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Festival Closing Event – The Art of Trees
Festival Closing Event – The Art of Trees
October 20 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm IST
Join us for the closing event of the Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival, with a performance of The Art of Trees by Mary Moynihan, reflecting on the importance of biodiversity and our connections to nature, as well as an opportunity to enjoy chat and refreshments while exploring the Irish in Resistance during WWII exhibition at 27 Pearse Street, Dublin
Book Your Place
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Artists
Mary Moynihan, writer, director, theatre and filmmaker, Artistic Director of Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality
Carmen Ortiz, director
Fiona Bawn Thompson, actor
Abdelmonem Nassef, actor
Carmen Ortiz Victorio, actor
Ciara Hayes, actor
Lisa McLoughlin-Gnemmi, performer and musician
Full Event Details
Join us for an evening of fun and entertainment for the closing ceremony of the Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival. All welcome. Booking required as places limited. Enjoy chat and refreshments and the opportunity to view the Irish in Resistance Multidisciplinary exhibition with visual art, photography, film, poetry, and storytelling, reflecting on stories of Irish people in resistance during the Holocaust and World War II who stood up against fascism and totalitarianism, and spoke out for the rights of others. Watch a live showing of The Art of Trees by Mary Moynihan with storytelling, poetry and music reflecting on trees and forests, the importance of biodiversity and our connections to nature. How can we celebrate the beauty of woodlands, stop the destruction of trees and support the planet that gives us life and sustains us? The Art of Trees is written by Mary Moynihan, directed by Carmen Ortiz and performed by Fiona Bawn Thompson, Abdelmonem Nassef, Carmen Ortiz Victorino, Ciara Hayes, and Lisa McLoughlin-Gnemmi on violin.
Nature is in trouble. Ireland has declared a climate and a biodiversity emergency. As President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins said if we were coal miners we would be up to our knees in dead canaries. Despite our green image we need to do more. Ireland has lost many of its native woods. It is estimated that only eleven per cent of Ireland is currently under forest cover, much lower than most European countries. Finland for example has over 70 percent forest cover while Spain has over 35 percent. How can we celebrate the life of woodlands and connect more with nature, to support the planet that gives us life and sustains us? What can we do to stop the felling and destruction of trees?
Brigid of Kildare, patron saint of Ireland has returned. She invites us to join her in the forest and enter the world of trees. Brigid takes us on a journey through the history of trees from the Ice Age to present times, exploring how forests have changed over thousands of years. Listen to stories about the ancient, sacred trees of Ireland such as oak, ash, birch, hazel and hawthorn and explore the wonders of a Celtic tradition of trees and forests where magic can happen.
Join us as we reflect on ways to re-wild the landscape and re-wild the human soul. What can be done to save our sacred trees and ancient woods and take action in the fight against climate change? The show is a theatrically staged fusion of theatre, poetry, story, dance and music and is a dazzling storytelling performance suitable for all ages that is fun, magical and sparking.
Credits
Mary Moynihan, writer
Carmen Ortiz Victorino, director
Fiona Bawn Thompson, actor
Abdelmonem Nassef, actor
Carmen Ortiz Victorino, actor
Ciara Hayes, actor
Lisa McLoughlin-Gnemmi, performer and musician on violin
Ciara Hayes, producer
Supported by The Trees Project and Creative Europe
Share your Favourite Tree
Tell us about your favourite tree? Take a picture and send it in with ideally the name of the tree, it’s location and a photograph. Even if you only have a photograph send it on and tell us what you enjoy about the tree. Send it to admin@smashingtimes.ie
There are many famous trees in Ireland. We have hanging trees, trees at holy wells, trees associated with historic events and trees that are important to communities. There is the ‘Hungry’ Tree at King’s Inns, Dublin, the tree appears to be eating or swallowing a bench! We have Lady Gregory’s famous ‘Autograph’ Tree at Coole Park in Galway. It is a copper beech signed by the writer W. B. Yeats and his brother the painter Jack, and by writers such as George Bernard Shaw, Sean O’Casey and other famous people.
The Social Life of Trees
“A forest is much more than what you see,” says ecologist Suzanne Simard. Her 30 years of research in Canadian forests have led to an astounding discovery — trees talk, often and over vast distances. Watch Suzanne’s Tedex talk to learn more about the harmonious yet complicated social lives of trees and prepare to see the natural world with new eyes.
The Trees Project
The Art of Trees by Mary Moynihan is presented as part of The Trees project led by Dah Theatre, Belgrade, Serbia and supported by Creative Europe. For further project details see here. Following ten performances in Dublin, Ireland, a live performance of The Art of Trees goes on tour to three international festivals in Frankfurt, Germany, June 2025, Athens, Greece, June 2025 and Saville, Spain, October 2025.
The Trees project supported by Creative Europe is led by Dah Teatar, Belgrade, Serbia. The partners are Action Synergy SA, Greece; Theatro Aeroploio – Ena Theatro Giapaidia, Greece; Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality, Ireland; Grenland Friteater AS, Norway; Centro de Arte Proucciones Teatrales SL, Spain; Protagon – Freunde Und Foerderer Freier Theateraktion, Germany and Stichting Zid, Netherlands.
As part of the Trees project, Smashing Times and partners are using creative processes and the performing arts to connect with citizens through a multi-disciplinary approach, raising awareness of the importance of nature in our world today with a focus on bio-diversity and our connections to trees, seas, skies, mountains and land.
As part of the Trees project artists from Smashing Times attended a Euroeso Conference on the 22 April 2024 in Belgrade, Serbia and a Trees conference and training programme in Belgrade Serbia from 23-28 April, 2024. Two outreach community workshops on trees and environmental sustainability were conducted by artist Carmen Ortiz Victorino with local community participants in Dublin, Ireland.
The Art of Trees by Mary Moynihan was commissioned for The Trees project. The play creates an extraordinary atmosphere in nature’s setting as we reflect on the role of trees in our ecosystem, the importance of nature in our lives today and themes of biodiversity, climate preservation and climate change. Join us as we enjoy nature and explore how to be proactive in the face of climate change and making Europe climate friendly with a focus on biodiversity and the interconnectedness of the world around us. Open to all citizens, communities and artists, and to key stakeholders in the fields of theatre, arts, science, environment, education, business and human rights.
Speaker Biographies:
Mary Moynihan MA
Writer of Novels, Poetry, Films, Plays
Creator of Art and Photography
Creative Reflections on Arts, Creativity, Equality, Leadership and Self-Esteem
Mary Moynihan, MA, she/her, is an award-winning author of novels, poetry, films and plays, and a creator of art and photography. Mary is from Dublin, Ireland. Mary embarked upon her award-winning career as a writer in theatre and film and has garnered much acclaim for her plays, poetry and short film scripts, and for creating interdisciplinary artworks combining writing and photography presented in galleries and online. She established and became Artistic Director of Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality and is Artistic Curator for the annual Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival. Mary has an honours BA in Drama and Theatre Studies from Trinity College Dublin and an honours Masters in Film Production from TU Dublin.
After raising four children, now adults, Mary dedicated her time to becoming a writer. She writes fiction for young people and adults featuring stories of courage, laughter, tragedy, happiness, love, death and action-packed adventures. Mary is the author of a young adult fantasy novel Amergin and the Warriors of Zen. In her adult fiction, Mary’s characters are clever, fearless, vulnerable, crazy, strong, and dangerous, looking for love, fun, success and happiness. Her work promises enthralling plots, dramatic lives, lots of laughs, serious flirting and sexual intrigue and insights into love, happiness, creativity and meaning in life.
Mary pens a series of articles titled Creative Reflections on Arts, Creativity, Leadership and Self-Esteem which appear in the Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality newsletter and on Mary’s website marymoynihan.ie
In her free time Mary loves to spend time with her four adult children and hang out with friends. She swims in the sea all year round. She loves the ocean, sky and moon and has a spiritual connection to the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea, to the environs of Dublin bay and to the mystical landscapes of Valentia Island and the surrounding Iveragh peninsula in County Kerry, her spiritual home. She is a big fan of the Dublin Gaelic football and hurling teams.
Smashing Times
Mary is Artistic Director of Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality working collaboratively with artists and over fifty organisations across Ireland, Northern Ireland, Europe and internationally, using the arts to promote rights and values for all. Company patrons are Sabina Higgins; Joan Freeman, founder of Pieta House; Ger Ryan, actor and Tim Pat Coogan, writer and historian. Founding patrons were writers Maeve Binchy and Brian Friel.
Mary is Artistic Curator for the annual, international Dublin Arts and Human Rights festival implemented by Smashing Times and Front Line Defenders with Amnesty International, Fighting Words, ICCL, NWCI, Irish Modern Dance Theatre, Trócaire, Poetry Ireland and Irish Pen, and funded by The Arts Council. The festival highlights the extraordinary work of human rights defenders in Ireland and around the world, past and present, and the role of the arts and artists in promoting human rights today.
Awards
Mary’s work has won a number of awards, including the Allianz Business to Arts Special Judges DAA Arts Award at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, the international and prestigious #ArtsAgainstCovid award from the Arts in Health International Foundation and an Arts Council Agility Award. Mary was awarded a Project Award from The Arts Council to write a new work with a range of collaborators titled The Feeling Soul, inspired by stories of women poets from ancient and modern Ireland.
Writer of Novels, Poetry, Films and Plays
Mary is the author of the epic spoken word poem ‘Ode to a Coolock Queen’’, written from a female perspective and exploring identity, gender, violence, passion, self-destruction and possible redemption. An attempt as Sylvia Plath says ‘to be true to my own weirdnesses’. It is an oral storytelling narrative that is about a broader reflection on what it is to be born out of a working class environment. This poem is in homage to all people from working-class communities who find their strength and become their own kings and queens like warriors from an ancient past.
Mary is the author of a young adult fantasy novel Amergin and the Warriors of Zen. As a playwright, Mary’s work includes the highly acclaimed The Woman is Present: Women’s Stories of WWII co-written with Paul Kennedy, Fiona Thompson and Féilim James; Memorial Monologues: The Path of Memory; Tales of Love and Loss featuring two monologues selected by President Michael D Higgins for performance at Áras an Uachtaráin, Constance and Her Friends and Grace and Joe for performance in 2023; In One Breath from the award-winning Testimonies(co-written with Paul Kennedy); Shadow of My Soul and May Our Faces Haunt You.
Plays for children and young people include Gathering on the Pond, a comedy play on the environment by Mary Moynihan and Aoife Reilly; Love the Earth by Mary Moynihan – A Change-Makers Storytelling session for ages 5 to 12 years adapted from three stories – The Water Princess, The Hummingbird, and The Salmon of Knowledge – from Goal’s Global Citizenship Education Resource; and Four Great Plays for Young Children, a series of short plays suitable for performance by children ages 5 to 12 years – The Children of Lir, The Three Bears, The Princess Play and Legend of the Dragon Kings
Mary has a focus on using historical memory in her artistic practice as inspiration for the creation of original artworks. A number of her writings highlight stories of ordinary yet extraordinary women who stood up for the rights of others with a focus on the Holocaust, WWII and the revolutionary period in Irish history.
Mary’s documentary film work includes The Shoah: A Survivor’s Memory – The World’s Legacy, adapted from the writings of French woman Simone Veil (1927-2017), a French lawyer, politician and feminist, Holocaust survivor and first female President of the European Parliament; the creative documentary Women in an Equal Europe; the short film Letter to a Human Rights Defender based on words by Mary Lawlor, a Human Rights Defender, founder of Front Line Defenders and UN Ambassador on Human Rights Defenders; the hour-long documentary Stories from the Shadows reflecting on the arts in peacebuilding in Northern Ireland (co-directed with Mark Quinn); You Matter, a filmed interview with social justice campaigner Dil Wickremasinhge and the short documentary Acting for the Future on the role of the arts to promote positive mental health and well-being and suicide prevention for Travellers in Ireland.
Keep in touch with Mary on:
Tel: + 00 353 (0) 87 7438722
Email: marymoynihanarts@gmail.com
Website: MaryMoynihan.ie
Follow Mary on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn
Carmen Ortiz Victorino is an interdisciplinary artist, theatre-maker, director, actress, playwriter and stage manager from Sevilla, Spain. She studied drama in ESAD de Sevilla and screen acting in Laboratorio de Interpretation de Sevilla. Now she works for Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality. She has worked with different communities around Ireland doing drama workshops and directing different plays as King Lear, Hamlet and The Heights. Moreover, she has participated in a wide range of international projects as “Mouth Off” (Spain), “You mix it” (Sweden), “Mind your body” (Slovenia) , “Transmission “ (Albania); treating social issues through different acting techniques.
Fiona Bawn-Thompson is an actor, writer, and the director of a highly successful performing arts academy. After graduating with her Drama degree from Queens University Belfast in 2004 she went on to train as an actor with the Lyric Theatre Drama Studio. She has extensive experience in all genres of theatre, film and dance and shares this passion and knowledge with the young people she teaches. Fiona also runs a wellbeing company and incorporates movement and drama strategies into her practice to enhance the experience for her clients. She has performed and toured with many shows for Smashing Times Theatre Company, including “The Woman is Present”, “Thou Shalt Not Kill”, and “Women, War & Peace”. In recent years she has been working extensively in the film industry as a supporting artist in films and series such as “The Northman”, “Line of Duty”, “The Woman in the Wall”, and “Dungeons and Dragons”, to name but a few.
Abdelmonem Nassef is an Egyptian artist working in theatre from 2010, both as an actor and director. He has been involved in the theatre industry in Egypt, performing in and directing many plays. He has performed in four plays since travelling to Ireland. One of them was Bros for the Dublin Theatre Festival, directed by Romeo Castellucci. Abdelmonem is now the main drama facilitator for the senior group in Making Waves Youth Theatre and Athy Community Arts Centre. He loves drawing, music, and anything related to art.
Lisa Mc Loughlin-Gnemmi is a graduate of the Royal College of Music, London where she received her B.Mus Hons degree. She is a lecturer in violin at the TU Dublin Conservatoire for Music and Drama. She gained her masters in performance at TU Dublin studying under Joanna Matkowska. She has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland under conductors Alexander Anissimov, George Hurst and Gerhardt Markson. She also worked with Lyric Opera and The Irish Film Orchestra. She has regularly performed with the RTE Concert Orchestra.
Performances with the RTECO include a chamber music recital for the commemoration of the 1916 rising at The Irish Museum of Modern Art in the presence of An t-Uachtarán and with a group of members of the RTECO playing a new composition by Simon O’ Connor narrated by actress Olwen Fouéré. Other concerts included ‘Back to the Future’, ‘The Godfather’ with film music by Nino Rota, ‘The Music of John Williams’ film music and RTECO’s recording of the music of Steve Mc Keon for the film ‘Norm of the North’.
Lisa has performed at the Dublin Metropolis Festival, RDS and at The Button Factory, Temple Bar with DJ Kormac. Lisa has also toured France, South Africa and the US as solo violinist with Michael Flatley’s ‘Lord of the Dance’. Solo and chamber music recitals include DIT, Trinity College Dublin, The Goethe institute, UCD and The John Field Room, N.C.H. and The Galway Arts Festival.
Lisa recently performed at Dublin Castle for a production of ‘Constance and her Friends’ a play about Constance Markievicz and activists during the 1916 rising written by Mary Moynihan and performed by Smashing Times. Passionate about teaching as well as performing, Lisa gives masterclasses, prepares students for exams, recitals and Feis Ceoil competitions. Lisa is married to oboist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Sylvain Gnemmi. They have four children and live in Dublin.
Ciara Hayes is a graduate of UCC with an MA in Arts Management and Creative Producing. She also holds a teaching diploma from the London College of Music in Drama and Communication, and a BA Joint Hons in Drama and Theatre Studies with German. She has a background in theatre and worked for several years as a drama teacher, later becoming a teacher of social skills for children on the autism spectrum.
Since completing her Masters in 2020, Ciara has worked as a producer and festival administrator for Half Moon Festival (Cork, 2020) and festival coordinator for Dublin Arts and Human Rights Festival (Dublin, 2020 – present). She works at Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality.
Freelance producing credits include: Half Moon Festival – multidisciplinary, online arts festival (July 2020). Earthangel – online production of aural recording, Gaitkrash Theatre Company (November 2020). playing ‘The Maids’ – online sharing of recorded theatre performance, Gaitkrash Theatre Company (December 2020). Love and Information – online showing of filmed theatre performance, MTU BA Theatre and Drama Studies (February 2021). Prometheus Now – online theatre performance, Gaitkrash Theatre Company as part of Cork Midsummer Festival (June 2021).
Acting credits include: Liverpool, Mint Productions (2019); Little Gem, Dramat (2016), awarded Best Actress; The Circle Game, BA Drama and Theatre Studies (2016); The Importance of Being Ernest, Dramat (2015); Trojan Woman: A Love Story¸ BA Drama and Theatre Studies (2014); The Pearse Women, Smashing Times (2022); The Plough and the Stars for Bloomsday, Áras an Uachtaráin, Smashing Times (2023).
Organisations Involved / Partner Organisation(s):
