It's a cultural thing or is it? A Traveller in progress

'Entertaining, enriching and provocative' - Irish Times

‘It’s a cultural thing or is it? - A Traveller in progress’ is based on the life experiences of Michael Collins, a Traveller, who remembers his childhood through innocent eyes.

The performance sees Michael going from living in the fields of Kilbeggan in a barrel top wagon to living in a tent at the top of Prosperous Hill. He describes his family’s journey to Dublin to join the other Travellers who started the exodus to Dublin as a result of changes in the social welfare system and the end of the traditional way of life.

This is a fast paced sequence of stories that are a microcosm of the history of the Traveller community over the past 40 years.

Starring Michael Collins as himself, with Patricia McCarthy as the narrator, directed by Mick Rafferty.

About Michael Collins:
Michael Collins member of the Irish traveller community who has been an advocate of traveller human rights for over 20 years. He is an actor, writer and performer he has acted on stage in the Abbey Theatre and The Olympia.

Michael played Johnny Connors in RTE’s Glenroe for over 10 years and has been in numerous films including Trojan Eddie and Man about Dog. It’s a cultural thing or is it is Michael's first play and is based on his own life growing up as a young boy. The show includes tales of travelling around the midlands, the different camps and of the hard life of growing up as a young Traveller in the Ireland of the 60s 70s and 80s.

Michael has spent the past five years performing in venues in Ireland and in the UK. This play received a five star review in the Irish Times in the 2005 Dublin Fringe festival. Traveller Wagon Wheel Theatre Company Michael has been developing the idea of establishing a Traveller Theatre Company which would work with Travellers and other socially excluded and ethnic minority groups to allow them to tell their stories and issues in an artistic way. This company Traveller Wagon Wheel Theatre Company.

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