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?
