The Devils in the Dance Hall is a powerful, joyous live performance rooted in Irish social history, music, and resistance, inspired by the true story of Jimmy Gralton and the suppression of Ireland’s rural dance halls in the early 20th century; time when gathering to dance, to play music, and to think freely was seen as a threat. Drawing on oral history, folk memory, and the energy of the big-band era, Edwina Guckian has created an immersive theatre performance that brings to life the world of the parish hall as a place of movement, learning, courtship, argument, and possibility, and asks what happens when church and state attempt to take power of how a community socialise. At its heart, the performance celebrates collective joy of dance as a form of defiance. Through spoken word, song, and the roaring sounds of The Gralton Big Band, it tells how Ireland’s old dance halls became centres of community life, offering music, learning, debate, and freedom of expression, until church and state moved to close them down through the introduction if the 1935 Dane Hall Act. As the performance unfolds, the boundary between stage and floor dissolves, and the audience are invited to dance the night away. The hall fills with movement, laughter, and connection across many generations, echoing the spirit of the original dance halls. "The dance hall door is the gate of Hell, and too many are queuing to enter.” FR. BROWNE - LISTOWEL, CO. KERRY 1936
THE DEVIL’S IN THE DANCE HALL CAST & CREW
The Gralton Big Band: Cathy Jordan • Ryan Molloy • Stephen Doherty • David Doocey • Matthew Berrill • Jim Higgins • Conor Caldwell • Brona Graham • Ben Castle
Actors: Mikel Murfi • Roseanne Lynch • Darragh Scannell
Swing dancers: Melanie Casabone • Gabriel Rodriguez
Áirc Damhsa: Aidan Vaughan • Grainne Langton • Ellen Langton • Deirdre Kerins • Tara Noone • Ryan Owens • Róisín Faughnan • Liam Taylor • Jack Hughes • Aisling Burke • Niamh Doherty • Claire Flanagan • Molly Grady • Clodagh McCaffrey • Aoibhín Doherty • Megan Walsh • Croídhe Doherty • Ailíse Maxwell • Ava Glancy • Siofra Mooney
Choreography: Edwina Guckian & Áirc Damhsa Musical Director: Stephen Doherty
Script: Vincent Woods
Theatre director: John O’Hare
Lighting Design: Michael Cummins
Sound Engineer: Tom Doherty
Costume: Maura Logue
Photography: Cían Flynn
Illustration & graphic design: Jesse Smith
Production Team: Mary Kerins, Karen Tansey
Creator, Director & Producer: Edwina Guckian
Edwina Guckian is an artist, community activist and cultural curator whose work is rooted in the traditions, folklore, and lived experience of rural Ireland. Raised in County Leitrim, her practice draws on community, seasonal customs, and the social history of dance halls, music, and gathering places.
Through dance, writing, performance, teaching, and collaborative projects, Edwina works to preserve and re-imagine Ireland’s intangible cultural heritage for contemporary audiences. She is the author of Sparks on the Flagstones: A Treasury of Irish Folk Traditions and Calendar Customs, director of Leitrim Dance Festival and dance deputy at Luail - Ireland’s National Dance Company. Her most recent project is The Devils in the Dancehall, an immersive dance theatre night with the Gralton Big Band, and she is currently leading the action of rebuilding Jimmy Gralton’s Dance Hall.
Bere Island Arts Festival will mark the inaugural hosting of the event in Cork.