Being There

Being There

The only thing in life worse than being talked

about is not being talked about. Oscar Wilde

An exhibition of a lifetime in the

Tate modern, London

Gerhard Richter: Panorama

“Picturing things, taking a view, is what makes us human; art is making sense and giving shape to that sense.” Gerhard Richter

I’m not quite sure if I should be shocked, embarrassed or surprised that I never heard of Gerhard Richter before. A German painter, who is more diverse in his style than any artist I’ve seen or heard of before. I was simply fascinated by his broad interest of displaying political and economical as well as spiritual and psychological aspects. His photorealistic paintings of the German terror organisation RAF or the terror attacks of 9/11 are showing me how critically an artist can reply to current affairs. At the same time Richter is able to initiate a thinking process, where he is creating paintings symbolizing randomness such as the formation of clouds or his numerous abstract works. His works open an entire new facet to me of how to view artists in connection to their art. The possibility of being able to reflect such a spectrum of talent and interest to your art is very impressive to me and makes me interested in further looking into his work.

He is a master in abstract painting, as well as in photorealism and sculpturing and there are really just a few artists, who can be good in more than one genre. Born in Dresden and later escaped to West Germany, Richter makes the political situation in Germany often part of his works. In his early career he started with developing his skills in photorealism, as he mainly repainted photographs of newspaper articles. Significant for his style is the ‘blur’, a technique where Richter uses a dry paintbrush over the wet paint to deliver a blurry effect on the painting. Later he discovered an interest in abstract art and began firstly to pay a lot of attention to the colour grey. He said that grey ‘makes no statement whatsoever, it evokes neither feelings nor associations; the only equivalent for an absence of opinion’. Parallel he painted colour charts and pioneered in his own technique of abstract paintings.

The exhibition ‘Gerhard Richter: Panorama’ is on display from October 2011 to January 2012 in the Tate Modern in London. As the artist himself is still alive, he had a major influence on how this exhibition would display his works. The different pieces were presented in 14 separate rooms, which were categorized by style, period and theme. It was like wandering through the artist’s brain from the beginning of his career until current times. The spacious rooms were optimal to watch Richter’s paintings and sculptures from several perspectives and let each individual object be admired to its exclusive value.

Sean Scully was born in Dublin in 1945 and is today one of the most exhibited and widely acclaimed painters worldwide. Within his career he developed his characteristic motif of the stripe, which is initial for his recognizable style of geometric abstraction. His paintings include architectural structure and panels of coloured stripes. In recent years he has augmented his trademark by also developing a mode of compositional patterns, which are similar to a checkerboard. Scully has been educated in London and lived and worked in the US. Sean Scully’s paintings are exhibited worldwide, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Tate Gallery in London and numerous galleries in Madrid, Denmark and the US. He was twice shortlisted for the Turner prize.

Although Sean Scully has exhibitions of his works all over the globe, he likes to come to Dublin and see his paintings being shown in his birth city. With the Hugh Lane Gallery having a permanent Scully room, the Kerlin Gallery were exhibiting further paintings by the artist until last September showing works form the Cut Ground Series. The space in the Kerlin Gallery is a white cube type of space within a rather small room. Nevertheless almost ten of Scully’s pieces were shown, giving each of them enough space to be effective. The exhibition was free of charge, which makes the visiting experience especially worthwhile, considering Scully being one of the most acclaimed artists at the moment.

I personally found it difficult to develop a liking of the paintings. Despite the fact that art in general can be measured in skill, theme or popularity, I first need to gain a positive impression of an artwork to further engage with it. In this case the painted stripes and patterns left me bored and uninterested. Even the choice of colour didn’t energize me. In my opinion they were not very inviting to the eye and reminded me of a waiting room in a hospital. I can’t develop an understanding of painting stripe patterns as a representation for real life scenery either. I therefore felt that I couldn’t access his paintings properly as not understanding and not liking the work blocked me.

I couldn’t bear to live my life

as a normal person. Sean Scully

Donka, a letter to checkhov “Donka - A Letter To Checkhov” is a chain of fragmented scenes telling the story of Anton Checkhov’s life. The abstract presentation of aerials, artistic acrobatics, comedy, storytelling, colour and music is the perfect combination of reflecting the varied life of the writer. His own interests were not just spread around the literary world but remained mainly in science and the human body. This piece didn’t follow a strict narrative; it rather collected impressions of Checkhov’s life, where every scene lived for itself. His famous short stories and most popular letters influenced the way the presentations caught his sense of humor and portrayed his interests and desires. Beside the acrobatics, most actors were trained clowns. Their talents and skills brought an incredible lightness and sense of humor to the stage that again represented another aspect of Checkhov’s life.

In my opinion the production of Donka couldn’t be a more perfect merge of Checkhov’s personality after having researched about his life. The interests he followed are just as varied as the performances of the artists, which makes it a perfect reflection of his lifetime. The part, which yet impressed me the most, was the comedy of the play or more particularly the clownery. When I think of clowns I think of circuses, red noses and big shoes, but within this production I was able to perceive it under a complete new perspective. The clownery was intelligently incorporated between the scenes and was providing the story telling. It was mainly their witty and intelligent slapstick that made me realize how much I adore their performances. Also the internationality of the cast was very enlightening. Actors were coming from all over the world, presenting an integration of art and culture. Watching this piece I felt like being completely drawn into a different world and era. Even though costumes and set were rather minimalistic, the production shone with originality, talent and some kind of magic that entirely dazzled me.

Anton Checkhov and Finzi Pasca

Anton Checkhov was a Ukrainian playwright of the 19th and 20th century, who is most famous for his revolutionary style of writing short stories and plays. He was a multi talented genius, who was not just a celebrated figure in Russian literature, but also attended Medical schools in Moscow and graduated as a doctor. His most famous works include ‘The Seagull’ and ‘Three Sisters’.

Daniele Finzi Pasca is a Swiss director, author, choreographer and clown. He was commissioned to direct a show for the 150th anniversary celebrations of Checkhov in Moscow in 2010 and ‘Donka’ is the result that portrays the author in his diversity, talent and elegance.

“There is nothing new in art except talent.” Anton Checkhov

A 1927 theatre production

THE ANIMAL AND CHILDREN TOOK TO THE STREET

Once upon a time in a fictional city in a fictional backstreet, there lived children; children as nasty and bad as you can imagine. They were picking on neighbours, rioting in the streets and annoying the caretaker. He is the one telling the story. A young woman named Ivy and her daughter arrive in the neighbourhood to improve the children’s behavior, but without success. So the government comes up with the plan of giving sweets to the children that contain of tranquilizers. In order to carry out their plan, they kidnap all children including Ivy’s daughter. The caretaker being in love with Ivy starts running after Ivy’s daughter to prevent the worst.

‘The Animals and Children took to the streets’ is the second production of the British theatre company 1927. The award winning company was founded in 2007 and is highly acclaimed for their very unique style of theatre. With a combination of visual animation, storytelling, music and live acting, this theatrical experience is unlike anything else. 1927 was founded by Suzanne Andrade and Paul Barritt as a personal experiment that was combining several interests of both. Inspired aesthetically by fairy tales and the golden era of silent movies, all their shows are typically recognized by a certain language that perfectly completes the company’s incomparable characteristics.

With a complex story like this, it is almost unbelievable that this production only had three actresses. With an intelligent set of three canvasses, it was possible to project not just scenery but also different characters onto it. I particularly found this system fascinating, as I’ve never seen anything like it. The actresses played in front and behind the canvasses, making more use of the props. The life music also created a coherent atmosphere within the auditorium. I was simply thrilled by the diversity of this piece, as it combined many art forms and techniques. The innovative merge of all this, made this a very unique experience for me.

‘La Maison Malade’ Jeanne Susplusgas

Dublin Contemporary Dublin Contemporary is not the first art exhibition where Jeanne Susplugas is presenting her installation “La Maison Malade” (engl.: “The Sick House”). Since the year 1998 the piece is traveling around the world, including exhibitions in Rome, France and Tokyo. In Susplugas’ installation in Dublin this year the visitor is brought into a room whose floor is completely covered with empty medicine boxes and pharmaceutical packaging. The walls are fully plastered with medical instruction leaflets, while white light is glaring from the ceiling. To enter the room the visitor has to climb through an edgy hole in a wooden door.

The ‘La Maison Malade’ installation is not just a comment on society’s medicine consumption but in the same way a depiction of the human body in itself. The room full of medication is small and delivers an instant feeling of claustrophobia for me. The white light created a sense of sickness and I immediately had a rather uncomfortable experience. If the room is considered to represent the human body which is filled up with medication ranging from the simplest dietary supplement to intensive treatments for the century’s various great diseases. I observed that those habits can make us even sicker. This room is a place of personal individual retreat, a place of hiding from reality and a place for being true to yourself. The hole in the door, through I entered ‘La Maison Malade’ plays a vital role in this interpretation.

The door is the wall between reality and illusion. Without fully entering the room and just looking through the hole I was just given an incomplete picture of the truth and I had to make an effort of finding out the reality by climbing through the hole. Looking at it from the inside the hole provided me with a different perspective. The rough and wooden edges appear to be punched or kicked through the door and construct the image of an outbreak. It strongly depicts the vulnerability of people being addicted to medication. It seems to be a scream for help to break out of the addiction. This whole process of interacting with the piece directly creates a dialogue with the audience and acts like a mirror every individual is looking at. All medication is sourced locally and is therefore providing an instant connection for the spectator and me personally.

Royal

Hibernian

Academy

As part of the 2011 programme of the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) Maria McKinney is exhibiting her piece “The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse”. In religion the four horsemen of apocalypse are powerful and immortal beings that act as instruments of chaos and destruction during the apocalypse. McKinney took this myth and adapted it to a contemporary approach. This work includes four frames, which all show a different world map. Each individual map represents one of the four different reasons for apocalypse, famine, death, conquest and war (in the bible it’s famine, pestilence, strife and war). Her pieces show up-to-date statistics to each of term related issues worldwide. The famine frame is showing the number of deaths due to malnutrition in 2002. For the depiction of death she used numbers of women who died in pregnancy in 2000. In her war representation McKinney is using statistics of people, who died in war from 1945-2002. The frame of conquest shows a map indicating the money that is spent on public health services. The size of each continent or country depends on the according statistic. The way McKinney designed the maps is quite astonishing, as she used the ends of 1250 jigsaw pieces for each frame. With this showing the artist is clearly making a statement to our current economical and political situation. By comparison the only frame, whose map differs largely form the other ones, is the conquest. Here Europe and the Western World are portrayed bigger than the rest, whereas for famine, death and war Third World continents like Africa and South America were bigger. This contrast should be a wakeup call for every individual, as the distinction is too big to be ignored. The jigsaw pieces are hereby a depiction of the incompleteness of our economical situation and our inability to figure it out.

Maria McKinney

The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse

Juno And The Paycock

‘Juno And The Paycock’ is one of the three Dublin plays by Sean O’Casey, written and first staged in 1922. Since then it was produced more than 30 times on the Abbey Theatre stage and is one of the most performed Irish plays. In this particular production the Abbey Theatre is working in collaboration with the National Theatre of Great Britain for the first time under the direction of Howard Davies. The play is also part of the Ulster Bank Theatre Festival 2011 and stars an all Irish cast including Sinead Cusack, Risteard Cooper and Ciaran Hinds in the leading roles.

Set in a tenement house in 1922 Dublin, the Boyle family struggles not just with poverty, but also fights their own war against political and economical crisis. Juno, the powerful head of the clan tries her best to keep the family together in those hard times, whereas her husband Jack and his shady and dubious side kick Joxer are refusing any work and are drinking their way through life. Son Johnny just lost his arm in a battle and is now suffering from paranoia and his fear of being recruited to war again. As the family receives an inheritance, all their troubles seem to be terminated, but just until they realize that the whole document is a washout.

This production of Juno and the Paycock has been a success from the beginning and was sold out completely by the middle of the run. Personally I was astonished by the breathtaking set and the traditional and detailed costumes. It proved to me that this collaboration between the two National theaters offered great resources and therefore made the play more realistic. I particularly appreciated the very strong acting of all characters, as it was easy to empathize with the stories and emotions. The very natural and effective lighting by James Farncombe was another compiling fact, which made this production worthwhile. As the lighting mainly came through two big windows on the stage side, the scene remained very realistic and believable. The light also changed accordingly to the atmosphere of every individual scene. I only found disturbing that the scene changes, where the curtain closed for several minutes, as I here was falsely assuming that the interval was about to start. For me this process ruined the mood and flow of the play.

The Abbey Theatre, Ireland’s National

Theater in collaboration with the

National Theatre in a breathtaking

production of Sean O’Casey’s classic

tale of the Boyle family.

“Th’ whole worl’s in a terrible state o’ chassis” Captain Jack Boyle, Act III

An Allegory Sean Keating

Sean Keating’s painting ‘An Allegory’ is currently exhibited in the National Gallery of Ireland as part of the Masterpieces exhibition. Keating (1889-1978) was born in Limerick and lived his whole life in Ireland. His paintings were mostly influenced by Irish nationalism documenting the Irish War of Independence and the Civil War. He often depicted the Irish life style in a heroic and idealized view. In 1934, he was appointed Professor of the National College of Art in Dublin and held the position of President of the Royal Hibernian Academy.

‘An Allegory’ is an oil painting from 1922 and which was firstly exhibited by the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1925. It portrays several characters within the New Irish Free State, which don’t seem to have an obvious connection to each other. The painting shows two soldiers in the foreground digging a grave with the coffin lying closely wrapped in an Irish flag. A businessman and a priest are standing nearby talking and a mother is sitting under a tree holding her baby, which is covered in a white blanket. In the far background an old mansion is visible. Additionally Keating portrays himself in the painting as an exhausted artist in the center of the painting.

The painting perfectly represents the Irish society in 1920’s, which is hardly disturbed by the effects of the Civil War. It shows soldiers, who are burying most probably another soldier that has fallen in the war. The Tri-Colour clearly marks their patriotism and pride for Ireland. The priest and the business man illustrate the wealth of the war and the people that are gaining profit of this situation. The mother could be related to the dead but could also embody all the families that have been torn apart by the outcomes of the war. However, the baby in its white blanket promises peace and purity for the future. Keating symbolizes a disillusioned artist, who is tangled by the destruction of the war and the promises for the future.

With this piece of work Keating was able to capture the state of a generation within one painting. Linking this to other pieces of work of the time, this could easily show the funeral of Jonny Boyle, one of the main characters in Sean O’Casey’s play ‘Juno and the Paycock’. Where the play tells the story of a family in the 1920’s which is strongly affected by the hard life within the war, the painting is able to summarize the final emotions of the Boyle family in this single painting. The same characters portrayed in the painting can be found in O’Casey’s play. The desperate mother, the prospering business men, falling soldiers and symbols of hope.

Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement

Royal Academy of Arts

Edgar Degas (19 July 1834 – 27 September 1917) The French artist Edgar Degas is famous for his work in painting, sculpture and drawing. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist. Within his career, he is especially identified with the subject of dance as over half his works depict dancers. These display his mastery in the depiction of movement. His portraits are considered to be among the finest in the history of art. Early in his career, his ambition was to be a history painter, a calling for which he was well prepared by his rigorous academic training and close study of classic art. Later then he changed his mind and by bringing the traditional methods of a history painter together with a contemporary subject matter, he became a classical painter of modern life.

The exhibition of Degas’ dancers in the Royal Academy of Arts was a very unique experience for me. By entering the museum, the atmosphere of a general admiration of the artist was clearly noticeable. Degas is considered to be one of the most talented painters in history and I felt privileged to be able to view this exhibition. Unfortunately a queuing time of almost an hour and rather crowded showing rooms were taken away my enthusiasm slightly. Nevertheless the artist’s talent and his very own style of painting astonished me. I particularly liked those paintings, which were drawn in a longish landscape format. I found it very impressive, how Degas was able to take the viewer’s attention deliberately from one end to the other and also give me the impression of being completely drawn into the picture. Another remarkable aspect for me was, how he was such a great sculpture as well, capturing his delicate dancers not just in paper, but also brought them to shape and space. All in all I can only honour Degas’ very skilled observing eye and his great talent of being able to capture such gracious and beautiful moments of movement.

Degas’ exhibition in the Royal academy in London is of very high popularity, as waiting times of up to one hour needed to be taken into account. However this might be worth, considering this exhibition shows the masterpieces of one of the most famous painters in the world. The complete showing was divided in ten different rooms, paying attention to different phases of Degas’ life and also presented various styles within his career. Starting with sketches of dancers in rehearsal rooms, Degas developed more skill with time and moved on to paint dancers when they were on stage. Just as his personal career, the exhibition wandered through his life. Special attention was put on his famous sculptures of dancers, as well as a general study of movement that fascinated not just Degas at the time. He once said that his scenes ‘are a pretext for depicting movement’.

Sylvia Plath – Her lesser known lines

Sylvia Plath was never known for being a drawer until now. The American artist, born in 1932, usually wrote poems and short stories, and has within her lifetime published two books, The Colossus and other Poems and Ariel. Her work is themed around a personal and nature-based depiction and included topic such as the human body, the moon or the night. Despite her success as a writer, she suffered from severe depression and committed suicide at the age of 30. Thus Plath remains one of the best confessional poetry writers of recent years.

This exhibition shows a complete new side to the writer, as she was never known for being a drawer as well. Her daughter has kept all her paintings and sketches after her death and they are being now exhibited in London. This showing of unique pieces of drawing is therefore a once in a lifetime experience, as all of her works will be sold by the end of the run and can never be exhibited again.

Personally I was very affected by her life story and how she was able to portray personal emotions into her poetry, but also reflected this in her drawings. After visiting the exhibition and reading a few of her poems, I am able to relate more to the drawings. All of her drawing’s themes are similar to the topics of her written work. She depicts landscapes she has been to or places she feels touched by. Presumably her drawing influenced her writing or maybe vice versa. Nevertheless both strands are strong reflections of Plath’s personal life and this very compelling connection is what strikes me the most.

Yet her skill of drawing is extraordinary. Using only ink, it is mesmerizing how detailed and multi layered her drawings can be. With simple lines and many different types of strokes, Plath is able to create a perfect two-dimensional depiction. The usage of ink clearly reflects on her passion for writing and again builds a connection between her observation and her artistic talents.

A picture is a poem without words. Horace

‘Hearts of Oak and Bellies of Brass’ John McGahern

When John McGahern died in March 2006 Ireland probably lost one of the most eminent authors of its time. The author was often considered a successor to Joyce and all the other great Irish writers, as he earned a reputation for his ability to capture lyrical portraits of his native Ireland. In the 1960;shis books were banned for their frank treatment of sex. He lost his job and like so many Irish writers before him, he went into exile. His short story ‘ Hearts of oak and bellies of brass’ was first published in his works ‘The collected stories’, which spans Mcgahern’s 30-year career, from his early censorship to his acceptance, as am major literary figure. McGahern was short-listed for the booker prize for his novel ‘Amongst Women’.

John McGahern, 1934 - 2006

‘Hearts of Oak and Bellies of Brass’ tell the story of a group of Irish immigrants in England. The plot is set post war although an exact time is not given. The dark story is set at a London construction site where a squad of Irish labourers is working. These are men without women, without the constraints of their own culture, living a brutish, violent existence. McGahern was always famous for portraying Irish people in their simplicity and so he describes an ordinary day of their rough and dirty working routine. His very vivid and extremely visual writing style makes it easy for the reader to imagine the looks, smells and feelings of a very manly environment. The men are exhausted from their work, upset about their living circumstances and especially tired of their hopeless existence. The storyline allows the reader to be part of moments of ‘snotty’ comments and ‘butch’ conversations. This all contributes to the visualization of the workers conditions. As the men are mainly named after their Irish hometown or county they are representing the Irish citizen in general rather than an individual character. This is simply another way McGahern uses to capture the era in time, where Irish men needed to work abroad in order to take responsibility of brining up their families back home in Ireland.

As I was reading the short story for the first time, it was difficult to adapt to the writing style of McGahern. Just after reading a few pages I got used to the language and was able to take in more content. As typically characteristic for short stories, the plot starts without an introduction and gives therefore even less time to accommodate to the writing technique. For the reader experiences this means that important pieces of the plot might get lost. The use of a very strong jargon assumes a knowledge and understanding of this particular slang or accent. Again if this apprehension is not present, certain readers could misinterpret important meanings regarding the narrative. Nevertheless I was able to gain a full understanding of the story by repeatedly reading this piece. Another interesting point for me personally was an enrichment of my knowledge about Irish history. Being not originally Irish often meant a lack of interpretation for me. Reading the story without a certain background understanding gives a complete different meaning to the story and is especially missing the probably most important interpretation aspects. In terms of interpreting the title it is necessary to look at the two parts separately. ‘Hearts of Oak’ is a song sung by British sailors. It refers to British warships, which were made of oak and had metaphorically strong determined hearts. The ‘Bellies of Brass’ could be a reference to the practice of coating the bottoms of ships with brass in order to protect the ship from seaweed. In terms of interpretation it is possible that Irish immigrants were seen as the brass belly of British economy doing the most unspectacular but still necessary work. Their hard and ungrateful work is supporting the power of the ‘ship’, the British economy.

Euripides was a pacifist, a thinker and a humanitarian and was destined from the beginning to be a misunderstood poet. Even though he wrote over 90 plays in his lifetime, he only received five awards by the Greek judges. He simply didn’t approve of the Athenian superstitions and refused to tolerate their moral hypocrisy. His writing qualities were only overshadowed by intolerance and violence. Just as his most famous character Medea, he is an alienated object within his society. A lover of truth, he therefore let his characters always fight personal issues rather than questions of the polis.

The story of Medea doesn’t begin with the tragedy of Euripides. The nurse’s monologue at the beginning of the play

provides the opportunity to get to know Medea’s past. She has murdered her brother to help her big love Jason to get

hold of the Golden Fleece, so she can leave her home in Colchis to live with Jason in Corinth. Not long and Medea’s

husband is leaving her and their two sons behind to marry king Creon’s daughter Glauce. Out of fear Creon is then

sending her into exile, leaving her two sons with the royal family. As she is driven by rage and frustration, she decides

to poison the king and his daughter. Continuing her revenge on Jason, she cruelly murders her own children. Before

she has been offered asylum in Athens, where she is escaping to after her gruesome actions.

Before I read Euripides’ Medea, I’ve seen a production of the play at last

year’s Fringe Festival, which really impressed me. I therefore got hold of the

book to further engage with the material. Having seen the play before made it

much easier for me to understand the complex language. Euripides having

written the play thousands of years ago, made it especially interesting for me

to see how society in Ancient Greece was organised and to what extend the

writer captured the current concerns. Euripides was a revolutionary writer, as

he firstly introduced the common man to the stage and made a woman the

hero of a tragedy. I much enjoy the fact, that by reading ‘Medea’, I’m

somehow part of theatre transformation. Medea has therefore also a current

relation, as it reflects on feminism of our society.

M E D E A

The adventures of Alvin sputnik: deep Sea Explorer

Down Under explores the Green Ireland

‘The Adventures Of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer’ is a production of WeepingSpoon Theatre Company and is performed and created by Tim Watts and Arielle Gray. The piece originated in Perth, Australia and is ever since celebrating international success. It won several prices already, including Outstanding Solo Show 2009 in the New York Fringe. This year the show was performing in the Dublin Fringe Festival and won the award for Best Male performer for Tim Watts.

Alvin goes Under Sea In a far away future all predictions have come true and the oceans have risen, the world is drowned. Just a few people are left living on wooden house constructions on top of Mount Everest and the Empire State Building. The last chance of saving the world is to send one brave man down into the deep blue sea to search for new ways to live. Just after loosing his wife Alvin Sputnik takes on this journey in search for more than he ever expected.

All this is brought to the viewer in a merge of animation, puppetry, music and storytelling.

The production of ‘Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer’ was an incredible experience that left me thinking, that is not always necessary to spend thousands of Euros on a big production with the most advantageous technology, when the most important thing is a simple but heartwarming story. Fortunately Tim Watts was able to combine a mixture of both. I was amazed by his creativity and inventions with which he created his and Alvin’s own world. The way he was able to mix theatrical talent, with imaginative and original animation with live music with story telling, just left me speechless. As I was talking to him and the crew afterwards, they showed and explained how they build and crafted all the little elements of the show and again it was impressive to observe how simple most of it was. Just a ball of Styrofoam, a white glove and a small light created the character of Alvin Sputnik. I can therefore recapture that it is possible to build a fantastic and award winning show with just a small budget; it is only necessary to be visionary and original. This show left

Dragonfly Theatre was founded by Shona McCarthy, Siobhán Donnellan and Fiachra Ó Dubhghail in 2006. The young company has already produced three different plays. The very successful and award winning shows ‘Married to the sea’ and ‘Reptilian’ is now followed by their most recent production ‘Heidi and the bear’. All three founders have studied in NUI, Galway having completed their MA in Drama and Theatre Studies. Their play ‘Heidi and the bear’ was seen in the Absolut Fringe Festival 2011 and was described as an ‘intimate, psychosexual thriller’, but according to the Irish Times ‘lacked the resonance or substance of the form it draws on.

The audience enters an old Georgian house in the city of Dublin and is brought upstairs to a large living and dining room. Everything is fully furnitured and music is playing in the background. A boy enters the room and sets the table for a birthday party and is shortly followed by his parents. The family is celebrating the birthday of their daughter, who disappeared a few years ago. Suddenly the doorbell rings and the neighbours daughter comes upstairs. The son instantly has affection for her, whereas the mother wants her out of the house. She has ran away from her own home looking for shelter here. The father and her hide a dark secret, nobody knows about, except for the audience that still stands beside the four actors in the same room. Everybody is brought downstairs to the old room of the missing daughter, when the father is denying to be also the father of the neighbour’s girl. A family drama in an urban surrounding and no one still knows, why the girl ran away in the first place. Except the audience.

This unusual piece of theatre was intriguing in many ways. The setting of the play in this old house was very unique and created an unknown relationship between the audience and the actors. As we were totally ignored by the actors, I felt like a voyeur in someone else’s life. Partly I felt particularly uncomfortable being so very close to a family drama. Even though I felt the acting was not quite convincing the setting of the house made this experience real for me again.

The mystery of the story also contributed to the effect this whole play had on me. I didn’t know, who that girl was, who showed up in the middle of the night and no one really knew, why the daughter disappeared in the first play up until the very end. It felt a bit like a crime scene, where I was walking around the house and the family’s past to find traces, talk to suspects and discover the big family secret. It was nerve racking and tense.

All in all I found this very successful production of a performance and I would enjoy to see more of this company of similar style.

Heidi And The Bear

Co-Orch Dublin for Focus Ireland Co-Orch Dublin is a newly formed orchestra in Ireland’s capitol that made it their task to support Irish charities with their concerts. Their intention is to dedicate each individual concert to a different organisation. All members are as well young musicians who devote their free time to rehearsals and performances. The company was founded by young conductor John Doyle.

This concert for Focus Ireland was the orchestra’s very first concert and it was put on in The Village. This controversial venue for a classical music concert made this event even more unique. The orchestra played about 5 pieces, all by generally unknown composers, whose pieces were taken from their early career, reflecting on the early years of the group. This event not just raised money for the homeless organisation but also erected some interest into the orchestra’s intentions and future.

What I particularly liked about this concert was its atmosphere. Clearly the venue had a huge impact on that, but also the musicians themselves as they weren’t dressed smartly in suits, but rather casual. They mingled with the audience before and after the concert and everything just felt as a normal night in the pub, with the difference of not a rock band playing but a classical orchestra. The only thing I found disturbing was the constant noise of the bar in the background, which made it almost impossible to completely enjoy the pureness of the music.

‘B for Baby’ The Peacock Theatre

Carmel Winters (Writer)

Cork born Carmel Winters is an Irish

playwright and director. She has studied

Drama and English in Trinity College

Dublin. She is not just working successfully

in theatre, but also as a film director and

screenwriter. In 2010 she was directing the

Irish movie ‘Snap’. Winter’s also wrote the

play ‘Time’s Up’ and previously lectured in

Drama at the University of East England.

Dee and B are living in a care home, being ‘not quite together’ so to say. B is dreaming of becoming a hairdresser with a right pair of scissors and Dee wants a snow globe for Christmas. But there is also Mrs. C, the relief staff for the weekend, she wants a baby, but she and her husband keep failing to have one. When Dee is going to visit her brother over the weekend, B and Mrs. C are alone, baking bread and pretending to be in the hairdresser. Until it becomes Christmas day and things between B and Mrs. C begin to be more than just a client-worker relationship. When Mrs. C gets pregnant, her husband leaves her, but fortunately B is ready to leave the care home to start a family with Mrs. C. If only things were that easy, because Mrs. C is leaving not returning until a few years later, bringing a picture of her daughter, who looks awfully similar to Dee.

‘B For Baby’ is a play you can laugh about and a play you can cry about. It is also a play, where you are not sure if it is crossing boundaries or if everything is just about right. When I left the auditorium I felt all of it. The acting of Louis Levitt and Michele Moran is terrific and utterly hilarious. Both were able to present they characters in a funny but realistic way, so I didn’t feel bad when I was laughing about mentally disabled people in a care home. Their interpretation was very human and real and made me believe their thoughts and wishes. The story was very cleverly written and a twist at the end of a story is always making me being more engaged with the plot. The outline of the plot and the way the four characters were acted by two actors highly impressed me. The sadness of the story I shared with all characters equally. Each of them had their individual trauma to deal with and this balance didn’t make me favour a particular character. The play’s depiction of the ‘normality’ of people with mental disabilities let me specifically comprehend what the play really was about. It let me forget the betrayal and jealousy, but I was able to focus on the beauty of humanity.

The buildings and surrounding of Collins Barracks National Museum offer a great venue before the show has even started. The massive courtyard where hundreds of people are waiting creates a great buzz and the giant dolls sleeping in the corner are waiting to be awakening soon. As night starts to take over the show opens with a bang and an orchestra begins to play classical tunes as odd creatures with animal heads on stilts mingle with the audience. Beggar-like men are scaring people from behind and being grumpy and frightening. A woman in a dress from another time is climbing on a platform and is pushed to the center of the yard from where she seems to call the giant dolls to join her in this spectacle. Following her call a rhino in a wheelchair, a dragon and a grasshopper are making their way through the masses being surrounded by dancers in fantastic costumes. The highlight now is the arrival of a girl doll that seems to be somehow sad but fascinating. The music suddenly slows down as the girl approaches the woman on the platform and an exciting tension rises in the yard. You could’ve heard a pin drop watching the intimacy between the two, when the woman attached a glowing heart on the girls

dress. Applause, fireworks and

trumpets are

making this

moment just magical.

“On the edge of things is a fierce beauty” MACNAS 2011

Innovative and breathtaking, creative and inventive, original and exclusive. Macnas. Based in Galway this performance company is creating shows for more than 23 years now and they don’t seem to stop pushing every single performance to the extreme. With the purpose of developing an exclusive experience for the spectators, Macnas’ unique recognition value are their self build outstanding dolls and puppets. The several meter high pieces of art are the main eye catcher and are created with an incredible sense of detail and skill. Macnas’ show “On the edge of things is a fierce beauty” was supposed to open this year’s Absolut Fringe Festival in Collins Barracks but due to extreme winds was postponed to close the festival instead.

‘To combine a sense of community with a desire to produce work to the highest possible’

I’ve heard of Macnas before, but this was my very first encounter with one of the company’s performances. From the first moment I was dazzled, speechless and excited like a child, seeing their gigantic puppets, their excellent costumes and characters as well as their astonishing live music. For different reasons this event was a worthwhile experience. Firstly it was the amount of people who were all equally part of the same experience. The audience and me shared a special moment together and being in the center of the action made this even more magnificent. Deliberately Macnas let the visitors be part of the show, as they made us feel as we all belong to the show. Taking part in this adventure made it particularly rememberable for me. Additionally Macnas’ inspirational creativity and artistically valuable shows are indeed one of the most incredible performance art I’ve ever seen.

‘Hansel and Gretel’ An Opera by Engelbert Humperdinck

On Friday the 25th of November I visited the production of the children’s opera ‘Hansel and Gretel’ in Germany. The local music school of Engelbert Humperdinck and the chamber orchestra of the town Potsdam put together this masterpiece of the composer Humperdinck in a shortened version. All performers were fully trained but not professional opera singers, whereas the members of the orchestra were fully professional musicians. The production was put on in a functional room of a local school and was for that reason a local community event. The music school has previously put on different concerts of classical music, but also small operas and musicals.

The tale of Hansel And Gretel by the Grimm Brothers is probably one of the most read children’s stories and therefore doesn’t need much commentary. Although it is interesting that generally people are not familiar with the original. It is common knowledge that Hansel and Gretel get lost in the forest and find their way to a witch’s house made out of candy and gingerbread. Nevertheless the opera version of Humperdinck features strands of the story that aren’t part of the Grimm’s story. For instance appears the sandman to the children singing them to sleep as they’re getting lost. Together with him 14 angels protect the children of the evil of the forests. Other details of Hansel fooling the witch with a bone to avoid being eaten and the discovery of a treasure underneath of the house have been removed from this particular production, due to time issues and musical arrangements.

I was firstly drawn to this production, not just because it was staged in my hometown but also because one of my best friends was playing the part of the witch. From the first moment I was impressed by the musical arrangements of the orchestra. Live classical music is always something that fascinates me in its very pure and powerful manner. I also found it interesting that many children’s songs from my childhood came from this opera, which made it particularly enjoyable to watch. The second impression of the set on the contrary disappointed me in many ways. Even though I knew the production was staged on a low budget and was put together by amateurs, I felt it lacked excitement. The back of the stage was draped with careless hung curtains, which depicted different scenes, a shelf for the house and a few trees for the forest. The props were attempted to fit a certain era, but were not coherent throughout the piece. An old fashioned chair in the parent’s house was set against modern furniture in the witch’s hut. I further didn’t approve of the acting talent in general. As all performers were primarily singers and no trained actors, this was tolerable. Even though all these aspects can be critically looked at, I enjoyed the show because I’ve never seen a production of it before and it’s part of German culture.

The Background 29 people died on 15th of August 1998, when in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland a car bomb exploded on Lower Market Street. More than 200 people were injured, when followers of Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) had detonated the explosive at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The Omagh bombing is supposed to be the ‘single worst terrorist activity in Northern Ireland, stated BBC shortly after. However no group officially claimed responsibility of the attack, even though the RIRA was the main accused. The group had carried out a car bombing in Banbridge two weeks previous to Omagh and took responsibility for that. In 2008 a RIRA spokesman said that ‘the IRA had minimal involvement in Omagh. Our cod word was used, nothing more. To have stated this at the time would have been lost in an understandable wave of emotion. Omagh was an absolute tragedy. Any loss of civilian life is regrettable.’

Minute After Midday

Project Arts Center

‘Minute After Midday’ is a fictional story. The background of the Omagh bombing in August 1998 is true, but all characters and their personal stories are imaginary. The play tells the viewer the story of three different personalities, a girl that survived the bombing, a widow who lost her husband in the attacks and one of the bombers. The set is simple, with the three actors sitting on chairs almost in complete darkness. This piece is putting their focus on the storytelling and the character’s emotions. Throughout the play the spectator is realizing that all three stories are interwoven with each other, as the man who saved the girl’s life by throwing himself over her, is the husband of the widow and was also a former teacher of the bomber, the only man he ever respected.

Ross Duggan’s writing is very powerful. It has wakened emotions in me, anger and sympathy. The language was kept simple, but strong. It was full of descriptions and adjectives to easily empathise. The characters elaborated in their storytelling many details of colours, sounds and feelings. Those sensational portrayals made this experience very real for me and made me realize how much every one of us should value small things in life more often.

In a discussion with the director and writer and the cast members it was interesting to get to know how Duggan has developed the script. I personally would have thought that he had met with victims and family members, but he intentionally wanted to create a play about Omagh rather than someone’s story in particular. This gave him a more objective viewpoint more people could relate to. Being mainly a comedian, the question was raised how he came up with a serious topic like this. He surprisingly answered that the idea of ‘Minute After Midday’ has come to his mind long before his career as a comedian, but research needed to be done and skills needed to be developed until this play was ready for a stage. ‘Minute After Midday’ started as a radio play and moved to the Edinburgh Fringe, before touring around Ireland now.

The characters of two elderly women enter the stage. They are shy and nervous and they are supposed to tell the story of their lives, but this play is more than that. I ♥ Alice ♥ I presents us Alice and Alice, two women who live in a relationship and have never publicly shown their love. They tell us how they met and how they loved. The audience is there, when they talk about breast cancer and first dates. You laugh with them about their tics and you cry when they tell you how they betrayed and suffered.

I have never seen anything that was more heartwarming, touching and breathtaking than this. I laughed, I cried, I emphasized. It felt as I was there with them for every single moment of their life story. The intimate set, the amazing and authentic acting, everything contributed to this unique experience of theatre. The attention for detail made this story amazingly real and with the little episodes of their daily life the two women couldn’t be more credible. This story will be with me for a long time, as the only thing I could think, when leaving the theatre, was that I wish I could tell a story like this, when I’m old.

I laughed, I cried, I emphasized

I ♥Alice ♥I is the first play of the new emerging theatre company Hot For Theatre. Established by Dublin born Amy Conroy in 2010 this company earns great reviews and awards since. I ♥ Alice ♥ I was first performed in the Absolut Fringe Festival in 2010 and won Best New Writing and Best Female performance. Hot For Theatre presented their second play ‘Eternal Rising of the Sun’ in this year’s Fringe and again won the award for Best Female Performance for Amy Conroy.

IN A BETTER WORLD HÆVNEN

‘In a better world’ won the Academy Award in 2011 for Best International Film. It is directed by Danish Susanne Bier and written by Anders Thomas Jensen

It’s heavy and disturbing, it made me think and I questioned many things. I was crying and I was upset, I learned and I empathized. This film moved me more than I expected when I sat down. Somehow I was able to relate with the troubles the characters were going through, even though I’ve never experienced half of what they went through. However the characters performance and the setting of the scenes made it possible for me to sympathise with their stories. The environment seemd realistic and their difficulties approachable. One could think that all the topics that are being discussed within the plot could be overwhelming, but surprisingly they made me engage equally with each of them. As a matter of fact the makers created a sensible setting in which the characters could truly be themselves. All this contributed to the fact of total involvement. The actuality of the actions brought the complexity of problems much closer to me. This piece of work proved itself as a masterpiece in my opinion, as it created not just one but several catharsises for me. This movie didn’t leave me alone for several days.

‘In a better world’ didn’t leave me alone for a few days after

watching it.

Will you hit back or will you be more intelligent and fight violence with pride and confidence? Two boys are being challenged with bullies in their school and their father and families being confronted with the outcome of their disputes. The teaching lesson doesn’t stop in the classroom and the characters are being faced with not just violence but with the question of revenge and life changing decisions. This film of two families colliding in urban Denmark provides various moral themes, including bullying, marriage betrayal, revenge, and violence in our daily life and even in far away Africa.

The Makers

Susanne Bier is a Danish film director, born in 1960. Besides graduating from the National Film School of Denmark, she also studied Arts in Jerusalem and Architecture in London. Additional successful films of her are ‘Brothers’ and ‘After the wedding’.

Anders Thomas Jensen is a Danish writer for screenplays, who has successfully worked on many films nationally and internationally. Before winning the Oscar for ‘In a better world’, he already won the Oscar in 1999 for his short film ‘Valgaften’.

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Jan Schneider

December 2011