{"id":34963,"date":"2025-03-27T03:04:34","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T03:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creativeireland.gov.ie\/event\/ballaghaderreen-arts-festival-the-owl-who-was-afraid-of-the-dark\/"},"modified":"2025-03-27T03:04:34","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T03:04:34","slug":"ballaghaderreen-arts-festival-the-owl-who-was-afraid-of-the-dark","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/www.creativeireland.gov.ie\/en\/event\/ballaghaderreen-arts-festival-the-owl-who-was-afraid-of-the-dark\/","title":{"rendered":"Ballaghaderreen Arts Festival -\u2018The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark&#8217; is a new children\u2019s opera by Oliver Rudland based on the story written by Jill Tomlinson. It is about a baby barn owl called Plop with a looming occupational hazard: he\u2019s afraid of the dark. Urged on by his worried parents, he ventures beyond the nest one evening and meets new friends- a troop of scouts and a house cat &#8211; who take him on an enchanting journey through the night\u2019s beautiful mysteries.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Supported under Open Call Strand 1: Community\/Creative Collaboration, Ballaghaderreen Arts Festival will add this wonderful event to their programme this year.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A recorder ensemble and a chorus will be created from children from the local community, children will learn from and work with leading professional musicians.<\/p>\n<p>The children\u2019s opera will involve local volunteers, schools, and community groups in its planning and execution. Through the auditioning process the committee will liaise with local schools in the town and beyond therefore raising awareness and anticipation. The performance will rely on audience engagement: Workshops and outreach programs will seek to involve children and families in the creative process and this in turn will seek to build a sense of pride and ownership in the community.<\/p>\n<p>The original music, storytelling, and staging will reflect local culture and heritage. \u2018The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark&#8217; is genuinely a community opera that has community\/creative collaboration at its heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":34964,"template":"","class_list":["post-34963","event","type-event","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ballaghaderreen Arts Festival -\u2018The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark&#039; - Creative Ireland Programme<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark&#039; is a new children\u2019s opera by Oliver Rudland based on the story written by Jill Tomlinson.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.creativeireland.gov.ie\/en\/event\/ballaghaderreen-arts-festival-the-owl-who-was-afraid-of-the-dark\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ballaghaderreen Arts Festival -\u2018The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark&#039; - Creative Ireland Programme\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark&#8217; is a new children\u2019s opera by Oliver Rudland based on the story written by Jill Tomlinson. 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