"The Museum of Irishness welcomes you to its latest dramatic exhibit - an adaptation of Richard Head's 1663 work, Hic et Ubique, or the Humors of Dublin. Our crack team of overworked and underpaid actor-curators (remember to edit this out before it goes to print -Management) will be test-driving this exhibit in front of a selected audience to bring a slice of almost-forgotten Dublin life back to the stage for the first time since the 17th century. As always, we will be putting our own modern twist on things as we stage this tale of Londoners leaving their homeland to find fame and fortune in that most exotic of locations - Ireland."
What does it mean to be Irish? Or, what does it mean to become Irish? These are the questions that this rehearsed reading of Hic et Ubique is going to explore in this collaborative theatrical research project between Maynooth University's Drama Society and PhD researcher, Alan Waldron.
By tapping into the rich history of famous Dublin locations, such as St Stephen's Green and Moore Street, and by using Richard Head's 1663 bawdy comedy Hic et Ubique, we will explore the serious and not-so-serious issues surrounding contemporary life in Dublin today, and the many different ways we construct what it means to be "Irish". Hic et Ubique, the first play written in Ireland, by a person from Ireland, to depict everyday life in Ireland (though not one we might recognise!) will be reconceptualised in the Smock Alley Theatre from March 29th-30th.
This performance is funded by the Irish Research Council as a part of Maynooth University's MACMORRIS Project.
