What We’re Made Of

A record of The Factory on the Royal Canal

Available to buy at Books Upstairs and Connolly Books NOW

2 years, 3 months, and 18 days ago, we began an art and activism project—The Factory on the Royal Canal—based on Theatre of the Oppressed with men in Mountjoy Prison. It changed us fundamentally, enriching our lives and making us more determined than ever to effect change in our communities.

We’re now honoured to share the men’s work with the public for the first time. What We’re Made Of is a record of the art we’ve created so far, including two live shows that took place in the prison for an audience of decision-makers.

Rehearsing a new reality with these men has shown us that there are solutions to the oppression we face, if we have access to the creativity needed to see them. With the men’s book, you can use our artistic methods to find your own.

The men are putting every penny from the book sales into a prospective new project with younger men, their ambition is to create a meaningful legacy and give the younger men analysis and opportunities they didn’t have.

Books Upstairs as a pioneering city centre bookshop that was among the first to share LGBTQIA+ voices and radical political ideas, long before they entered the mainstream of Irish society, it’s fitting that the men’s voices, so rarely heard will be available there for the first time. See link in bio to order online

Written by Pedro
Facilitated and Developed by Lynn Ruane and @gracedyas
Cover Art - @jordannejjones
Edited by Paula Elmore
Produced by @clare_o_connor