The third Tread Softly festival, celebrating the link between Sligo and the Yeats family, will take place this year 27th July – 8th August. The many dimensions of this family of famous artists will be brought to life over two weeks of theatre, exhibitions, cinema, music, literary events, talks and tours, alongside a programme of children’s events.
This year’s festival will screen two films as part of the programme.
Living in Coded Land by Pat Collins will be screened 8pm Wednesday 6th & Thursday 7th August at The Model. Making extensive use of archive material, the poetic film essay seeks to explore the more elusive layers of meaning that make up this country, exploring unexpected links between events and locations, history and contemporary life. It revolves around the notion of a sense of place and stories associated with place, reflecting on the subterranean traces of the past in the present. Tickets: €7 Duration: 80 mins Harvest Films directed by Pat Collins.
Sanctuary, written by Malcolm Hamilton, will be screened 1.45pm Tuesday 29th July at The Factory Performance Space. Originally produced for the stage in 2001 by Blue Raincoat Theatre Company, the work was described by The Irish Times as "A beautiful lament for childhood. An elegy for the past." As it opens, a woman stands isolated and barefoot at the edge of the sea. When she speaks it is of suburban seaside memories, family holidays, parents at peace. This film version features Sandra O Malley and Phoebe Henry Seitz and is directed by Niall Henry.
The Tread Softly festival runs alongside the 55th annual Yeats International Summer School, Ireland’s longest running summer school, which will be opened this year by Alan Gilsenan at the Hawk’s Well on 27th July. The Summer School continues until 8th August.
Tread Softy… is an initiative of Blue Raincoat Theatre Company, Hawk’s Well Theatre, The Model, Yeats International Summer School and Sligo Live, supported by Fáilte Ireland and produced by Sligo Yeats Partnership.
For more information, see www.treadsoftly.ie or contact Sligo Tourist Office O’Connell Street Sligo on 071 91 61201.
