Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights Radio Show
Hosted by Mary Moynihan and Freda Manweiler
On Dublin South FM Every Wednesday 6-7pm
Tune in to the Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights Radio show with Dublin South FM every Wednesday 6-7pm and listen to entertaining, in-depth discussion with presenter Mary Moynihan and co-host Freda Manweiler on the arts for equality, human rights, and diversity. Listen on Dublin South FM 93.9, or online at www.dublinsouthfm.ie
Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights Radio Show: Latest Episodes January 2025
The latest episode of the Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights Radio Show was broadcast on 8 January, 2025 and repeated on 15 January, 2025. This episode featured an extensive interview with Jenny Macdonald, a writer, performer, director and theatre facilitator. Jenny works with a company called SoloSirens and her new show The Tightrope Walker was presented at Smock Alley Theatre as part of the 2025 First Fortnight Festival, which is an annual mental health arts and culture festival run across Ireland.
The interview with Jenny was followed by a review of the nine-part drama series Say Nothing which was released in November 2024 and is now showing on Disney+. The series depicts a period of conflict in Northern Ireland during the late 20th century known as the Troubles, which lasted almost 30 years and cost the lives of more than 3,500 people. The series is based on the New York Times best-selling book Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe. The book spans four tumultuous decades during The Troubles in Northern Ireland and is a history of the Troubles though a focus on the 1972 abduction and murder of Jean McConville.
The radio show finished with 10 We Admire, highlighting an artist that inspires us. The artist featured is Damien Dempsey, a singer and songwriter from Ireland. News from the Network highlighted Zeitgeist Jukebox, a new immersive theatre experience from one-man theatrical powerhouse Little John Nee, presented as part of this year’s First Fortnight festival and on nationwide tour. Read on for further information.
Interview with Jenny Macdonald and the First Fortnight Festival
The Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights radio show broadcast on 8 and 15 January 2025 features an extensive interview with Jenny Macdonald, a writer, performer, director and theatre facilitator. Jenny works with a company called SoloSirens and her new show The Tightrope Walker was presented at Smock Alley Theatre as part of the 2025 First Fortnight Festival which is an annual mental health arts and culture festival run across Ireland.
The Tightrope Walker navigates a woman’s journey through the chaotic and profound territory of illness and recovery. It explores the grief inherent in a serious diagnosis, as well as the community and characters who share in the journey. It is a testament to the care and connection we may find in challenging times. The Tightrope Walker was written during Jenny’s time as writer in residence at the Irish Hospice Foundation, 2022-2023 and is funded by The Arts Council of Ireland, the Civic, Tallaght, the Irish Hospice Foundation, and SDCC Arts Office.
Jenny’s first solo performance was called Enthroned and that premiered at the First Fortnight Festival in 2016. It was also shown at the New York International Fringe Festival. Shortly after that show, Jenny was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her new show The Tightrope Walker is about that experience. Jenny is quoted as saying that ‘Life puts us where we are and one of the gifts of being an artist is that wherever we are, our job is the same. We create from there. Sometimes our most difficult experiences take us to the deepest places and we may emerge with more to share’.[1]
In the interview on the Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights radio show, Jenny shares with us the experiences that shaped the development of her new show and how it came about. Jenny believes that creative expression can be a source of sensemaking and of solace and in the play, she charts different aspects of her journey through the hospital system and the different people she encounters. The Tightrope Walker has an unusual theatrical form in that different memories from the writer’s experience of cancer are written on numbered pages spread out on the stage. The show changes each night according to which numbers are called. Jenny wrote that ‘I searched for a form that didn’t simplify the experience of cancer to reductive images of bold warriors or zen survivors. I wanted to embrace the complexities and the chaos.’
Jenny’s play The Tightrope Walker is a wonderful piece of theatre prompting discussion and conversations on an experience of cancer and the road through illness and recovery. Jenny speaks about writing and creativity and how they play a role in promoting solace in times of difficulty. Writing is a way to connect to one’s humanity especially in times of crises.
The Tightrope Walker by Jenny MacDonald ran at Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin, on Thursday, 9, Friday 10, and Saturday 11 January, 2025, as part of the 2025 First Fortnight Festival. As the writer and performer, Jenny hosted two post-show discussions after the Thursday and Friday shows and the matinee on 11 January was a performance. There are plans for future presentations of the show in 2025.
For information on the issues raised go to:
HSE https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/cancer/
Irish Cancer Society. Cancer.ie: For cancer information and support including information on the symptoms and diagnosis of breast cancer and ovarian cancer
Samaritans Ireland: Call for free 116 123, day or night, 365 days a year or email jo@samaritans.ie
First Fortnight
The First Fortnight festival celebrates the arts as a powerful catalyst for sparking unscripted conversations around mental ill health and serves to challenge the stigma associated with mental ill-health. The festival aspires to make the beginning of each year synonymous with mental health awareness, actively challenging societal prejudices, and eradicating the pervasive stigma surrounding mental health. In 2025 the First Fortnight festival took place from 4 to the 18 January 2025. For information on the festival go to www.firstfortnight.ie.
The First Fortnight festival is hosted by an organisation of the same name First Fortnight are a charity organisation that challenge mental health prejudice through arts and cultural activities. In addition to running an annual Festival, First Fortnight also operate the Centre for Creative Art Therapies which provides year-round free creative therapies including art therapy, music therapy and drama therapy to children, young people and adults facing homelessness as well as to members of vulnerable communities at risk. Their creative therapy is described as person centred and trauma informed and is implemented by IACAT accredited therapists who support children, adolescents and adults in building resilience, processing trauma, and developing positive coping techniques. According to the centre, they offer a supportive environment where a person can communicate and work through emotions using the creative medium as a vessel for emotional expression, interaction and change. IACAT is The Irish Association of Creative Arts Therapies and they are the professional accreditation body for creative arts therapies in Ireland.
What is creative art therapy?
Creative arts therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses and utilises creative art forms, including art, music, drama, dance, and play. It is an evidence-based practice that engages in verbal and non-verbal communication through creative expression. A person does not need to be good at art, music, or drama to engage in creative therapies. All they need is a willingness to engage and explore. First Fortnight currently offer art, music and drama therapy to children, adolescents and adults in Dublin and Meath with plans to expand over the next three years.
Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights Radio Show on 22 and 29 January: Chat and discussion on Acting for the Future and Lá Fhéile Bríde or St Brigid’s Day
Tune in to the next episode of the Smashing Times Arts and Human Rights Radio show with Dublin South FM which airs on Wednesday 22 January from 6 to 7pm and is repeated on Wednesday 29 January from 6 to 7pm.Listen to entertaining, in-depth discussion with presenter Mary Moynihan and co-host Freda Manweiler on the arts for equality, human rights and diversity.
This show features chat and discussion on the role of the arts in promoting positive mental health and well-being with a reflection on the award-winning Smashing Times project Acting for the Future which uses participative drama workshops, professional performances and film-screenings and post-show panel discussions with counsellors and clinical psychologists to promote active healthy lifestyles, positive mental health and well-being with schools and communities on the island of Ireland. The project is implemented by Smashing Times in partnership with the Samaritans with assistance from a panel of advisors and is delivered in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland with second level schools, universities and with a range of youth and adult groups and the general public. The project reaches over 3,000 young people and adults annually. Participants are senior cycle secondary school students (transition, fifth and sixth class in the Republic of Ireland) and senior cycle in Northern Ireland; students from all years at university level and young people and adults from youth and community groups and the general public.
‘The overall feedback was that Smashing Times was the most positively evaluated of all events, deeming it as an example of Very Good Practice!’
– Barbara Duffy, HSE, Arklow Mental Health Week
‘An example of “Best Practice”, in how it was organised and delivered.’
– Independent Evaluation of Acting for the Future
‘The first point to note and one that it consistent throughout the questionnaire responses was the high value that students gave to this session/event in its entirety.’
– Independent Evaluation of Acting for the Future
In Ireland, 1 February marks the beginning of spring and the celebration of Lá Fhéile Bríde or St Brigid’s Day which is now seen as a day celebrating the creativity of women. Brigid’s day is now a national bank holiday held on the first Monday of February every year, except where St Brigid’s Day happens to fall on a Friday, in which case that Friday, February 1 will be a public holiday. Join us as we explore who Brigid was and hear about a range of activities taking place to celebrate Saint Brigid as well as the creativity of women and the remarkable contributions women have made in Ireland and across the world.
Listen on Dublin South FM 93.9, or online at www.dublinsouthfm.ie. Click here to listen to past episodes.
[1] https://www.rte.ie/culture/2025/0103/1488973-meet-the-tightrope-walker-jenny-macdonald-on-illness-recovery/