In collaboration with Dublin Theatre of the Deaf, Coogan creates a rich immersive experience with sign and movement. An experimental performance that is non-verbal with a rich soundscape. The performance marks the final days of 'They Come Then, The Birds'.

Amanda Coogan’s exhibition at Rua Red as part of the Magdalene Series is inspired by the Wrens of the Curragh, a group of women who lived on the margins of society around the military camp at the Curragh, County Kildare, in the mid-nineteenth century. Outcasts and prostitutes, or ‘camp followers, the women lived and raised their families in ‘nests’ within the furze bushes. The Wrens led a communal existence supporting each other through the sharing of finances, food, and child-rearing duties.

Coogan draws parallels between the figure of Mary Magdalene and the Wrens, both looked upon as social misfits; wayward and unmanageable women who refused to conform to societal rules. The work references the historical representation of Mary Magdalene in painting, tales of the Wrens of the Curragh, Christian and pagan rituals, sign language, the Wren boys, and the eye of providence. She inserts rich, evocative metaphors and engages all of our senses. The acidic yellow of the furze bushes, both on and off-screen provide context, their sweet coconut scent permeating the space alongside the deep organic cello of Mary Barnecutt’s soundtrack.