Crossing the Line: Episode 3: Festival Programme

Crossing the Line: ‘The Festival that never was, the Celebration that is’

Episode Three: The 2020 Crossing The Line Festival Programme

Over 100 European Artists & Company members * 11 venues across Galway City * 32 Events * 6 European Partners * 4 knowledge Talks * 8 Post-Show talks * Audiences of 4,500 * 1 Green Field Site * 1 International Networking Event * 135 Festival Team Freelancers * 112 Irish Artists & Arts Workers * 120 Volunteers * 32 Festival Ambassadors

With 2020 just around the corner, Blue Teapot unveiled their biggest, boldest and most ambitious project to date – Crossing The Line – a Pan-European Theatre Festival of outstanding work made by European artists with intellectual disabilities as part of Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture.

At the event launch in December 2019, a programme of theatre, dance, and dissemination events at multi-venues across Galway was released to the public.  At the launch, City of Galway Mayor Mike Cubbard said “It’s a great honour to celebrate this launch with Blue Teapot Theatre Company who do Trojan work all year round. With Galway set to embark on a cultural journey in 2020, I am excited about the benefits for our city and county and to attend this amazing project next May”. From 20th – 23rd May 2020, the festival was not only inclusive, distinct, different; it was undoubtedly European in flavour.

Moomsteatern (Sweden), Compagnie de L’’Oiseau-Mouche(France), Theater Babel (Netherlands) Teatr 21 (Poland), Mind The Gap (England) and Hijinx (Wales) were to join Irish artists Galway’s Speckled Egg, That’s Life and Equinox, Kilkenny. Established and emerging talent of equal measure. Crossing The Line Festival was also a milestone event of a two year Creative Europe small cooperation grant  project Trasna na Line.

For Blue Teapot, a new theatre production ‘Into the Dark Woods’, the debut play written by Charlene Kelly, a company actor with an intellectual disability, was to be the highlight.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic had begun to affect Ireland in early March with lockdowns put in place by mid-March, two months out from the festival opening. At a time of much uncertainty and to the utter disappointment of everyone involved, the decision was made to cancel Crossing the Line Festival.