least), and anyone is more than welcome to come along and join in.
During the academic year, we are to be found in the Brechtbau (Wilhelmstrasse 50) from 19:00 until 22:00
(there should be a note on the notice board for the "Anglistik" department saying where).
Afterwards we are to be found in the Bierkeller (below the Mensa in the Wilhelmstrasse). You should have no
problem identifying us in the Bierkeller, as we are the only group of people standing up, and may well be eating
chips (french fries) with vinegar.
Over the summer, we still meet on Tuesdays, but in O'Donovan's Irish Pub (Burgsteige 7) at 20:00.
For further information on the theatre group, e-mail contact can be made to
Eberhard "Paddy" Bort(ebort@afb1.ssc.ed.ac.uk)
, or
Peter Paul "JP" Schnierer(peter-paul.schnierer@uni-tuebingen.de)
Or you could always write to us at:
Tübingen Anglo-Irish Theatre Group
c/o Department of English
University of Tübingen
Wilhelmstr. 50
72074 Tübingen
Germany
Other Irish theatre companies on the web include the
Abbey & Peacock Theatres(internet-link: "http://www.adnet.ie/Adnet/abbey.htm")
, the
Druid Theatre Company(internet-link: "http://www.library.ucg.ie/druid/")
, and
Bedrock Theatre Company(internet-link: "http://www.maths.tcd.ie/~pmoloney/bedrock/")
.
In addition, Trinity College, Dublin, has an
Irish Literature and Theatre(internet-link: "http://www.bess.tcd.ie/lit.htm")
page.
If you are interested in theatre in general, check out Yahoo - Arts:Drama(internet-link: "http://www.yahoo.com/Arts/Drama/") , which has lots of links to lots of other theatrical web-sites all over the world. Particularly worth visits are Theatre Central(internet-link: "http://www.theatre-central.com") , jogle's Favourite Theatre Related Resources(internet-link: "http://pscinfo.psc.edu/~geigel/menus/Theatre.html") , and Stetson University theatre resources list(internet-link: "http://www.stetson.edu/~csata/thr_guid.html")
If you are interested in Ireland in general, try referring to Caroline Von B's
collection of Ireland related links(internet-link: "http://huizen.dds.nl/~vonb/hs-index.html")
.
Hibernophiles (Ireland-fans) based in or around Tübingen, might be interested the
Deutsch-Irische
Freundeskreis
in Tübingen. If you want to know more about this non-profit organisation, contact
Veit Mueller(Veit.Mueller@schwaben.de)
(or write to:
Deutsch-Irischer Freundeskreis, c/o Europa-Zentrum, Postfach 1366, 72003 Tübingen
)
If you are interested in Tübingen in general, then refer to Informationen über Tübingen(internet-link: "http://www.cityinfonetz.de/index.html")
(internet-link: "http:/www.mckinley.com/")
These pages assembled and maintained by Dave Hegarty(daveh@t-online.de)
.
Please be easy and free with your comments, suggestions and criticism.
Abbey & Peacock Theatres(http://www.adnet.ie/Adnet/abbey.htm)
Druid Theatre Company(http://www.library.ucg.ie/druid/)
Bedrock Theatre Company(http://www.maths.tcd.ie/~pmoloney/bedrock/)
Irish Literature and Theatre(http://www.bess.tcd.ie/lit.htm)
Yahoo - Arts:Drama(http://www.yahoo.com/Arts/Drama/)
Theatre Central(http://www.theatre-central.com)
jogle's Favourite Theatre Related Resources(http://pscinfo.psc.edu/~geigel/menus/Theatre.html)
Stetson University theatre resources list(http://www.stetson.edu/~csata/thr_guid.html)
collection of Ireland related links(http://huizen.dds.nl/~vonb/hs-index.html)
Informationen über Tübingen(http://www.cityinfonetz.de/index.html)
(http:/www.mckinley.com/)