Efacis At the conclusion of the first day of the Irish Border Narratives Symposium from 16-17 June 2022 at the Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Sandra Heinen interviewed director and playwright Oisín Kearney in a panel on 'Staging Irish Border Narratives.' Their discussion of Oisín Kearney's plays (co-written with Michael Patrick) of The Alternative, a winner of 'A Play for Ireland' initiative, and The Border Game was deeply engaging. The audience was thoroughly enlivened by Oisín Kearney's wry sense of humour and his keen insights about dramatically staging border aesthetics. In fact, this EFACIS Irish Itinerary event has inspired me to teach a seminar on 'Irish Border Plays' in an upcoming semester in which I will most certainly include The Border Game.
Dr. Jessica Bundschuh (University of Stuttgart)
"To close the first day of the Irish Border Narratives International Symposium in Wuppertal (June 16-17, 2022), we were treated to Oisín Kearney in Conversation with Sandra Heinen. And what a treat it was! It was so interesting to hear Kearney discuss his view of theatre as a safe space in which to interrogate and investigate complex traumas, with specific staging and stagecraft decisions as a way of being political without being in a political arena. I was so inspired that I will certainly be assigning "Border Lands" or "The Alternative" in my next course on Irish theatre!"
Prof. Dr. Michelle Witten (University of Flensburg)
