Review – Luck Just Kissed You Hello

Dublin Theatre Festival

Project Arts Centre

02/10/15

Big Ted is dying and Sullivan, Gary and Mark have come together to make final arrangements and farewells, but despite the constant beeping of hospital equipment in the background, this piece quickly reveals itself to be about much more than just the difficulties of composing a eulogy and making practical arrangements. Sullivan sees Ted as a father figure though he isn’t his biological son, Gary and Mark are estranged from Ted, their father, Gary is gay, Mark’s birth name was Laura; in short, there is a simmering tumult that the death of Ted is bringing to a head.

This tumult shines through in Conroy’s writing, with sharply insightful, carefully crafted dialogue running throughout the piece. This is punctuated with stirring and unsettling scenes of reminiscence that consume the stage and audience and envelop them in a chilling wave of memory and mis-memory. However, watching this piece I found there to be an imbalance of focus in the script between the characters. The writing (and partly direction) of the hierarchy of characters in this piece created too great of a division between the character of Mark (Amy Conroy) and those of Gary and Sullivan. Had the focus been somewhat more balanced, rather than being so strongly centred on Mark, each character, Mark included, could have brought more strength to the story.

In terms of design this performance was very impressive, with John Crudden’s lighting design deserving of particular mention. Aedín Cosgrove’s minimal set provided the perfect blank canvas for Crudden’s dynamic and evocative design.

Moving beyond the execution of this piece, Conroy’s treatment of the subject must be commended. Similarly to some of her other work, Luck Just Kissed You Hello brings subjects often swept under the carpet to the fore through a recognisable story or setting. In blending the story of the family and Big Ted with Mark’s experience of transition, Conroy makes both stories accessible and engaging.

With its blend of comedy, insight and harrowing truths, Luck Just Kissed You Hello is an exploration of family relationships, acceptance and identity that entertains and informs in equal measure.

Rebel Rebel – Review

Sep13

Bewley’s Cafe Theatre

Tiger Dublin Fringe

08/09/15

Originally published on The Public Reviews

Rebel Rebel (part of this year’s Show in a Bag series) is an engaging and interesting snapshot of the 1916 Rising through the eyes of two of its participants, Helena Molony (Aisling O’Mara) and Sean Connolly (Robbie O’Connor). With nothing but a table and chair in the centre of the room, O’Meara and O’Connor bring their characters’ experiences of the rising to the audience with a vitality and volatility that successfully captures the wider social climate of the time. The combination of the changes in tone, the fear they obviously feel, and the more mundane problems they face because of the rising; all combine to create a complex web of personal and national history.

Rebel Rebel is bookended by the a performance of W.B. Yeats’ seminal play Cathleen Ní Houlihan which the characters abandon to march to Dublin Castle. This worked well, providing a structure to what is a very volatile, rapidly shifting play. However, the voice-over of lines from Cathleen Ní Houlihan detracted somewhat from the live performances as it competed with the central action of the performance, while not being easily understood itself either. The idea was a promising one; should the execution be polished it would be a very effective enhancement to the performance.

Rebel Rebel captures the idealism, and the violent and gritty reality, behind the rising, as, through Lowe’s direction, it presents snippets of the experiences of Molony and Connolly. This show is no light piece of lunchtime theatre; this show is a fast but penetrating flight through the Rising. With its gilt edges of idealism brought forward by the characters, and the threads of violence, loss and pain woven through their individual stories (and those of the Rising in general) Rebel Rebel is a compact but forceful picture of the 1916 Rising

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(Not) Belonging – Review

Sep13

This is Happening Collective

Samuel Beckett Theatre

Tiger Dublin Fringe

12/09/15

Devised and performed by Matthew O’Dwyer, Áine O’Hara and Sorcha Flanagan, (Not) Belonging is a deeply personal exploration of what it means to be a young person finding your feet in the world. Often funny, often serious, this production will strike a chord in some way with everyone who has worked to find their place in life.

The piece opens with each performer introducing themselves, setting the personal and open tone for the rest of the piece. Through a variety of performance styles each performer’s unique but connected experience of finding a place to belong is brought to life. The collective work brilliantly together, feeding each other’s energy in performing; it is obvious that this show was very much a collaborative effort with a balance of each voice shining through.

Deserving of a particular mention is the set, designed by Gemma McGuinness. With a main set piece which I can best describe as a versatile book of backdrops, the set was simple and innovative, providing a setting perfectly suited to the style of the performances. The only glitch in the design of the performance is the projection work. Though it is a good idea, and parts of it worked, because of the surface it was projected onto much of it was lost and I found myself being distracted from the performances by trying to work out what the images were. This is however, a minor issue that could be easily resolved. Overall the stage design was simple, well-planned and effective.

(Not) Belonging is an interesting and impressive piece of work from this emerging Dublin theatre collective. Shows about young people and teenagers can often stray into the territory of distanced patronisation but this piece certainly does not. Written from the hearts of the collective, written for their personal exploration of their experiences, written to connect with people who feel or have felt the same way as they do, (Not) Belonging is an engaging piece brimming with the vitality and drive of its creators.

Douze – Review

Sep10

Smock Alley

Tiger Dublin Fringe

9/9/15

In a flurry of glitter, sequined hot-pants and shimmering gold curtains Xnthony, an Irish Eurovision hopeful, bursts onto the stage and for the next hour proceeds to present the songs and dances with which he intends to represent Ireland in Sweden 2016. The exuberance with which he, Hannah and Tiffany exclaim “We’re so excited!” and the vim with which they burst into each musical number is contagious; the audience is splitting a seam laughing and clapping along in no time.

This is a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously; yes, there were dud notes sung, the dances could definitely have been a bit more in time, and the props were touch-and-go, but it was enormous fun. I could spend this review talking about the things that went wrong, the moments of entanglement in sparkly gold fringes, the near miss with a bucket of confetti but I’m not. This show wasn’t polished, it was brash in the best possible way, brimming with enthusiasm and confidence. As the audience joined in with the songs, voted for their favourites and dissolved into helpless fits of shrieking giggles, it was obvious that this show was a roaring success in its own right.

A frolicking feast of invention and vivacity, Douze is a refreshing, glittery romp that it is hard not to enjoy.

Sitting on the Fourth Wall is 1 year old today!

Aug23

This day a year ago I began this blog, and what a year it has been! Thanks to everyone who has supported by contributing, giving advice and, most importantly, reading so far. Here’s to another year as good as this one!

Focus – Review

Aug19

Firedoor Theatre Company

Players Theatre, Trinity College Dublin

18/08/15

Written by Sheena Lambert and directed by David Fleming, Focus is a short, one act play which aims to examine “the predjudices of modern Irish society, and the hypocrisies that underly how we relate to religion, class, abortion, and each other.” However, in trying to cover such a lot of issues in under an hour, Focus overstretches itself and unravels.

Set around a focus group hastily cobbled together from family and friends, this play uses the questions posed to the group to frame its discussion of various issues in Irish society. It is a good basic idea, but through a combination of stilted dialogue and tenuous links between each topic of conversation, it quickly becomes a race to get as many issues covered in a short space of time, at the expense of a cohesive storyline. There are many promising moments throughout, with the initial amusing allusions to Suds’ involvement in the drugs trade, the introduction of a criminal investigation and the running bickering between the sisters over how their parents’ house should be kept, but these all peter out and are lost as issues are shoehorned into the dialogue.

It is the lack of cohesion that really pulls this piece down, the actors may have been good, but the dialogue between them lacks the flow and substance necessary to carry the play. This is particularly evident in the introduction of the topic of abortion when, in a pause in the conversation following a discussion of the role of the Catholic Church in peoples’ lives, Paul loudly announces that he thinks they were right in their stance on abortion. There is no prompt for this beyond a lingering lull in the conversation, but it is so pointedly dropped into the conversation that one can almost see the scene title flash up in front of your eyes.

Overall this piece has the feeling of an SPHE class drama, a piece of theatre crudely wrapped around issues that the group wishes to discuss with little thought given to dramatic structure and plot.

Spring Awakening – Review

Jul29

Ill-Advised Theatre Company

Smock Alley

28/7/15

Spring Awakening is a heartbreaking story of innocence, oppression and discovery with an impressive score and powerful message. This production, directed by James O’Connor, is a competent and spirited rendition of it.

There was an impressive energy in the cast, with the three leads, Adam Tyrell as Melchior, Kevin C. Olohan as Moritz and Megan McDonnell, giving strong performances, both vocally and in terms of acting. Of the rest of the cast Shane O’Regan and Andy Carberry were particularly notable, with O’Regan switching between the character of Ernst, a shy schoolboy, and a rough reformatory inmate with such skill that it took me a few moments to recognise that it was the same actor. The only point that I would question about the cast is their manner of working as a chorus, though they worked well together for the most part, there were certain ensemble members who, at times, drew attention towards themselves when they were not meant to be the focus of the scene.

Though it is an intense piece, I found that the tension levels, particularly in the first half of the show, were kept too consistently high, leaving the actors with nowhere to go for the climatic scenes; there was little sense of intermittent crescendo. This was a pity as it meant that some of the stunning scenes like the number “Totally Fucked,” which was a show-stopping performance, did not stand out as much as they could have.

In technical terms the set and lighting were minimalistic yet powerful, with some especially beautiful features in Caoimhe Ní Fhaoláin’s lighting design at either side of the interval. I did however find the microphones used were an issue in terms of sound. While I understand why they were being used for the musical numbers, they needed to either be switched off for dialogue or the cast needed more practice using them as dialogue was lost or scenes broken by the sound of someone’s collar bumping the mic, a mic slipping or someone brushing their hand across it. This was an unfortunate issue as it sometimes distracted from what was otherwise a very moving and well-executed production.

Though there were a couple of issues in directorial and technical terms, I feel that these can be easily ironed out as the run continues. Overall, Spring Awakening is a dynamic production that entertains and engages while portraying a potent and still frighteningly pertinent message.

Spring Awakening runs until Saturday 1st August.

The Shadow of a Gunman – Review

Jul22

Abbey Theatre

Dir: Wayne Jordan

21/7/15

To me, Sean O’Casey is a literary magician. Everything about his writing from his naturally poetic language and sharp social and political insights, to his shrewdly realistic characters and perfectly paced action make O’Casey one of my favourite playwrights.That declared,I can move on to this particular production which I can safely say went far beyond simply doing justice to O’Casey’s writing.

It is a difficult balance to pull-off, but the entire cast, and every element of the design in the show managed to walk that line between humour and horror, laughter and tension. Bringing the show truly to life, this balance kept the characters down to earth, engaging the audience as they find life’s everyday humour even in such times of danger and tragedy.

The lighting design by Sarah-Jane Sheils subtly keeps pace with the action, with some striking moments which highlight perfectly the underlying tension in the play. This light falls on an understated, yet complete and effective patchwork of a set designed by Sarah Bacon which captures that essential marriage of comedy and tragedy that makes this play what it is.

Inhabiting this design is the cast, whose performances all compliment each other and come together to create a strikingly real world upon the stage. The stand-out performance however, was without a doubt Mark O’Halloran’s as Donal Davoren. From the moment the curtain went up, O’Halloran did not simply stand on the stage, he possessed it, even when silent or still. O’Halloran’s performance was commanding and compelling, bringing the Davoren vividly to life.

Wayne Jordan’s The Shadow of a Gunman is a dynamic and potent production that draws its audience into the lives, hearts and minds of these inhabitants of this 1920s Dublin tenement with passion and perspicacity.

The Shadow of a Gunman runs until the 1st of August.

Forever Young – Review

Jul13

Clonmel Junction Festival

One Step at a Time & Junction Joes

10/7/15

Forever Young is vastly different to any other piece of theatre I have ever partaken in or seen. A promenade piece, this show is deeply personal and engaging as it takes the audience on an adventure through the thoughts and possibilities of their youth in enlivened retrospect.

This was an exciting show that demanded full engagement from the audience. From the physical journey to the ideological one, there were elements of choice and personal input that makes each performance unique and dynamic for each audience.

It is a complex piece but well executed by the cast, with an incredible network of information, story and ideas being built from before the performance is even due to start as you get a text informing you of the start location and time and giving you instructions for preparing for the performance. This all gives an impression of conspiracy and mystery that creates an intriguing, and dynamic atmosphere throughout the piece.

Beyond this, it is hard to describe Forever Young without spoiling it for any of you that are lucky enough to catch it on its trip to the Traverse in Edinburgh. However, I will say that this is a spirited and well-thought-out piece that will get inside your head, let you inside those of its creators and characters and, most importantly, prompt you to venture inside your own thoughts and ideas as you “go one-to-one with a reclining chair, a team of adolescent experts and an outdoor foolhardy adventure.”

Charolais

Jul10

Moran’s Bar

Clonmel Junction Festival

9/7/15

I laughed the laugh that I’m normally mortified to laugh in public. From the setting in the back room of Moran’s to the natural, open performance by Nonie Stapleton Charolais had the audience laughing and groaning in empathy with the character of Siobhán throughout.

Stapleton’s portrayal of each character, directed by Barbara Ní Chaoimh, was delivered with skilled characterisation, with the amorous French heifer coming to life just as engagingly as Breda the crotchety mother in law or the long suffering Siobhán. It was the little things that made the performance so impressive, like the the moo-ing moments in singing songs as the Charolais, the wry smile of Siobhán and the tight lipped disapproval of Breda.

The performance was built on the solid foundation Stapleton’s of well-paced and evocative writing, again bringing the characters and stories to life with vivacity and sagacity. Charolais is an hilarious, and sometimes heart-wrenching, tale of the age-old rivalry between between the wife and the mistress…with a bovine twist!