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First Fortnight Festival at Riverbank Arts Centre

We are  delighted to partner once again with First Fortnight Festival in January 2019.
Our programme this year includes:

Now in its 10th year, First Fortnight is an arts-based mental health charity that organises a festival in the first two weeks of the year aimed at challenging stigma.

First Fortnight listings at Riverbank Arts Centre:

Wednesday, 16th January
6:30pm (additional event) Build-a-Guild interactive gaming
Build a Guild is a gaming group which focuses on social and personal development for those of our community experiencing isolation, whether it be from mental health issues, disability or any other type of issue that may isolate someone. Build a Guild aims is bring folk together in a safe environment through interactive play.
FREE.

8pm – A LOOK AT ARTS AND WELLBEING IN KILDARE
John Conway will host a panel discussion with artists, theatre-makers and musicians who deliver arts, health and wellbeing projects with the support of Kildare County Council Arts Service.
Talk – FREE – all welcome

Friday, 18th January, 8pm – BURYING YOUR BROTHER IN THE PAVEMENT
Burying Your Brother in the Pavement by Jack Thorne tells the story of a teenage girl grieving for her dead brother. Written specifically for young people, Thorne’s play is infused emotional honesty and maturity as it explores how a family copes with loss and grief. Griese Youth Theatre from Ballitore, County Kildare originally staged this show in Riverbank Arts Centre in June 2018. Griese Youth Theatre (GYT) was founded in 1999. The group strives to nurture both the artistic and social development of the young person through participation in drama and other art forms including dance, film, Youth Initiative and Youth Exchange projects. There will be a panel discussion following this performance.

“Burying Your Brother in the Pavement is a play about grief, about siblings, about love. It’s about making oneself look at someone else that little bit more closely. In youth theatre we find that looking at issues like suicide through the process of drama allows for the space to develop where the subject no longer remains the elephant in the room. Exercises in the drama workshop promote a sense of wellbeing and trust and we aim to develop the skills needed to deal with adversity and change in whatever shape it comes in, especially in a young person’s life.”  Leish Burke, Griese Youth Theatre

Tickets €5

Saturday, 19th January – UNDER THE SEA – First Fortnight Family Day
10am Just Keep Swimming Wellbeing Workshop (Ages 7-9)
An Arts and Crafts workshop exploring family connections and learning how to embrace your emotions and reach out to family and friends for support. First Fortnight facilitators will be available to talk to parents after the workshop.
Tickets €4. Duration 75 minutes.

12pm Great Barrier Reef Resilience Workshop (Ages 10-12)
The children will take on the persona of a great sea world explorer and look at the barrier reef like a big wide family with lots of branches and connections. The workshop will look at how to embrace feelings and reach out to others for support when emotions and situations become overwhelming.
Tickets €4. Duration 75 minutes.

2pm Finding Dory – family cinema screening
Disney•Pixar’s Finding Dory reunites everyone’s favourite forgetful blue tang, Dory, with her friends Nemo and Marlin on a search for answers about her past. What can she remember? Who are her parents? And where did she learn to speak Whale?
Tickets €4

Wednesday 23rd & Thursday 24th January, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm & 8pm – LYSIS
Based on the writings and testimonies of people living with mental health issues, Lysis is a docudrama that traces the experiences of five individuals. Created by members of Shine, a mental health support group, Lysis journeys through psychosis and toward recovery, challenging for the right to be recognised beyond diagnoses and presenting a celebration of the strength of human character. Lysis is facilitated and directed by Declan Mallon (Upstate Theatre Company) and presented in association with Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda.
Tickets €10

Booking for all events www.riverbank.ie or telephone our Box Office (045) 448327