Arts Extra Goes to Washington
I'm in the departures lounge at Heathrow, having just returned from Washington DC. I arrived in DC on Tuesday and was on air with the first of three live programmes at 1.30 pm Washington time. In other words, this has been an extremely busy week. Claire Burgoyne and Valerie Smyth arrived a couple of days ahead of me to make the necessary studio preparations, confirm guests and begin to gather audio from some of the events happening in Washington last weekend. They haven't stopped running for days. We packed a lot into our three Arts Extra specials. You can listen again to the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday programmes here. Some of the highlights:
We covered Georgetown University's symposium on Northern Irish poetry, which celebrated 40 years of poetry from the north of Ireland (since the publication of and the poetry readings at the given by Michael Longley, Paul Muldoon, Ciaran Carson, and (by video) Seamus Heaney. We also hosted a conversation between and , chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts -- which was recorded in Chairman Gioia's office at the in DC.
We invited the American poet to comment on how poets and other creative artists are responding to the Virginia Tech shootings, following at the convocation this week.
, one of Irish-America's most vocal supporters of peace and progress in Northern Ireland, invited us to visit him at his office in the , just across the street from the Capitol. We watched him chair a session of the powerful , then he met us in one of those legendary backrooms of power -- a small antechamber located behind the hearing room itself -- for an interview. I can confirm that the new smoke-free America extends even to these formerly smoked-filled backrooms where congressmen have traditionally negotiated deals.
We visited on 10th Street -- "America's most famous theatre" -- where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, and explored Lincoln's commitment to the arts. We also toured the at the Smithsonian to explore their collection of presidential portraits.
, a native of DC and the most widely-syndicated columnist in America, joined us in the studio to talk about America's cultural role in the world today -- and why he chooses to live for two months of each year in Northern Ireland.
I dropped in on at her apartment, just round the corner from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, to hear about the RSC's new production of -- currently being staged in DC -- and why she believes no city in the world resonates with its themes as much as Washington, America's "imperial capital".
The Belfast director came into the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Washington studios to tell us about his staging of Owen McCafferty's award-winning play , and he was joined by two young American actors currently trying to master Belfast accents.
I also had coffee with the Belfast-born actress , in a coffee shop just across the road from the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s Washington Bureau on . Geraldine, originally from west Belfast, recently played the female lead in Rocky Balboa. She's also lending her support, as a celebrity ambassador, to the programme in DC. The programme's creative director is the composer , and he joined us for the final programme, in the company of Professor , vice-chancellor of the University of Ulster. Earlier in the week, we also learned more about the developing at the Smithsonian's annual
Phew. I'd better catch this flight or I won't make it back in time for Sunday Sequence tomorrow morning from 8.30.
Comments
Will
Arts Extra is on at a bad time - conflicting with the local TV evening news so will have to 'listen again' later.
No doubt you'll be having a look at The Belfast Ulster-Scots Festival - 25-29th May
The prods do seem to have a 'culture' after all!!
And it's great that a bigot like Alan can acknowledge it, eh?
Pete.
Please! there's more "culture" in a pot of yoghurt.
Come on Alan, don't be so sectarian. Whether you like it or not, there is an ulster-scots community in NI. I have my doubts about the language but there's a LOT more than the language issues involves. Common values, common history, musical traditions, etc. That's worth showing a little more respect to.
Why are humanists here so aggressive?
Will
Did you raise the topic of the war in Iraq when you were there?
So many people dying, so many claims about oil lust, so little coverage on this website...
PB
Helenanne:
Because, amusingly, they share many of the same angry, insular, paranoid, and defensive traits as the fundamentalists they so despise.
SG
'fraid youse have taken me up all wrong!
I was trying to take the piss out of the deniers!
After all I was promoting it to Will and you lot!!
that guy pb ... he always has a complaint to make about this blog doesn't he? what's his beef?
The best show in Washington DC this week was undoubtedly at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings around Thursday when Republica Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania cross examined Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez. It was a real fireworks display. Specter made it clear from the outset that Gonzalez's job was on the line and quite frankly, IMO it doesn't look good for old Alberto. President Bush says he will stand by his man but the rest of his party looks like it's getting ready to bail out on him on this one. Interestingly, there is no accusation that Gonzalez broke any laws....yet. If he is lying about his role in firing these federal judges, he is guilty of perjury and possible malfeasance in thwarting investigations of Republican suspects of criminal corruption. If he's telling the truth, he's guilty of incompetence by failing to discharge his responsibilities in the review and decisions to fire them. Not only was the manner of their firing, their not being told why at the time inconsistant with American cultural expectations and norms but insinuations afterwards that it was for unacceptable performance goes to their credibility as first rate attorneys. This in light of outstanding professional reviews of their work and accolades by others in the legal profession. Gonzalez danced around these issues in a tango which would make Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers jealous. I think in the end Gonzalez is gonzo. The pundits say the Democrats would like to keep him on because he's an easy punching bag. Besides, their real target is Carl Rove. The curtain may just be rising on this show, it could have a long run. Now what was this about some art exhibit?
Mark you may not be interested in Northern Ireland, that's your business, but those of us who live here DO care about this place. I think it's really important that Washington DC has given such attention to our country this week. I loved the arts programmes from there and im glad the beeb has shown people here that there are others in powerful positions who care about our country.
Claire L; I AM interested in the nothern part of Ireland, really I am. Sheesh, you forget one or two little countries with so many scattered here there and everywhere and the next thing you know the natives get really restless. Boy I'm glad I don't rule the world. Who could keep track of them all. Gotta go, cultural native dancing and war chants demo from Tuvalu in half an hour. Don't want to be late. They have secret voodoo like curses for anyone who offends them.
Back to the arts ... i was impressed by a lot of the stuff coming from washington. Wish I could see Des Kennedy's new production, that sounded really good.
William,
With all of your flying across the Atlantic, your CO2 footprint must be gigantic.
pb, i just listened to the last programme and they're talking about iraq in the first interview. wouldn't be like you to comment on something without listening!
That's nothing rubberduckie ... what about NOLAN who flies to england every week to do his radio show over there? That's crazy. Doesn't the bbc have studios in belfast he could do his show from? It's nuts.
Careful with the ecological footprint talk; you might make some ´óÏó´«Ã½ liberals feel guilty. :-)