ARTS LIVES – Waiting For Colgan

Ralph Fiennes Image Name: Ralph Fiennes Description: Arts Lives - Waiting for Colgan Copyright: © RTÉ Stills Library RTÉ. This image may be reproduced in print or electronic format for promotional purposes only. Any further use of this image must be re-negotiated separately with RTÉ. Use is subject to a fee to be agreed according to the current RTÉ Stills Library rate card.
Colgan and Harold Pinter Image Name: Colgan and Harold Pinter Description: Arts Lives - Waiting for Colgan Copyright: © RTÉ Stills Library RTÉ. This image may be reproduced in print or electronic format for promotional purposes only. Any further use of this image must be re-negotiated separately with RTÉ. Use is subject to a fee to be agreed according to the current RTÉ Stills Library rate card.
Colgan and Grace Kelly Image Name: Colgan and Grace Kelly Description: Arts Lives - Waiting for Colgan Copyright: © RTÉ Stills Library RTÉ. This image may be reproduced in print or electronic format for promotional purposes only. Any further use of this image must be re-negotiated separately with RTÉ. Use is subject to a fee to be agreed according to the current RTÉ Stills Library rate card.
Michael Colgan at home Image Name: Michael Colgan at home Description: Arts Lives - Waiting for Colgan Copyright: © RTÉ Stills Library RTÉ. This image may be reproduced in print or electronic format for promotional purposes only. Any further use of this image must be re-negotiated separately with RTÉ. Use is subject to a fee to be agreed according to the current RTÉ Stills Library rate card.

Broadcast Details: Tuesday 27th March, 10.15pm

RTÉ ARTS: Join Ralph Fiennes, Harold Pinter and an international cast in a backstage documentary on the outstandingly successful Irish theat

 

Almost 25 years have passed since Michael Colgan was appointed Artistic Director of the Gate Theatre in Dublin. Colgan inherited a theatre with an international reputation for creative excellence, but it was also in a state of severe financial crisis. Yet under his directorship, the international reputation of the Gate has been maintained, and it has also become an outstanding commercial success.

Michael Colgan has received many awards and honours at home and abroad – in recognition of his contribution to this unique theatrical history. But it has not all been plain sailing.

There have been public disputes with the Irish Arts Council over the funding of the Gate, while questions have also been raised about the Gate’s long–term artistic direction. For some, Michael Colgan is a dynamic figure who has brought colour and energy to Irish theatre, attracting world class talent to the stage of the Gate. For others, his legendary powers of persuasion arouse a skeptical response. It seems the commercial success of the Gate itself has attracted its share of criticism

This documentary follows Michael Colgan through several important Gate productions from the past year. Offering an intimate profile of the man and his work, Waiting for Colgan charts a particularly hectic period in the theatre’s history.

While Brian Friel’s Faith Healer breaks box-office records at the Gate, ultimately transferring to Broadway and winning a prestigious Tony Award, Colgan is also focused on the first-ever theatre production of Samuel Beckett’s Eh Joe and the production of Harold Pinter’s Celebration for Channel 4, not to mention his own adaptation of Beckett’s novella, First Love. The latter sold out at Sydney’s Arts Festival in January of this year.

Wating for Colgan is a portrait of a man who remains driven by his work. His commitment seems as intense and focused as it did 25 years ago. He is also a man who does not perhaps take himself quite as seriously as he takes the theatre. Among those taking part in the documentary are Harold Pinter, Sir Michael Gambon, Atom Egoyan, Alan Maloney and Ralph Fiennes.

ARTS LIVES – WAITING FOR COLGAN WAS PRODUCED BY BLUEPRINT PICTURES FOR RTÉ TELEVISION.

.