It’s a cultural thing. Or is it? (Ireland)

Independent Theater Hungary presented a performance and conversation around It’s a cultural thing. Or is it? (Ireland) as part of the Roma Theatre Retrospective 2020 livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 8 October 2020 at 9:30 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 12:30 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 17:30 BST (London, UTC +1) / 18:30 CEST (Budapest, UTC +2) / 19:30 EEST (Bucharest, UTC +3).

“We were living in the woody crossroads, we had an old wagon and tent and we had an old mare too. I remember me and Johnny me mommy put two dresses on us and tied us to the wattles of the tent cause she was afraid that we would get hurt or knocked down by a car. So she tied us to the wattles and this guard came on one day on his big black bike and said good evening to ya missus Collins. She explained to the guard that she had to get sticks and water and there was no one on the road to mind us cause we were all young and me daddy was gone hunting through the field. The guard took off his hat scratched his head and said untie the children Mrs Collins and went off on his big black bike. He came back with a big bundle of sticks and went off again and came back with a big churn can of water. I remember saying to me mommy one day I said I could understand you trying us to the wattles but what was the idea of putting to girls dresses on two boys?”

The Irish Traveller artist talks with his own daughter who wants to leave school. To convince her, he recalls childhood memories and through these sometimes funny, sometimes hard stories shows her daughter the importance of education.

Written by Michael Collins
Starring Michael Collins and Catharine Collins

About the Series
Although Roma are the largest ethnic minority in Europe, they still experience high level of racism and have to deal with many societal issues. Additionally, Roma are being represented in a very stereotypical way in the media and art world. The Roma theater has more than a century long past with active professional theater groups in many European countries, but unfortunately, they are still hardly known. The Roma Heroes Theater Festival initiated by the Independent Theater Hungary is the only international Roma theater encounter in the World, which have been organized in every year since 2017. Many of the artists and their work are featured in this current series.

Judit Ignácz mostly worked at NGOs in Roma related projects, organizing and facilitating trainings, seminars concerning the topic of racism, human rights and non-formal education. She finished her studies of Master of Public Administration of School of Public Policy at Central European University and became a French and Romani language teacher at the University of Pecs. She also has experience in media and communication. She is passionate about human rights and non-formal education.

About HowlRound TV
HowlRound TV is a global, commons-based peer produced, open access livestreaming and video archive project stewarded by the nonprofit HowlRound. HowlRound TV is a free and shared resource for live conversations and performances relevant to the world's performing arts and cultural fields. Its mission is to break geographic isolation, promote resource sharing, and to develop our knowledge commons collectively. Participate in a community of peer organizations revolutionizing the flow of information, knowledge, and access in our field by becoming a producer and co-producing with us. Learn more by going to our participate page. For any other queries, email [email protected], or call Vijay Mathew at +1 917.686.3185 Signal/WhatsApp. View the video archive of past events.