Sky Ireland has announced the launch of a digital project and on air programming which will accompany Rough Magic and Opera Theatre Company’s much anticipated production of Sky Arts Ignition: The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, an opera by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. The opera runs from June 13 - 22 at the Olympia Theatre.
The digital project is the first of its kind ever to be piloted in Ireland. Produced by Maverick TV on behalf of Sky, it consists of a specially commissioned series of online videos, blogs, tweets and photos woven together to tell a powerful online tale that runs parallel to the production of Sky Arts Ignition: The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny. The aim is both to bring Brecht’s fictional city to life to a wider audience - enticing people to follow the online narrative set in the debauched world of Mahagonny - and to continue Sky’s programme of investment in the Irish cultural landscape.
Playing the lead roles in the online narrative are renowned actor Liam Carney (The Commitments Angel’s Ashes, Gangs of New York), who plays Kurt Furey, and well-known face on the Irish theatre scene Kevin Shackleton who plays Paul Gallagher (Camelot). First staged in Leipzig in 1930, the opera tells the story of the creation and destruction of the American city of Mahagonny, founded by three criminals, in which pleasure-seekers eventually become bored and descend into gambling, debauchery and murder. Ireland’s leading architects, Sheila O’Donnell and John Tuomey, who recently designed the award-winning Lyric Theatre in Belfast, will play an important role in reimagining the use of the stage in the Olympia to ensure the most powerful audience experience. David Brophy, principal conductor of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, who has also collaborated with artists such as U2 and Sinead O’Connor, will conduct Weil’s eclectic score. Oscar-nominated Consolata Boyle will design costumes, with lighting design by Aedín Cosgrove. Lynne Parker will direct.
Sky has also teamed up with Irish independent production company COCO Television to produce on-air content to support the forthcoming production. COCO TV will work with Sky to produce a ‘behind-the-scenes’ documentary during the Olympia run to be broadcast on the channel from late June. In addition COCO TV is producing a series of four 60 and 30 second promos which will air across Sky channels from early June promoting viewer engagement in the opera and the digital campaign.
The development of the online narrative and the creation of on-air content, including the documentary, supports the overall Sky Arts Ignition programme, which saw €230,000 in funding awarded to Rough Magic to produce the opera.
Mark Deering, Director of Corporate Affairs, Sky Ireland said: “We are committed to nurturing and investing in local talent across a wide array of disciplines including sport, TV and film production, and the arts. One of the main aims of Sky Arts Ignition is to inspire new generations to broaden their cultural horizons.”
Tickets for ‘The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny’ are currently on sale at ticketmaster.ie and further updates are available using the Twitter hashtag #OnlyInMahagonny
