Tara Players actress excited about taking theatre piece to Ireland

Thanks to the Irish Association of Manitoba my Canadian upbringing had a distinctly Irish flavour. Perhaps I was immersed more in Irish culture in Canada than I would have been had we stayed in Ireland.

—Cara Campbell, Tara Players

On May 17th, the Tara Players bring it all back home by mounting their performance of The Muesli Belt in Dublin for the Acting Irish International Theatre Festival. 

Acted, directed and stage-managed by both Irish immigrants and their children, this production symbolizes the passing of the torch of Irish culture from those who experienced it first hand, to the children who experience it through their parents. 

The Tara Players have been bringing Irish theatre to Canadian audiences for nearly forty years, so this opportunity to perform in Dublin brings them full circle and is the fulfillment of a dream.

Although I lived in Ireland as a child, I am a first generation Canadian. I was educated in Canada, and I no longer have an Irish accent (much to my chagrin). Thanks to the Irish Association of Manitoba my Canadian upbringing had a distinctly Irish flavour. 

Perhaps I was immersed more in Irish culture in Canada than I would have been had we stayed in Ireland. This was hugely influential on me and I grew up knowing that being Irish was something special. Had we stayed in Ireland, these opportunities may have been taken for granted.

The Muesli Belt, directed by Aidan O'Brien, and set at the height of the Celtic Tiger describes an Ireland unfamiliar to immigrants of my parents' generation. Ireland became a 'have' country, and this changed the fabric of its culture. 

This play represents the struggle between the old and the new. Children of the Irish outside Ireland, not entirely Irish and not entirely of their new country, also face this struggle as they forge ahead and make new identities for themselves in new countries. Bringing this play back home to Dublin strengthens the bond between Ireland and those children of the Irish born abroad.

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