Inside Ireland-America: The Ties That Bind

Entering “Ireland-America: The Ties that Bind,” housed in Lincoln Center, one of New York City’s finest arenas for the arts, it is easy to get overwhelmed. We’re dealing with more than two centuries of performing arts history, after all. A television screen is on the right; posters and display cabinets are straight ahead; a sign describing the exhibition is just to the left; a playing fiddle and the sounds of feet tapping in tune can be heard. Head to the television and sit on the bench. The next 18 or so minutes will be thrilling as a video reel plays a representative variety of clips, including Michael Flatley performing in Lord of the Dance, a short interview with Liam Neeson, and a clip of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in a 1974 production of Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.

Past the television, the gallery opens into its first and largest section, “Performing Ireland, Becoming American.” Showcasing Irish-American stage performances since the 1800s, the space is brimming with broadsides, lithographs, programs, posters and more. The best way to see the exhibits is to crisscross the room. The walls are adorned: a poster for a production of Dion Boucicault’s The Shaughran, another for Da by Hugh Leonard. Between the framed posters hangs a QR ("Quick Response") code. Anyone with a smart phone can use a QR code reader to decode the information, including special messages from Irish actors. Dispersed throughout the gallery, the QR codes really show spectators (at least, the smart-phone-equiped spectators) a new way to experience an exhibition. Nearby, another television monitor shows a continuous video of scenes from Irish plays performed in America, including Brian Friel’s Philadelphia, Here I Come (1994 New York production) and the Broadway production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh.

Inside Ireland-America: The Ties That Bind | Irish America | IrishCentral
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