Theatre: Resilience is the watchword for an innovative festival

The annually-staged First Fortnight, which dwells on mental health issues through the prism of the arts, has Peter Gowen’s impressive one-man show The Chronicles of Oggle as its centrepiece

Peter Gowen in The Chronicles of Oggle: raising mental health issues through theatrical fiction

The Chronicles of Oggle

By Peter Gowen, directed by Donal Gallagher

Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin; finishes today

“Resilience” is a word that has become increasingly popular in the lexicon of self-help and wellness culture. Bad experiences, uncomfortable feelings, we rationalise, make us stronger human beings, enabling us to better endure what life throws at us.

Art, too, can help us develop emotional survival skills. This is the thinking behind First Fortnight, the annual festival that ...