Part Two of the Epic Borders Trilogy: Belfast 1919, was created in Northern Ireland. Belfast 1919 examined Irish issues surrounding national and social borders.
Participating artists worked with Manifesto Poetico’s fundamental research, living pedagogic language and devising performance practices to create the show under the direction of Carlos García Estévez and Paige Allerton.
The process started with a two-week Laboratory with 25 contributing artists from Northern Ireland, 30th September to 11th of October 2019. The show was presented to the public at the Brian Friel Theatre, Belfast, Friday 11th October.
Patrick J O’Reilly, Artistic Director of Tinderbox Theatre Company.
This project was hosted and produced by Tinderbox Theatre Company, one of the most established companies in Northern Ireland. For thirty years, Tinderbox has championed new writing, producing world class performance from Northern Irish writers to critical and international acclaim.
Artistic Director, Patrick J O’Reilly, commissioned the work after participating in Manifesto Poetico's 2018 Open-Laboratory, Spatial Dramaturgy: Three Dimensional Awareness.
Since, Patrick has further contibuted to the research of Manifesto Poetico during his participation in the 2019 Open Laboraotry, SPATIAL DRMATUGY & THE FOUR DIMENSIONS.
The Epic Borders Trilogy is a Manifesto Poetico series of theatre productions taking place in México, Northern Ireland and Canada. The Trilogy deals with the stories and themes of people from areas with long histories of being torn by geographical, political, and intellectual boundaries. Our trilogy aims to tell the every-day stories of people from these different locations, woven together to expose the epic proportions of our collective story.
The Epic Borders research was started by Manifesto Poetico in February 2018 at the University of San Diego in California (USD), (located 20 kilometres from the Mexico-USA border) when Manifesto Poetico Founder and Artistic Director, Carlos García Estévez, was nominated to be an Honorary Chair at the university.
At USD, Carlos worked with graduate students and professionals, to research current news and local knowledge about the reality of their circumstances: social conflicts, different ethnic groups, immigration, economic disparity, militarization and world environmental concerns.
During his time in San Diego, Carlos collaborated with researchers from different departments at the university, including the departments of Ethnic Studies, Environmental and Oceanic Studies, and with The Change-Making School of Peace and Justice.
Part One of the Trilogy, The Gate of Hope, was created in Guadalajara, Mexico. The show opened the 22nd of September 2019.
Part three, In the Name of Humanity, will premiere in Canada July 2020.