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Rachel Lally
175 Plays5 years ago
Rachel Lally is an actor, writer, model, director, street theatre performer, poet and drama facilitator who trained with Crooked House Theatre Company and Kildare Youth Theatre before going on to obtain her MA in Theatre from The Gaiety School of Acting and NUI Maynooth.
Rachel has toured as an actor (and briefly, folk metal singer with Cruachan) both nationally and internationally as well as appearing in a number of films, theatre productions, music videos and TV commercials over the years. She is passionate about accessibility to the arts for people of all ages. Most recently she has performed her poetry in the Axis Theatre, performed with Giant Wolf Theatre (of which she is a member) in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, toured Ireland with the Moat Theatre production of 'Push Up' as well as directing a number of community and youth productions and is currently developing a new piece of work for stage.
Rachel Lally is the voice of SRTN.
https://youtube.com/@rachellally
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
You
Introduction to Podcast and Guests
00:00:02
Speaker
are listening to Something Rather Than Nothing, creator and host Ken Volante, editor and producer Peter Bauer. This is Ken Volante with the Something Rather Than Nothing podcast and for this episode
00:00:23
Speaker
I'm really excited to have Rachel Lally, who is in Dublin, Ireland. And she, I encountered her work with the podcast called Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other. And it's a really, really fun podcast. She does with other artists in talking about thought experiments and philosophy, really super stuff. But she does a lot. She's definitely a creator,
00:00:53
Speaker
works in theaters, a singer, actress, thinker, philosopher, activist. Rachel, welcome to the podcast. Hi, Ken. Thanks for having me. Yeah, thanks for spending the time.
Rachel Lally's Early Life and Theatrical Awakening
00:01:11
Speaker
The first question we ask, we try to go back to the beginning, is what were you like as a young child, as young Rachel?
00:01:20
Speaker
Young Rachel was probably very different to grown up Rachel. I was a chronically shy child, very, very quiet. I was a like a ferocious reader. I ate books, like I used to go to the library and get loads of books and have them read like that bit at the end of that day.
00:01:45
Speaker
It used to drive my parents crazy because they'd buy me books and I'd have them finished like half an hour later. And it was like so expensive. I was like not a very athletic or outdoorsy kid. I was very much a very feminine child. When I was very young, I refused to wear trousers or anything. I would only wear dresses. I think I just totally lived in this fantasy world where I was like a princess and I just daydreamed all day.
00:02:15
Speaker
I was very imaginative, loved, always loved dressing up and stories. And yeah, for much higher than I am now with the kind of child that would kind of sit quietly and take everything in and listen and watch. Yeah, I find that, you know, I asked that question and, you know, over this is, you know, over 40 episodes with the podcast. And I find it very interesting because
00:02:42
Speaker
most everybody I talked to, there's definitely an element where they kind of, um, uh, like isolate themselves a little bit or like, you know, kind of a little bit shy or they create their own, their, their own space, uh, to do their own thing. And it sounds like what some of the comments you mentioned, you just had like, you know, just kind of like a little more of a fantasy kind of imagination. Uh, you know, as a young child, would that be correct?
00:03:08
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. In fact, it's because I was so shy that somebody suggested to my mom that I should go and try a drama lesson to give me some confidence and make me more outgoing. And I think that backfired massively. It backfired. So what was the experience when that happened? Was that tried then?
00:03:29
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah. So I like when my mom brought me to like a speech and drama class and I absolutely loved it. So I just that I got into like theatre and drama at a really young age and I just was really hungry for it. Just wanted to do more and more. So like we I grew up in Dublin, but we moved as a family out to the countryside when I was about 11 or 12 years old, like into a really remote part of the Irish countryside and
00:04:00
Speaker
But then there was no drama classes and there were no dance classes and stuff. And I didn't know what I was going to do with myself. So my parents ended up having to drive me like miles to go to drama lessons and youth theatre and stuff when I was that little bit older. So, yeah, kind of back forward on them a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, you needed your space to be able to to to develop in
00:04:25
Speaker
What forms of art do you participate in? You're obviously interested in quite a few things, and I view you as like a creator. I think sometimes creators are a little bit different and more useful of a word. But as that went along with the performance, what type of forms of art did you develop into as you got older?
00:04:51
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I think that's a great question. I mean, for me, theatre is kind of where things started from that. I mean, visual art, I loved. I took art in school. I loved it. And I studied theatre kind of all my life right through secondary school or high school, I suppose, in the US. And
00:05:11
Speaker
When I finished school then, I went to college. I decided I had kind of done some short films and stuff at that stage. I had acted in them and I wanted to know how everything behind the scenes worked. So I decided I was going to study media. So I did a little bit of radio journalism, TV and camera work. And I went on then to get a diploma in film studies.
00:05:33
Speaker
And then when I finished that, I left college and auditioned for a theater company and toured around Italy for a year as an actor and
00:05:42
Speaker
part of that was doing theatre and education in schools. So I got really into that. So that was where my teaching and facilitation comes in. So like passing skills on to other people.
Artistic Exploration and Metal Music Passion
00:05:54
Speaker
And like in recent years then I've got into into writing a lot more. I think it was something I was very afraid of for a while. So I've got into kind of writing poetry and spoken word and writing my own scripts and
00:06:09
Speaker
directing and doing different roles in the theater. So yeah, kind of a little bit of everything. I also sang with a heavy metal band. I guess when you're in the theater, you kind of end up sort of dancing and singing and doing stuff like that or trying new things depending on what project you're involved in. So I love physical theater. So yeah, just kind of lots of stuff kind of sprawls. Yeah. And, um,
00:06:37
Speaker
I'm not going to let you get away with just, you know, mention heavy metal. So tell us about I mean, I tend to get I've had a few folks who play who play in a metal band sing a recent guest. I had Sarah built plays guitar lead singer, kind of like a soul blues doom metal type type of sound.
00:07:05
Speaker
And when anybody's a metalhead that I'm talking to, I try to find out, what was it like for you? I know you said it was a short amount of time that you performed in that band. But what was that? I view it as, let me just say, I mean, metal for me is a super intense, super important outlet, particularly live, when that's available.
00:07:31
Speaker
So talk to us about Metal and your experience, you know, singing in that band. Yes. I mean, I've been into Metal probably since I was about 14 or 15. I think I heard a Metallica album for the first time and was like, what is this? Like, this is amazing. And
00:07:53
Speaker
And it kind of went from there. I think a lot of my mother's friends were kind of into heavy metal and they used to give me lots of tapes and their old CDs and stuff. And then in school, we kind of had a little group of misfits, I suppose. We were all very good students in school, very intelligent. We were in much trouble, but I think the teachers kind of disliked that we were all going around with these heavy metal hoodies.
00:08:23
Speaker
I think they were kind of very suspicious of us on what we were up to. But it was a very inclusive group and we all like, you know, tape traded and swap CDs and stuff. And then I went to, in Ireland, we have like a region in Ireland where Gaelic is spoken. It's still like very much a live language. And I went to study there to learn Gaelic.
00:08:47
Speaker
as a lot of school people do before their exams. And I met some people there that were also into metal and I got introduced to like a perfect circle for the first time and like that kind of political side of music and I was just like captivated by it. So obviously like we have, we have very healthy metal scene here in Ireland, but it is like small, it's quite small, like the art scene, you kind of see the same people at gigs all the time,
00:09:16
Speaker
Obviously, we've got some great bands. We've got Promordial and Crew-A-Con and Crew-A-Con are who I sang with for a while. My partner at the time, he created the band and they were going off to do a gig and they've always had a female singer. So they asked me to sing with them at one gig and then one gig turned into two and then it was three and we were
00:09:41
Speaker
kind of playing all over the place. And it's amazing because like Krew can't play, obviously, it's like Irish folk music, but with a metal twist. So it was really nice because it's like very much the lyrics are part of our history and part of our folklore and to kind of be able to play that and sing that on stage to people who
00:10:03
Speaker
who might share it or have similar stories or similar folklore in their own countries. And you appreciate kind of folk music and like metal fans are like the most amazing fans in the world. Like they're just so supportive and there's nothing like being on stage when there's like thousands of people like going mental underneath. I agree. I mean, talked about the metal crowd before and just
00:10:32
Speaker
There's something about that intensity, you know, I actually send a message to somebody who's a friend of mine, I was like, well, you know, I've been doing a lot of walking, a lot of stuff has been coming, you know, just kind of coming up, like, like physically and mentally and
00:10:48
Speaker
She was like, well, I know you're into metal. She's just like, just crank it up and just scream for a little while. You probably haven't screamed for a little while. Probably haven't been a metal show, which, of course, is the case, you know. And there's that kind of like primal intensity that I imagine you tap into. Yeah, I think it's like it's interesting that, you know, in with metal music, you're very much in touch with the dark side of things as well as.
00:11:13
Speaker
as the good and the happy and the bright. There's a whole spectrum in metal. It goes from the deepest, darkest black metal to glam and hair metal on a Saturday night when you're ready to have a good time. It's fascinating for me, all the genres and all the places that it goes.
00:11:38
Speaker
Before we get into some other questions, I'm going to ask you one of the big questions that I'm really interested in your answer, Rachel.
Art's Role in Life and Society
00:11:44
Speaker
What is art?
00:11:48
Speaker
That is a great question. And we're discussing that a lot at the moment in Ireland because of this whole Covid situation and our government have given a lot of grants to businesses but known to arts and culture specifically. Oh, no. Yes. So there's a lot of conversations happening around what is art and what is what is the value specifically, what is the value of art and what we contribute as artists to society. But I mean, art is in
00:12:18
Speaker
everything. It's in the design of your house. It's in the cup that you hold. It's in the music that you listen to when you turn on the radio. It's in the way that somebody says something. It helps us process and it helps us derive meaning and beauty from things in life.
00:12:42
Speaker
So I think that's what it is for me. Yeah, no, I really appreciate that. That's well put. So now, though, in connection to that, what's the role of art in a pandemic? Because I talked to guests and some folks, there's pressures as a creator within the pandemic to create more things.
00:13:09
Speaker
Do I do things online or do I just try to deal with the mental trauma of what's going on in the world right now and can I create? So what's the role of art in a pandemic at present? Well, the role of art in a pandemic is the same role that art has at any other time in life. It just helps you to process and to get meaning and beauty.
00:13:37
Speaker
from your experiences in life. But I think in a pandemic situation, what's been thrown into the focus, it's really highlighted, first of all, when there is nothing else to do, what do we turn to? We turn to books, we turn to listening to music, we listen to podcasts.
00:13:56
Speaker
We start making things, we start baking and painting and watching films and watching TV shows. So we're massively consuming art at the moment on a level that we maybe wouldn't have time for normally. But at the same time, artists are struggling at a level that they've never struggled at before because we don't have live performances.
00:14:24
Speaker
our normal ways of connecting with people have changed. We're having to be, although I don't think anyone is better placed than artists to deal with the challenge of that. And so, like, I think many, many amazing things are going to come out of this from artists. What I suppose it throws into question what the value of art is, what people are prepared to pay for it.
00:14:55
Speaker
and how they value it in monetary terms. Yeah, I think the factor you bring up at the end of the marketplace, right? I mean, because I think there's different ways to approach this question. And one of the cool things, again, like when I came in contact with you and what you do with your podcast, we're the host of six of one, half a dozen of the other, which is
00:15:24
Speaker
a really funny podcast. And I enjoy it. And so I don't know, like, what, how did how did that come about? And I love the content because I noticed, like, I'm like, how does Rachel control these other these other guys? And, you know, it's like you got to, you know,
00:15:51
Speaker
It's so fun and the interaction is really entertaining. But I mean, how did it come about? Because for me, it comes out of the pandemic because that's when you started. So why don't you tell us about your podcast? Yeah, they would be delighted to.
00:16:05
Speaker
Yeah, it's been really fun for us. It basically came about, like, I'm an artist, a drama facilitator. I'm, like, part of this amazing community in Dublin of artists and poets. And so on the podcast, we have myself, and poet Jeff Emmett O'Brien, he's an incredible spoken word artist, and Greg Clifford.
00:16:30
Speaker
who is an artist, like a multidisciplinary artist and singer-songwriter. And we're all good friends. We're very different, I suppose. And we would be used to kind of seeing each other all the time at gigs and events. And like every week, nearly normally, before COVID, we would be asked
00:16:55
Speaker
one of our gigs you know and we'd see each other and always support each other or you know have groups that meet to write or to work on different things or like perform at the same festivals and that kind of stuff so all of that suddenly stopped and we're kind of sitting at home and we were all calling each other quite a bit and like you mentioned
Philosophical Debates and Podcasting
00:17:16
Speaker
earlier this kind of tremendous pressure as an artist to like use the time to create something incredible and
00:17:22
Speaker
We heard all these stories about Shakespeare writing a whole play in the quarantine and it just felt like there was a tremendous pressure to produce work. I think one of the things I really like about our friendship is how different we are and how much we debate with each other. Obviously, as artists, I think you're thrown into
00:17:50
Speaker
like the political arena a lot and we're very opinionated and like your art reflects that, like reflects your position in society and your beliefs. And art can be very different sometimes. And we argue and we debate and we disagree.
00:18:10
Speaker
which is important, and we learn from each other. And then you can get very heated sometimes, but at the end of the day, we can go, okay, that was a great discussion, like, would you like a beer? So we just thought, having these philosophical questions or thought experiments and putting them to this group of friends who have such different positions and different views and different backgrounds and stuff,
00:18:39
Speaker
to debate them on a podcast. I just, I didn't know if it would work, but I kind of felt like it would. And I have so far, it's been very funny and it's been really fun. And it's actually been very challenging as well. Like some stuff has come up for us that we've been like, oh, oh gosh, I didn't expect that to come out. Like what are gonna, what will people think, you know, that I've said that or,
00:19:04
Speaker
Yes, it's been very interesting, really, really good fun. And like people have been really enjoying it. So we're into our fourth episode just got released this week and we're recording them week by week. And yeah, so hopefully it will continue. I think it will. Well, in all a bunch of smartasses, which is makes it a lot of fun. Yeah. Well, we're Irish artists. So yeah, I know when we were
00:19:31
Speaker
Thinking about this this program and I'm like King smart ass and like sometimes, you know, get into that. I was like, man, I I'm not going to try to duplicate what they're doing because they got that. They got that brew already put together. It's so snappy. It's so snappy. Like you have to be on it because like like everyone is so sharp. Everyone's so sharp and and the guys are grateful and they're so funny as well. Like.
00:19:57
Speaker
Everyone just comes out with stuff that is completely, or like we start with a question and then we end up talking about something completely different by the end of it. We go off on these tangents, but we left that. I think that's the point about it. Yeah. And I, you know, I, I, I spent time, uh, in, in Boston, you know, and, uh, there's, there's still the good old Irish American, you know, streak, uh, out there and out there in Boston. It's just, it's just a great kind of,
00:20:25
Speaker
familiarity and just kind of joking about a lot of things. And I always really, I enjoy that atmosphere. So, Rachel, you know, part of what I try to do on the program is to kind of have, if possible, the kind of performative piece that the guest has done.
Art Addressing Social Issues
00:20:46
Speaker
And you've done a spoken word poem that I'm gonna play in just a few moments.
00:20:54
Speaker
Um, and it's about, uh, it's about, uh, Ireland and, um, a program with the direct, uh, provision. Could you give a little bit of background, um, about, you know, um, about that, that policy or that program and also how the, you know, your spoken word piece came about and then we'll play it. Yeah. So, um, direct provision is a,
00:21:20
Speaker
is a system that we have in Ireland for people who arrive in Ireland seeking asylum. So basically the intention of direct provision is to provide for people while their applications for refugee status and for citizenship in Ireland are being processed.
00:21:46
Speaker
Unfortunately, the system is really barbaric and quite horrific if you start talking to people who've had to live within the system. So how I personally got to know about it is because the theatre company, Crocker Heights Theatre Company and Kildare Youth Theatre that I worked with in Kildare, our premises was very close to a direct provision centre in
00:22:13
Speaker
in Kildare in Ireland. And so we were in contact with people who lived in the direct provision system. So it often means that there are families or groups of eight people or sometimes more, sometimes less, sharing a room the size of a hotel room.
00:22:31
Speaker
And that's a hotel room in Ireland, not the size of a motel room in the US, so smaller again. With no privacy, with no facilities, they're not allowed to cook for themselves. The amount of money they have to live on each week is quite low. It has improved slightly, but it could improve more. Children aren't allowed to go to school, but after
00:22:59
Speaker
After high school, if you want to study, it can be quite difficult in terms of paying fees and travelling. A lot of these centres are in very remote places in Ireland. It's very hard for people who are living there to integrate, obviously, because they don't have the money to just go out and get coffee or make friends or do any of those things.
00:23:29
Speaker
And it's a really horrible system and I think it's really shameful. It's so embarrassing, shameful for me as an Irish person to know that this is going on in my country and that children are growing up in this kind of regime, in this
00:23:50
Speaker
in this system that really dehumanizes them and doesn't serve to let people reach their potential. I just don't understand why we can't process people's applications faster and give them more dignity. There are a lot of Irish people who are not aware of the direct provision system and there's a lot of myths that people believe that
00:24:16
Speaker
that asylum seekers coming into the country get free houses, and they get free cars, and they get free buggies for their babies, and they get free this, that, and the other, and they don't understand that their reality is very, very different, and that these people are often very depressed because they can't work, they can't cook, they have no control over their own lives. And that, for me, is shameful.
00:24:44
Speaker
Yeah, so I think there's a movement at the moment in Ireland to end the direct provision system, which is very much support. So the poem is about that. And the reason that I wrote it is to explain to people maybe you don't know in Ireland what life is like for someone living in that system. Yeah, thank you, Rachel. Thanks for that background, too. I just want to make sure all listeners get a sense of it. And like you said, a lot of folks over there by you in Ireland aren't
00:25:14
Speaker
particularly familiar with it, which obviously allows, you know, mistruths to fester. And we know that process, right? Yeah, I'm sure they do. And I think it's like another another point is like, I think, as well in our in Ireland, and I'm sure in other countries as well, we're very good at saying like, Oh, look at the US and the way people are treated in the US and where they treat immigrants and, and in other countries, and we're doing great, but they don't look at what is actually happening here. And that it is as bad, if not worse, you know what I mean? That
00:25:45
Speaker
We have to start with ourselves. Absolutely. Okay, thanks Rachel. I'm going to play the indirect prison, the spoken word poem, and then after that we'll come back and chat some more. Great.
00:26:20
Speaker
Refusing Russian rebels was never an option. Accepting meant conscription, certain death, refusal, execution. So there weren't any options left. Their departure was arranged in hushed tones. Contacts called, belongings sold, papers made, money exchanged. This couple and their baby, two years old.
00:26:44
Speaker
He's about to be estranged from her wider family, to cross the border to a land with more opportunity. The babies passed round to everyone. Her grandma says, just one more kiss. She can't believe that it's come to this. They board the bus and there's no going back. Everything they own is in their arms and this rucksack.
00:27:06
Speaker
At the border, the couple is silent. They hold their breaths as they both hear sirens grinding to a halt. A guard arrives examining the papers of all the people travelling. They hand theirs over trembling. What if you notice how my hand shook?
00:27:24
Speaker
He's giving theirs a second look. They think it's over and the game is up. Their pounding hearts make minutes seem like years. The guards take their papers and disappears. They wait. And it's no fun. Unable to move. Unable to run.
00:27:41
Speaker
They shift uneasily in 36 degrees with no breeze and after an hour or two they need to pee but the only toilet on the border is flooded over with cigarettes and contraband left in desperate acts of desperation by people like them. A few hours more and they're full of dread. Why is the guard not back yet?
00:28:03
Speaker
This is a reminder that these are the lucky ones who have the money to run on this trip that they're taking. Not like the working classes hiding in freight trains fraught with danger or lying in the boot of a car or 10 families deep in a shipping container with children medicated and screaming or locked for days in industrial freezers. Or boats jam packed with women and children that hit waves and capsize killing dozens too sick to swim and tired.
00:28:32
Speaker
leaving their loved ones traumatized as they reach for bodies falling further and further out of reach into the darkness beneath, into oblivion. Yeah, they're glad that that's not left.
00:28:50
Speaker
All these families fleeing right-wing ideologies subjected to regimes of fear and persecution. Countries where they are considered less than human, tortured, broken, forced and at the wrong end of a mine or a shotgun. So when the guard again makes an appearance, their hearts soar with cautious relief and reassurance. He hands them back their passport in a hurry and he wishes them a pleasant journey.
00:29:19
Speaker
On our soil, Irish soil, they land safely with her. Exhausted, dehydrated and starving, you'd think we'd remember the legacy of our famine. They opened their mouths and together plead asylum.
00:29:37
Speaker
But for them, this is not the end. This is just the beginning because now they must enjoy the purgatory that is direct provision. You see, to me direct provision sounds like something you might like to see. A direct train to those in need full of comfort and provisions trying to heal what hurt can be healed after what just happened.
00:29:57
Speaker
Direct provision centres are the mandolin laundries of our generation, where we keep those we'd rather not deal with in endless incarceration. No man, woman or child can develop or thrive inside the four walls of a hotel room, day in, day out, with nothing to do. Remember their two-year-old baby?
00:30:22
Speaker
Imagine she's six now and she has a brother and they live in the same hotel room since then with their father and mother and they go to school but not the parties they're invited to. Mum and dad are sick of saying no. They're resourceful but there's only so far 3880 will go.
00:30:40
Speaker
Their room door can't be locked for health and safety. In six years she doesn't understand the word privacy. Mom and dad can't own a fridge and they can't work. And the bathroom's shared so even when you shower there's a knock.
00:30:54
Speaker
No sleepovers, no visitors, no wifi and no pets and this is just the tip of the iceberg oven. Their application isn't processed yet and no one can tell them how long it takes. Some people have been here for five years. Six, seven, eight.
00:31:10
Speaker
It goes on and on and the worst part her mother tells me is the boredom. I just want a reason to get up in the morning. I've tried everything. I'm useful. I've tried teaching Russian for free and volunteering. I want to study. I just want to integrate. And I don't know what to say. I can see her hope and her mind is eroding away.
00:31:33
Speaker
And I can't imagine raising a family like this with no space, holidays, no rest, Netflix, no days out with the kids, no money even for Christmas gifts. And it breaks my heart that there are children in my country who don't know any better than this. This family story has a good ending. Seven years later and their mother is graduating, their father is working and they have a house of their own. They have a home.
00:32:03
Speaker
There are others still waiting. I walk past that building and I think of my friend Rico who waited and waited until all of his teenage years were eradicated. They were taken from him.
00:32:17
Speaker
Forced to share a room with five strange men that he hated, but forced him to pray three times a day. But he wasn't religious, all he wanted to do was come and hang out with us. Until he got tired of waiting and ran away, and I still don't know where he is to this day. The last I heard he paid for fake papers and went to London, and I can't say I goddamn blame him.
00:32:41
Speaker
or happy. He was the same age as me and in the same hotel room she grew up, fell in love and had a son. Or the old man who got sick because his medication belonged in a fridge and he didn't have one.
00:32:57
Speaker
So next time you see Trump's cages on the front pages and children sobbing and you like me feel sick, remember, we are not doing much better than this. And ask the TDs and ministers why it takes so long to process applications in a country that is this goddamn small and why are private companies running private lives and making it profitable? It's time we put an end to children growing up in prison.
00:33:23
Speaker
And it's time we called it that instead of direct provision. Thank you for that, Rachel. You're welcome. I wish it didn't have to be written, but there you go. Right. One of the things that
00:33:52
Speaker
Stuck out to me, even particularly at the end, there is that kind of pernicious, you know, private companies coming in, you know, we have a system within in within the United States, you know, within some aspects of privatization within the prison system. You know, in the US, it's the highest per capita incarceration rate in the history of the world.
00:34:22
Speaker
And there's a lot of private hands in that, which really makes the situation a lot worse because as you and I know, they can really achieve their profits by what they don't do, even though they're contracted to provide those services. So it seems to me that must create a really pernicious effect as you see it. Yeah, like I said,
00:34:50
Speaker
There's a lot of people who are not aware of that situation here and they're not aware of the companies and the other franchises or the other enterprises that they run and how we are maybe supporting them inadvertently by using their services elsewhere. And I just think whenever you have that thing of a profit or you have an imbalance of power, you are going to have oppression.
00:35:21
Speaker
And that's very much what we can see in that system. Rachel, if I could take a moment to just mention, I mean, the got a question regarding, you know, the role of of of art in addressing, you know, or addressing disrupting dismantling racism. And if I could just take a moment, you know, here now in the United States, we're amidst
00:35:46
Speaker
know, basically the largest, you know, uprising for civil rights in some say in, you know, more than than than half a century. And it's continuing and growing. It takes many forms of resistance. But it's also becoming
00:36:05
Speaker
uh, you know, uh, extremely politically, um, uh, divisive in, in violent, you know, I live in a state Oregon where it's very, um, how shall I put it, uh, just very, you know, loose around, um, you know, ability to, you know, carry, you know, arms and rifles. And so it's, you know, almost at points armed conflict with, you know, kind of this, uh, right wing, um,
00:36:31
Speaker
you know, Trump type of thinking fascism. And so it's a really tense time. And I find that there's so much that is changing. There's been some, you know, results in challenging the role of police who have basically, you know, been able to murder or injure African-American people in this country for quite some time.
00:36:58
Speaker
Enroll in art now and in what is created seems to have You know the question behind it, you know, what are you doing to? Address, you know the history of racism, you know in a country or you know whiteness versus You know the other these type of constructs You live you know, you're you live in Ireland and you're an artist. I mean what what do you feel?
00:37:26
Speaker
What's going on there and what do you feel the role of art is in addressing these historical injustices? Well, I can only speak about myself. So I think firstly, our role is to listen. And our role is to make space for other people to tell their stories and to share their experiences and
00:37:53
Speaker
and for that space to happen. And that's the major priority at the moment here. Art always has a role in politics and artists and art is political. Like I'm very much with Augusto Boal on this when he says that actors, they act, we act in society and that
00:38:20
Speaker
theatre and art is a rehearsal for action and a way of exploring the society we would like to see. And through art, we can have conversations, generate discussions, give voice to the voiceless. And I think this is why theatre and spoken words are so close to my heart is because anybody can get up anywhere
00:38:49
Speaker
to do theatre and to perform poetry and to speak and to share that with the public. We don't need stages. And that's very much the conversation at the moment with COVID, is that we don't need the physical space. It's lovely to have that. It's lovely to have the theatres. But the thing about theatre is that anyone can make it. It's for everybody. It's democratised and that
00:39:18
Speaker
that anyone can get up and speak and have the space to share their story and their experience. And that our role as artists is to facilitate that and to provide that. And then the other, in a wider perspective, as artists we can question, engaging in art gives us lots of skills, like empathy, like listening.
00:39:45
Speaker
like being aware, like critically thinking about looking at different structures, about examining history and power and all of those things. So Rachel, one of the big questions I ask is what, you know, why, you know, why do you create in, you know, that's, that's the question. But really, you know, in the context, I know we talked about COVID, we talked about
00:40:12
Speaker
you know, within, you know, the role of art in addressing racism. And I know that's kind of shaken up the question of like, you know, why do we create? How much should I be creating? What's the role of art? But you ever asked that fundamental question of, you know, why do you create and do you feel compelled to create as an artist?
The Intrinsic Drive to Create
00:40:35
Speaker
I create because I can't not create.
00:40:40
Speaker
I honestly don't know how to stop. It's the way I make sense of things. It's what brings me joy. It gives me purpose. I just have to be working on something, whatever it is. Maybe part of that is connecting with other people or making sense for myself, what's going on in my own life and my own head.
00:41:07
Speaker
For me, I create because I have to. Yeah, I'm going to go right to to the big question now right after that one is why is there something?
Philosophical Reflections on Existence
00:41:22
Speaker
Yeah, I know. But this is this is the one where people get a little angry at me for asking why is there something rather than nothing? Why is there something rather than nothing? Well, there's always something.
00:41:34
Speaker
That actually reminds me of, I was teaching this class once with theater skills to a group of students and they were people who had dropped out of the school system and they were trying to get some kind of education and be introduced to the education system again.
00:42:02
Speaker
encouraged to pass exams and they were very resistant to theatre. I think a lot of it came from a lot of insecurities or a feeling that maybe theatre was something elitist that didn't belong to them or that their voices didn't have place to be heard. But anyway, I went into them one day and nothing was working and they said they didn't want to do anything. I was like, okay, let's do nothing.
00:42:29
Speaker
And I was like, no, you're not doing nothing. You're moving and you're talking and you are. And like suddenly I was like, there's there's lots of stuff happening, but it's definitely not nothing. So I don't I don't think you can have nothing. Yeah. And I I appreciate that, too. And, you know, even the question itself, at least scientists are those more empirically driven point to the question is even more properly stated is how is there something
00:42:57
Speaker
rather than nothing. But yeah, I always like that big one, and particularly as applied to art in the act of... I probably think that nothing is impossible. So Rachel, I've got the listeners here.
00:43:23
Speaker
I want to do a couple of things here at the end. Can you let folks know how to connect to all your creations? I know you do a lot of different work. Can you lead folks along those lines? Also, at the end, we have a piece of music from one of your co-collaborators.
00:43:47
Speaker
on your podcast, Six of One, half a dozen the other, Greg Clifford. If you could just kind of tell us a little, you know, maybe briefly just about the other, the rest of the gang that's on the podcast and particularly Greg, and we'll go out with that track.
00:44:04
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So I think the best way for people to connect with me is probably through Instagram. So it's Rachellally4, that's or A-C-H-E-L-L-A-L-L-Y, all the Ls, I'm just the number four. And I share a lot of what I'm up to on a daily basis and in terms of my artistic work on Instagram. And you can find other details of social media and stuff there. And the podcast is six of one half a dozen of the other and it's on all good
00:44:34
Speaker
podcasting platforms but I recommend you follow us on YouTube because we do record video every week and I have been editing them and stuff and adding little funny graphics and things so it is kind of worth watching it on YouTube if you can sit down with a cup of tea or a beer and join us there and on the podcast it's myself the poet Jeff
00:45:01
Speaker
Emma O'Brien and Greg Clifford, and you'll find all of their social media details underneath their videos on YouTube as well. And then the track that we're going to play now is one of Greg's tracks, and you can find him on Spotify. And this is a track from a new album that he's working on, which I think is one of the most
00:45:25
Speaker
beautiful pieces of work that he's worked on so far and certainly one of the most honest pieces. So I personally love it. So that's the way I chose it today. So I hope you enjoy. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks so much, Rachel. Thanks so much for your time. It's great. It's really great to chat with you and
00:45:49
Speaker
really enjoy the program. And I do concur, you gotta watch, you gotta, you do great work on the watching, the interaction. So I definitely recommend that. But yeah, thank you so much for your time. It's been a great pleasure to talk with you and. Really, really nice. I enjoyed it so much. Yeah. Thanks, Rachel. Hey, we're going to play that track now. Greg Clifford.
00:46:16
Speaker
I believe the name of the track, sorry, is Open Fire as I have it. Open Fire, let's play it and thanks again, Rachel. Thank you so much. Open fire upon my heart, living from limits on a part. Oh, now check yourself before you do something you regret. Oh, now won't you come on, darling?
00:46:46
Speaker
express yourself don't you leave me hanging with these regrets this ship is sinking my head's a mess my head's a mess
00:47:12
Speaker
Patterns for Macquarie's, cousin growing weed I press Sweet, sweet salinity, constantly eluded me Won't you come on darling, express yourself Don't you leave me hanging with these regrets
00:47:42
Speaker
Sinking my head's a mess My head's a mess Won't you come on darling Express yourself
00:48:12
Speaker
Don't you leave me hanging with these regrets This ship is sinking, my head's a mess
00:48:25
Speaker
My head's a mess Won't you come on, darling? Expose yourself Don't you leave me hanging on When you've been with someone else Our ship is sinking My head's a mess My head's a mess
00:49:00
Speaker
Well, thank you, Greg, and thank you, Rachel, so kindly. I hope you have a great end of the work week and stay safe and stay safe the best you can in Dublin. Thank you so much, Joel. I'm off for a swim now in the freezing cold sea.
00:49:23
Speaker
Uh, that sounds strangely fantastic. I'm sure it'll be great. Um, thanks again, Rachel. You and you take care. Thanks. And where's Ken? This is Ken Volante. I wanted to tell you about a great podcast, a panoptic podcast.
00:49:47
Speaker
And a couple guys do this and it's a really great philosophy podcast done by Juan Pablo Mello and Jason Margaritas.
00:50:00
Speaker
And it's conversations between critical theorists and a management consultant and really great listen and kind of giving you really a great conceptual sense of what's going on. They describe it as such. We made this podcast to continue exploring the introspection of our respective disciplines in a way that others might find useful.
00:50:28
Speaker
Panoptic relates theories of communication, power, and technology to practical institutional issues and everyday life. And really worth a listen. Again, Panoptic podcast. And take your time. It's on all the major venues for podcasts. Panoptic podcast.
00:50:53
Speaker
also wanted to give a shout out and I mentioned to my brother Chris Vellante who works in the financial industry but also
00:51:06
Speaker
as a coach for running. As a matter of fact, he's going to be the new coach for Groton Dunstable High School Boys team out there in Massachusetts. And he does a coaching program that helps runners train for road races, various distances, create a plan to address or return from injury.
00:51:32
Speaker
and also to just kind of help train with nutrition and basically set out a plan to accomplish your running goals. So that's Volante Running and you can find him most easily on Facebook under Volante Running. He is Victor O-L-A-N-E-E and that's my brother Chris Volante. Thanks so much and I hope you enjoy this program.
00:52:05
Speaker
you