ANU Productions, ‘Laundry’: This Is Not Rome

The Magdalene Laundry, Sean MacDermott Street, Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival

Sept 27-Oct 15

My review (with spoilers) of Laundry (*), as well as a few thoughts on how it and The Blue Boy have dealt with the subject of the Catholic Church, coming up just as soon as I remember four names for you ...

(*) While I was stalking the Lab with the hope of getting a return ticket for ‘World’s End Lane’ (didn’t happen) I heard people from ANU tell audiences that they do hope to bring back ‘Laundry’ next year. I would strongly recommend not reading this review until you see the show, even if it’s a long wait. The show is well worth a look.

Kneehigh, 'The Wild Bride': Gotta Keep The Devil Way Down In The Hole!

The Gaiety Theatre, Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival

Oct 13-15

Unfortunately I’m again pressed for time and can’t write in detail on The Wild Bride. All I’ll say is that amongst the postmodern back-flips of the German companies and the social histories that our homegrown artists are illuminating, The Wild Bride sits triumphantly as the festival’s international visitor and king of folk theatre.  The virtuosic performances of Kneehigh give us a blues-infused fairytale that is funny, inventive, beautiful and disturbing. Highly recommended.

Other commitments are limiting my writing time (I’ll explain once I get the chance) but expect a thorough piece on Laundry by the end of the week and also something on She She Pop and Gob Squad.   

Meanwhile, conversation is dry at the Festival Water Cooler (!). Let me know what you’ve seen, what you thought, etc. Was Peer Gynt too chaotic for its own good? Did anyone find out where Camille O’Sullivan disappeared to at the end of The Lulu House? Were critics too easy on Testament? Is Marina Carr in trouble? What can we do with the truths Trade, The Blue Boy and Laundry have given us? Did you cry at She She Pop? Tell me all.

What did everybody else think of The Wild Bride?

Abbey Theatre, ’16 Possible Glimpses’: The Long Goodbye

The Peacock Stage, Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival

Sept 30-Oct 29

I don’t have time to write in depth about Marina Carr’s 16 Possible Glimpses. I was interested in seeing Carr craft a literary response to Chekov but the unfortunate result is a clumsy exposition-forced soap opera which isn’t particularly memorable.

Patrick O’Kane, Cathy Belton, and Caitríona Ní Mhurchú fall victim to the over-stated content of Carr’s prose here, resulting in cringing and irritating performances from some of the industry’s finest. As usual, director Wayne Jordan makes the most of a crowd, inspiring elegant choreography from his blocking and scene changes. His use of a live video feed though never finds its purpose. Hugh O’Connor’s footage and Sam Jackson’s music arrangements provide beautiful backdrops to this very confused piece.  When the play takes to a mediation on writing and ‘the artist’, and Chekov and Tolstoy exchange portfolios, we wonder if the subject of ‘eloquence’ has flown right over the head of one of our once most fearless voices.

What did everybody else think?   

THISISPOPBABY, ‘Trade’: Behind Closed Doors

Meeting point: O’Reilly Theatre, Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival

Sept 29-Oct 16

My review of Mark O’Halloran’s Trade coming up just as soon as I wish my dental hygienist was dead ...

Landmark Productions, ‘Testament’: The Gospel According to Whom?

Project Arts Centre, Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival

Oct 3-16

My review of Colm Tóibín’s Testament starring Marie Mullen and directed by Garry Hynes coming up just as soon as I see Artemis for the first time ...

HotForTheatre, ‘I ♥ Alice ♥ I’: I Kissed A Girl And I Liked It

Civic Theatre (Sept 30-Oct 1) / Project Arts Centre (Oct 4-9) / Draíocht Studio (Oct 10-12) / Pavillion Theatre (Oct 14-15), Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival

I unfortunately don’t have time to write in as much detail as I would like about I ♥ Alice ♥ I, Amy Conroy’s sweet documentary of two gay Dublin women named Alice in their Sixties and the lives they lived together and apart.

It had me smiling entirely throughout, except for when it had me welling with tears. Conroy and Clare Barrett give some of the most charming performances I have seen in a while, and the show’s political poignancy is so strong because of the loving and flawed human relationship the two have crafted. It’s time Alices everywhere were seen and heard.

What did everybody else think?

Brokentalkers, ‘The Blue Boy’: Our Last Days As Children

The Lir, Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival

Oct 8-16

My review of The Blue Boy coming up just as soon as I make sparks ...

Siren Productions, 'The Lulu House': Art House Cinema

James Joyce House, Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival

Sept 30-Oct 16

My review of Selina Cartmel’s The Lulu House coming up just as soon as my hair defines me like the ornament on the hood of a car ...

Rough Magic, ‘Peer Gynt’: Daydreamer

O’Reilly Theatre, Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival 2011

Sept 30-Oct 16

My review of Rough Magic’s Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen coming up just as soon as I lose my wife to an outhouse door ...

Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival 2011 Watercooler

I noticed that in my Fringe coverage I was missing somewhere where people could discuss any aspect of the festival as opposed to just what I was writing about.

So here’s our festival watercooler. Take a break from your theatre-going and discuss in the comments section below what shows you’re planning on seeing and your experiences at this year's festival. 

Brokentalkers' Gary Keegan and Feidlim Cannon talk 'The Blue Boy'

Regular readers know how much a fan I am of Brokentalkers and how excited I am that The Blue Boy is right around the corner. I talked to Gary Keegan and Feidlim Cannon in The Lir last week and we discussed why these stories need to be told.

A Guide to Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival 2011

Finally diving into the programme for this year’s Dublin Theatre Festival. Last year, as evidenced by the reviews I wrote, I took a particular interest in the postdramatic segment of the schedule, seeing Ontroerend Goed, Tim Crouch, Pan Pan.  It probably was a gamble on festival director Loughlin Deegan’s part to give weight to such unconventional theatre. Not only were many of these productions deemed popular and critical successes, but the gesture of programming them shows that Deegan would sooner overestimate the ‘performance’ of the Irish audience before underestimating, as members of the public were made sit and chat with neighbours and whisked away into booths with strangers.

What is of most interest to me in this year’s festival, and what you’ll see written about around here, is the strong Irish involvement. In his fifth and final instalment, Deegan is focusing on our home-grown artists. Many past participants of Theatre Forum’s ‘The Next Stage’ development programme, which runs in tangent to the festival, are now featured artists. If this year’s festival is to be remembered for anything it will probably be for opening the golden gates to the next wave of Irish theatre makers.

But for now let’s focus on the present and dive right in. Find below my thoughts on this year’s programme and observe as I – like in my guide to the Fringe – try to narrow these choices down to my six must-gos.