The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,300 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 22 trips to carry that many people.
Thomas Caffrey from Droichead YT reviews Luck Just Kissed You Hello and The Night Alive as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2015
Thomas Caffrey is back. And this time it’s theatrical. This is part one of his account of his trek into the dense and treacherous jungle of modern Irish Theatre with this year’s NAYD Young Critics Panel. Read on… If you dare.
So we returned yet again, our task set, our resolves in check. Dissemble theatre internally, build it back together inside the eye of our minds and see if it all comes crashing down like an unbalanced game of jenga. The weekend got off to an impeccable start; anything that begins with missing maths class can hardly be faulted. Meeting outside of the GPO, we had an extremely brief reunion followed by a swift trip to the Project Arts Centre, where we devoured some sandwiches mercilessly and took part in a preparatory workshop during which we unpacked and set out our collective expectations of the three performances we would be…
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A former NAYD Young Critic reviews the latest NAYD National Youth Theatre Show, Salt Mountain by Carmel Winters.
After taking some time to deliberate, we have Aoife Gallagher and Andy McLoughlin this week giving their two cents on National Youth Theatre and their production of Salt Mountain by Carmel Winters last month!
The story told in Carmel Winters’ Salt Mountain is as familiar as it is topical. The play focuses on a community thrown out of their homes and left to survive with nothing but the community around them, occasionally showing the aloof and apathetic response of the powers deciding their fate. The play is performed by NAYD and featuring our very own Lorna Kettle.
Now, the first thing which struck me about this play was of course, the set. It just can’t be ignored for as soon as one walks in they immediately notice this unusual set, featuring huge mounds of real salt in the middle of the stage, resembling mountains. This in itself was unusual, to…
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NAYD Young Critic and Droichead YT member Thomas Caffrey gives us his insight to his first weekend with Young Critics
This week we have guest writer Thomas Caffrey, regaling his experiences as part of NAYD’s Young Critics programme!
When I first heard about the Young Critics earlier this year, I must say that i was intrigued to say the least. Free tickets to major productions and free accommodation in Dublin? Count me in! An important question I sook the answer to was; “what is a critic?” Not a miserable pile of secrets surely? Surely there is more to the tradition than simple miserablism?
We as a group met on the Friday by the GPO and absconded hastily to the Marino Institute(nowhere near as sinister as it sounds) where we participated in a workshop outlining the basics of “criticism” and what exactly it means. Is criticism just spewing hatred indiscriminately? Is it simply the dissection of a piece of art? The second definition may be a little more correct- it is…
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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,100 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 18 trips to carry that many people.
An Epic Trilogy of Reviews about an Epic Weekend of Theatre comes to a conclusion with Andy Vs. Ganesh Vs. The Third Reich
Andy McLoughlin’s epic trilogy of reviews concludes with Ganesh Vs. The Third Reich, by Back to Back Theatre, seen with the Young Critics programme as part of this year’s Dublin Theatre Festival.
meta
A term, especially in art, used to characterize something that is characteristically self-referential.
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Andy Vs. Ganesh Vs. The Third Reich
In a weekend filled with weird plays, it seemed fitting to end it with a play that was really two normal plays. The first storyline of Ganesh Vs. The Third Reich tells the story of the Hindu god of overcoming obstacles (oh how symbolic!) trekking through Eastern Europe on a quest to reclaim the symbol of the Swastika from Nazi Germany. This story is interspersed with scenes showing a sort of “Making of the Show” in which we’re given a fictionalised account of the production’s story from start to grizzly end. As the play progresses…
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In the second of his reviews, Droichead Youth Theatre’s own Andy McLoughlin gives us his own insight on Pan Pan’s production from the recent DTF. Andy was one of NAYD’s Young Critics for 2014
In this, the darker, edgier sequel to last week’s blog, Andy McLoughlin reviews PanPan theatre’s adaptation of the Chekov classic, “The Seagull”, titled “The Seagull and Other Birds”, seen with the Young Critics programme as part of this year’s Dublin Theatre Festival
Anton Chekov was a highly popular Russian comedy writer in the nineteenth century. People would come to his shows from miles around to be made laugh by his shows. Unfortunately, tastes have changed and his plays, if performed as originally intended, probably wouldn’t elicit the same reactions today. Some people would argue that performing these shows directly translated, exactly as performed at the time isn’t the best way to honour his memory, and instead what is important is to reflect the spirit and intentions of his original work, comedy and all. To these people I say “Balderdash!” The only correct way to recreate a text is with pedantic…
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In the run up to NAYD’s Young Critics Panel on Oct 5th as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival, we continue to publish a series of reviews from the Young Critics.
Over the summer months,we asked the Young Critics to attend some shows on their own. We asked them to make a short vlog review of their experience. We then asked a selection of them to turn these into written reviews. Dr. Karen Fricker offered some editorial advice.
So with less than a week to go to the Young Critic’s Panel, Catriona Quigley reviews Heartbreak House
Heartbreak House by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Roisin McBrinn
Performed by Lisa Dwyer Hogg, Nick Dunning, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Brendan Conroy, Marcus Lamb, Mark Lambert, Aislin McGuckin, Chris McHallem, Don Wycherley, and Barbara Brennan
Sets by Alyson Cummins, lighting by Paul Keogan, Costumes by Niamh Lunny, music and sound design by Philip Stewart
Viewed on August 21st 2014 at the Abbey Theatre
Reviewed by Caitriona Quigley
Heartbreak House: the name seems to imply anything but good-naturedness. At the same time, though, period dramas bring guilty pleasure for many, particularly now that Downton Abbey is so popular. And I’ve never studied George Bernard Shaw at all. Given all this, it was hard to know what to expect from the Abbey’s production – but I found myself sitting transfixed.
Shaw set his scene in 1914, just before the outbreak of the First World War, ensuring a plenitude of satirical jabs at the expense of the affluent upper classes who confined themselves to their trivial problems as the world changed around them.
Mark Lambert (Captain Shotover), Aislín McGuckin (Lady Ariadne Utterword), Kathy Kiera Clarke (Hesione Hushabye), Lisa Dwyer Hogg (Ellie Dunn) and Nick Dunning (Hector Hushabye) in Heartbreak House by Bernard Shaw, directed by Róisín McBrinn. Photo by Sarah Doyle.
The play concerns a colourful cast of characters who congregate for a country weekend at the dwelling of the surly yet outspoken Captain Shotover, played with appropriate gusto by Mark Lambert. Shotover has been estranged from his younger daughter Ariadne (Aislin McGuckin) for 23 years — yet she seethes when both the Captain and her eccentric sister Hesione (Kathy Keira Clarke) fail to recognize her. Hesione, meanwhile, has invited her friend, Ellie Dunn (the excellent Lisa Dwyer Hogg) to stay for the weekend. When Ellie arrives with her father and her fiancé in tow, she reveals that she’s had her head turned by a mysterious man, who as it transpires, may be a little too familiar to some of the guests…
I admired how Shaw deconstructs various archetypes often found in period dramas, such as the naïve young maiden, the crotchety patriarch, and the well-meaning best friend. The play’s central theme is deceit, and no character ended up to be as they appeared at the play’s outset. The characters and the audience are simultaneously strung along by this deceit, which paves the way for a literally explosive conclusion!
Aislín McGuckin (Lady Ariadne Utterword), Nick Dunning (Hector Hushabye) and Mark Lambert (Captain Shotover) in Heartbreak House by Bernard Shaw, directed by Róisín McBrinn. Photo by Sarah Doyle.
Heartbreak House, is, at times, an incredibly complex production to follow. I can’t count how many times my mum and I exchanged expressions of confusion about how the plot swerved in many directions, often with no prior warning. Yet, the dazzling set by Alyson Cummins, the actors’ impeccable comic timing and exquisite costumes by Niamh Lunny ensure that this production is, at its best, a genuinely enticing piece of theatre.
In conclusion, we found that Shaw’s razor-sharp wit and jovial banter made for insightful and pleasant viewing. Very highly recommended!
Catriona Quigley is a member of M.A.D Youth Theatre, Dundalk and an NAYD Young Critic for 2014
In the run up to NAYD’s Young Critics Panel on Oct 5th as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival, we will be publishing a series of reviews from the Young Critics.
Over the summer months we asked the Young Critics to attend some shows in their own home venue. We asked them to make a short vlog review of the experience. We then asked a selection of them to turn these into written reviews. Dr. Karen Fricker offered some editorial advice.
With three weeks to go to the Young Critic’s Panel Andy McLoughlin reviews Five Minutes Later
5 Minutes Later, By Ellen Flynn, directed by Marc Atkinson
Performed by Bob Kelly, Nichola McEvilly, Manus Halligan, and Sophie Jo Wasson
Set and lighting design by Colm McNally
Sound Design by Osgar Dukes
Costume Design by Mary Sheehan
Viewed on August 30th at The Lir
Review by Andy McLoughlin
Ellen Flynn’s Five Minutes Later, presented by Sugarglass Theatre Company
The plot of Ellen Flynn’s new play is certainly a familiar one: four twenty-something strangers meet at a speed-dating night and become entangled in a strange love quadrangle while struggling with fidelity, friendship and loyalty. Given all the familiar tropes and superficial philosophy associated with these kinds of plays, Flynn’s talent is in resisting those clichés. Rather than presenting us with archetypes and then subverting them, we’re shown complex characters who resist being reduced to archetypes in the first place. There are no good or bad people in these relationships, only ambiguous choices made by flawed people to ambiguous ends. The play attempts to show our collective social network for what it really is: normal people navigating a world that isn’t.
The difficult themes of vanity, objectification and secrecy are captured well by the design elements of the play. The set, which at times takes up the entire width of the already small stage, is comprised of four door-frame-sized two-way mirrors which move through the space on tracks. At the best of times they serve to frame the action of the play, surrounding the characters and forcing them to confront themselves or allowing them to judge each other from behind a reflective screen. Occasionally though, it seems there’s a tendency to manipulate these mirrors just so they don’t go to waste. This endless fluidity disorients and induces fatigue as often as it heightens the drama.
In some cases, the non-stop movement on stage fits nicely into the hectic and sometimes surreal nature of the play. As for the plot itself, things are a little more muddled. The lion’s share of the play is effectively a highlights reel of the four characters’ relationships as they go from strangers to lovers and back again. As the show’s title suggests, the concept of time is a loose one and we often see these relationships grow and change without any real indication of how much time has passed, which leads to some confusion. The plot is further convoluted by hectic dreamlike interludes and even in the most intimate moments, we’re distracted by the actors manipulating the set around them to change the space.
It’s in returning to the more real, albeit complicated interactions between these four friends/foes/lovers that Atkinson’s talent really shines through. With the help of a great cast of characters and actors (Nichola McEvilly being the MVP as a desperate housewife seeking escape), speed, distance and emotions are all explored in their fullest range to give a dizzying sense of drama in the lives of these characters. Whatever about surreal interludes and unpredictable plot pacing, this is ultimately a play that feels as strange and immediate to us in the audience as it does to those on stage. And that is no small feat.
Andy McLoughlin is a member of Droichead Youth Theatre and a participant on NAYD’s Young Critics Programme 2014
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