Sunday, August 19, 2012

LitLab Reading at Cavan Fleadh

I can't sing, I can't dance, I can't play a musical instrument but I performed at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Cavan 2012!

The Meath/Cavan LitLab group were invited to do two fifteen minute slots on the Green stage and we were delighted to be a part of it.

We had done readings for the previous two Fleadh in Cavan in a small hall to a very discerning audience. These were different. The Green Stage has different performers every fifteen minutes, there was no published programme so the audience consisted of people who had wandered into the area or were connected with some of the other acts.

So a different challenge and one we met head on. On Friday evening Paddy Halligan, Paddy Smith, Lorna Milligan and myself read poetry and prose to a reasonably sized audience which was appreciative and applauded at the right time. Some even came up afterwards and complimented some of us on our pieces.

Friday Night's LitLab Readers

Paddy Smith's story about an insurance salesman's effort to decide if a potential customer was a Catholic or Protestant was especially mentioned. I even saw a few smiling at various lines in my Celtic Tiger Recession Blues.

Saturday Morning
Saturday morning at 11.30, we were reduced to two readers, Paddy Smith and myself, but we acquitted ourselves well, read for fifteen minutes to what was a slightly smaller audience.

LitLab is delighted to have taken part in each of the three Cavan Fleadh Cheoil. We had a poetry/prose reading each year and, with the help of Cavan Arts Office, we produced some small items which were distributed free to attendees. 

In 2010 we produced drinks coasters with our haiku, last year colour postcards with our short poems on the theme of music and this year bookmarks. More about those later.

1 comment:

Mari said...

no better man than yourself Michael. I'd say you did yourselves proud! And Cavan Fleadh!