A Landmark Year

9 Productions | 8 Live Broadcasts | 6 World Premieres | 5 Cities | 2 International Tours | 1 Landmark Year

In a year in which the pandemic saw much cultural activity ground to a halt – and at a time of increasing uncertainty once again – one of Ireland’s leading theatre producers Landmark Productions, led by producer Anne Clarke, is closing out its busiest year to date.

A total of 348 artists and arts workers were employed, equating to 1,575 weeks of employment, or the equivalent of 30 full-time jobs for the entire year.

Landmark has been fortunate to work with a roll-call of Ireland’s finest writers, actors, directors and designers throughout the year, including Enda Walsh, Mark O’Rowe, Deirdre Kinahan, Caitríona McLaughlin, Louise Lowe, Jamie Vartan, Cathy Belton, Domhnall Gleeson, Siobhan McSweeney, Marie Mullen, Rosaleen Linehan and Emmet Kirwan.

Following Landmark’s first ever live broadcast, of Mark O’Rowe’s The Approach, last January, and a sustained programme of work throughout the year, this weekend sees Emmet Kirwan’s Straight to Video and Enda Walsh’s Medicine finish their runs in Dublin and New York respectively.

2021 saw an unprecedented output from Landmark with 9 productions including 6 world premieres, 5 with in-person audiences, in 6 cities across 3 countries. 8 of these shows were broadcast to at-home audiences through new broadcast technologies. The response from around the globe has been emphatically positive; from Alaska to New Zealand, audiences tuned in to watch world-class theatre. 

In all, the company presented 250 live performances, with a further 81 online performances throughout the year.

In January 2021 – at a time when Ireland was in category 5 lockdown – the company  established Landmark Live, a series of live broadcasts which enabled Landmark to bring the thrill of live theatre to audiences around the world. Its 8 live-streamed shows throughout 2021 reached audiences in 44 countries across 6 continents. Critics lauded this new initiative, saying that ‘Landmark Productions have quickly become leaders in digital theatre in Ireland’ (Sunday Business Post), with audience members saying having access to live theatre from their homes ‘was like water in the desert.’ The New York Times said ‘even through our computer screens, a production on a real stage with acting this fine is balm for the soul’.

Closed captioned versions of the broadcasts were also available, making the performance accessible to d/ Deaf and hard of hearing audiences.

Producer Anne Clarke said:
“This has been the most challenging year in living memory. Trying to make theatre at a time of constantly shifting restrictions has been an ongoing battle. I am beyond grateful to the incredible artists who kept faith as projects were scheduled, re-scheduled, dismantled and reassembled … to the Arts Council, who held faith with the shifting programme, and found new ways to support it; to Culture Ireland, whose support made it possible for Irish artists to continue to reach international audiences; to the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, who found new ways to support venues and promoters in their hour of need; to all of Landmark’s co-producers, including most especially Galway International Arts Festival, Irish National Opera, ANU and Project Arts Centre; and to our international presenters, the Edinburgh International Festival and our long-standing friends at St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York. Without them none of it would have been possible.”

Looking ahead to 2022, Landmark is gearing up to present a major new production in January. Full details will be announced soon. 

LANDMARK PRODUCTIONS  | JANUARY – DECEMBER 2021

1. The Approach by Mark O’Rowe
   Presented in association with Project Arts Centre and St Ann’s Warehouse
   Broadcast live from Project Arts Centre
2. Happy Days by Samuel Beckett
   Presented by Olympia Theatre and Landmark Productions
   Broadcast live from the Olympia Theatre
3. Ross O’Carroll-Kelly, Postcards from the Ledge by Paul Howard
   Broadcast live from Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray
4. The Saviour by Deirdre Kinahan
   Broadcast live from The Everyman as part of Cork Midsummer Festival
5. Medicine by Enda Walsh
   Co-produced with Galway International Arts Festival
   – In person at the Traverse Theatre as part of Edinburgh International Festival
   – In person and broadcast live from the Black Box Theatre as part of Galway International Arts Festival
   – In person and broadcast live from St. Ann’s Warehouse, New York
6. Backwards Up a Rainbow with Rosaleen Linehan and Conor Linehan
   Co-produced with Lovano
   In person and broadcast live from the Pavilion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire
7. The First Child music by Donnacha Dennehy and libretto by Enda Walsh
   Presented in association with Irish National Opera
   In person and broadcast live from the O’Reilly Theatre
   as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival
8. The Book of Names by Louise Lowe
   Co-produced with ANU Productions
   In person and broadcast live from the Pumphouse, Dublin Port as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival
9. Straight to Video by Emmet Kirwan
   Presented in association with The Civic, Tallaght and Project Arts Centre, Dublin
   In person at The Civic and  Project Arts Centre