Maurice Riordan, Duke Special and Hannah Sullivan take to the stage in Letterkenny for Muldoon’s Picnic
Muldoon’s Picnic, an extravaganza of music and literature, will visit An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny, on Friday 12th August with a stellar line up including Maurice Riordan, Duke Special, Hannah Sullivan and Paul Muldoon with his house band Rogue Oliphant.
An omnium-gatherum of poetry, prose and music, Muldoon’s Picnic is a cabaret-style evening, by turns witty, exuberant, and sophisticated, hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon, ‘the most significant English-language poet born since the Second World War’, (Times Literary Supplement).
After a successful Irish tour in 2017 and again in 2019, as well as ten sold out seasons at the Irish Arts Center in New York, Muldoon’s Picnic returns for four dates nationwide 10-14 August 2022.
Each show on the tour has a bespoke mix of artists from the worlds of literature and music. An Grianán Theatre in Letterkenny on Friday 12th August will see one of Ireland’s most distinguished poets Maurice Riordan, the unique piano-based songwriter Duke Special, and award winning poet Hannah Sullivan.
“A music-and-literature extravaganza” – Time Out New York
Devised and developed by the acclaimed Irish poet Paul Muldoon, the show is hosted by Muldoon and house band Rogue Oliphant – a collective of musicians and composers including Chris Harford (Three Colors, Band of Changes), Cait O’Riordan (The Pogues), David Mansfield (Bob Dylan, The Alpha Band) and Ray Kubian (Electric Six, Chris Forsyth) and Warren Zanes (Del Fuegos).
The title ‘Muldoon’s Picnic’ refers to a popular 19th-century New York vaudeville act, which inspired the New York based Paul Muldoon to begin hosting these carefully-blended evenings of literature and music back in 2014.
Paul Muldoon describes ‘Muldoon’s Picnic’ as a direct response to that ancient impulse to perform, to share, to make one’s own amusement; “It’s one of our most basic instincts; to listen to a song, listen to a poem. Even in this era when people have their noses stuck in their tablets, it still works.”
The other dates around Ireland include Lime Tree Theatre in Limerick (Wednesday 10th August), Lyric Theatre in Belfast (Saturday 13th August) and the Abbey Theatre on the Peacock stage in Dublin (Sunday 14th August).
Poetry Ireland has a growing reputation for producing dynamic literature events on a significant scale. This tour will introduce audiences to some of the finest writers and musicians performing today.
For further information on all events see www.poetryireland.ie
Produced by Poetry Ireland and supported by an Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon and Arts Council of Northern Ireland Touring Grant.
