Excuses, excuses ... [Redux] and Musings Listings: March 2011

As happened in November, my self-disciplined ways suffered a bit of a setback this month. However, we’re back up and running and expect some regular postings here in the next few weeks as there are a few shows I am planning on going to. This month’s listings are astronomically late, but better late than never right?

There is a lot to admire in March 2011 as the month mainly pays its dues to original and new theatre. This is seen on the utmost funded level with the Abbey’s presentation of three new plays by two contemporary voices. The institution’s diluted commitment to original work is one of its sorest subjects, and rarely do we have the opportunity to see new Irish writing on its stage (Thomas Kilroy’s Christ Deliver Us!, Michael West’s Freefall, and Carmel Winters’ B for Baby are the only examples in 2010 I can think of). Nancy Harris’ Bad Romance (until Apr 2) is described as a “tender and funny tale about our secret selves [that] observes the search for connection in a fractured world”. Female authors and writing that is distinctively ‘female’ is extremely under-developed in this country, with Marina Carr the most notable author of recent times. The very circumstance of having Harris’ work on stage may be cause for celebration but let’s hope that she’s capable of a discourse that is engaging and insightful that will want us to keep her around. Also: Wayne Jordon (Ellamenope Jones) and Janet Moran (Freefall) are attached so it could be a nice show.

The other two plays in the Abbey come from scribe Paul Mercier. I am curious as to why Mac Chongail is investing this heavily in Mercier to supply the goods. His past writing for the company must have brought home the gold. First we have The Passing (Mar 11-Apr 16) which is a story about a woman revisiting her relationship with where she grew up when her parents’ house goes for sale. The East Pier (Mar 18-Apr 16) then is a two-hander with Andrea Irvine and Don Wycherley described as “a chance encounter between two stray souls who discover they are still as deeply connected as they are strangers to one another”.

I’d probably be more inclined to go to THEATREclub’s ‘Spirit of the Fringe’ winner Heroin (Mar 24-26, pictured above) at the Axis Theatre in Ballymun. The show is the product of co-founder Grace Dyas’ research into the social history of heroin-use in Dublin and society’s wilful ignorance of it. 

Night of the Danes: Irish Times Theatre Awards

The best of Irish theatre was celebrated last Sunday in Vicar St. I don't have much to add to my thoughts on the shortlist (link to that post below) other than it's fantastic to see Pan Pan win 'Best Production' for The Rehearsal, Playing the Dane and Aedín Cosgrove (pictured above) to pick up the 'Best Set' trophy. The judges showed an open mind with the 'Best Production' category this year, with Pan Pan and Anu Productions representing the postmodern practice that's growing in presence with the likes of The Company, THEATREclub and others who are finding new ways to engage with theatre space. Before all of them there was Pan Pan (who turn sixteen this year, I think), and Sunday was a historic win not just for them but the generation of artists their work has inspired over the years. It's exciting to be a theatre maker in this country right now.

I'm also happy to see:

• Laurence Kinlan pick up 'Best Supporting Actor' for his role as Christ Deliver Us! tragic son Mossy Lannigan. With an impressive range, Kinlan will be making crowds laugh or shed tears in the many years to come. 

• Olwen Fouéré comes out on top in a very competitive 'Best Actress' category for her performance in Rough Magic and The Emergency Room’s joint effort: Sodome, My Love.

• 'Judges Special Award' given to Project Brand New for their dedication and support to encourage innovative new work.

What does everybody else think?

My post on Shortlist:

http://musingsinintermissions.blogspot.com/2011/01/wish-i-had-seen-medea-irish-times.html#more

Irish Times list of nominees :

http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/pursuedbyabear/2011/01/15/the-irish-times-theatre-awards-shortlist-december-2010/

Irish Times list of winners:

http://www.irishtimes.com/events/theatreawards/currentwinners/

Raymond Scannell, ‘MIMIC’: A Sweet Phenomenon

Project Arts Centre, Dublin

Feb 22-26

My review of the wonderful Mimic coming up just as soon as I paint a masterpiece sorta thing …

Side-Show Productions, 'Dreams of Love': Buttercup, Baby

 

Town Hall Theatre, Galway

Feb 24-26

Worth mentioning that tonight is the last night of Dreams of Love in the Town Hall. I wasn’t able to see the finished performance but did get to a dress rehearsal during the week. Very funny and surprising at times. Here’s the press release:    

... a girl, two guys, are locked in a revolving love triangle. The spectacle runs through various guises from Romeo and Juliet's amateur dramatics to Youtube melodrama and on to a scene where a King demands a sandwich ...

Feel free to share thoughts and impressions in the comments section.

Blue Raincoat, 'At Swim: Two Birds': Clown Nose

Project Arts Centre, Dublin

Feb 21-Mar 5

I mentioned in an earlier post that I’d do a piece on Blue Raincoat’s stage adaptation of Flann O’Brien’s At Swim: Two Birds, which is now showing at the Project. The show has been on its feet since the winter of 2009, which is when I saw it in the Raincoat’s Factory Space in Sligo. Below is a review of that performance (written back when I first started writing reviews. This is the blogger equivalent of baby pictures). Feel free to use the comments section below to share your thoughts. 

Theatrecorp, ‘The Glass Menagerie’: Glass Slipper … anyone?

Town Hall Theatre, Galway

Feb 15-19

My review of The Glass Menagerie at the Town Hall coming up just as soon as I renew my subscription to The Homemaker’s Companion …

Nyree Yergainharsian, ‘Where Do I Start?’: Pirandello & Ponies

Project Arts Centre, Dublin

Feb 15-16

A few thoughts on Where Do I Start? coming up just as soon as I hate Ryanair …

Waterdonkey, 'The Very Best of John Lennon'

Again: another shameful use of this blog. I will be performing onstage tonight at the Project Arts Centre at 7 in Waterdonkey Theatre's 'The Very Best of John Lennon'. The show is featured as part of THEATREclub's 'THE THEATRE MACHINE TURNS YOU ON: VOL II' festival. Check out the Project website for more information.

Here is the show description, and feel free to share your thoughts and impressions on the show in the comments section below.



This is where we are ...

PRISCILLA is inspired. ROSE is doing our hair. CHRIS is reading the news. ZITA is picking flowers. JOHN is looking for the truth. That is until we all eventually return to that moment which we can never leave behind for good.

An arpeggio of love, fortune, loss, and hope ... this is a world touched by John Winston Lennon.

Waterdonkey presents a special theatrical event inspired by the legendary musician's presence and influence, not just in our own lives, but in that of the fabric of contemporary society itself.

Lennon is a force stronger than gravity.
Join us in its freedom.

February 2011 Listings: An Encore for Raymond Scannell’s ‘Mimic’, Raincoats ‘At Swim’

A fluttering of tweets this evening has announced the programming of a show called Mimic at the Project Arts Centre from Feb 22-26. After doing my homework I learned that Mimic is playwright/actor Raymond Scannell’s dark satire about “exploring imitation, authenticity and what happens to a nation that leaves its heritage behind”. I saw Scannell in Druid’s The Walworth Farce in 2009, in which he was fantastic. Mimic sits the actor at a grand piano, where he tells the story of a man who’s become a professional Mimic and left a cultural climate of economic and spiritual freefall and then returns home to find things have changed. Scannell bagged the Best Male Performance Award ABSOLUT Fringe 2009 for the role.

Tom Creed (Attempts on Her Life, Watt) is billed as director in past press releases of the show, though there is no mention of him on the Project website in relation to this run. Creed is one of the most ingenious practitioners in the country at the moment, having in the past year put together Una Santa Obscura (another musical composition realised for stage, this time combining an elliptical violin sonata with a coherent theatrical narrative in marvelling a devout mystic and composer of the 12^th century) and Berlin Love Tour, the latter of which was one of the greatest shows I saw last year and for which performer Hilary O’Shaughnessy is a contender for the Irish Times Theatre Awards.

I carelessly left out mention in my February Listings of Blue Raincoat’s adaptation of Flann O’Brien’s At Swim: Two Birds at the Project Arts Centre, Feb 22nd-Mar 5th. Having seen it back in 2009 I would highly recommend it. Blue Raincoat’s production values are nailed together by the ensemble’s command of corporal mime techniques. These guys are absolutely marvellous to see moving onstage. I’ll be writing a post where people can find my review of the 2009 show and discuss the Project show if desired (I know the cast has had some changes and the show could possibly have developed since last I saw it).

So, do you think you’ll be going to Mimic or At Swim: Two Birds?

Musings Listings: February 2011

With many of the country’s greatest theatre acts taking off these days to tackle America with Culture Ireland’s ‘Imagine Ireland’ scheme, Dublin theatre audiences appear to have been left at the mercy of oestrogen-empowered comedies such as Calendar Girls in the Grand Canal or Adele King’s Grumpy Old Women in the Gaiety. While these large-scale, internationally-toured productions are sure to bring in the big bucks, there are a lot of local performances to be excited about also. Indeed, February 2011 can be characterised as a month of Irish theatre where the parents have gone away on business and the kids are now out to play.