Viewing Inka Essenhigh’s ‘Minor Sea Gods of Maine’ reminds us of turning the first page of a wonderful storybook. We delve back into our imaginations and explore the celestial images of our dreams on canvas. A ghostly green sea seeps over rocks. Finely drawn waves form a frothy beaked gargoyle, sitting on the edge of a rocky precipice. A long green limb emerges from the sea and penetrates the sky: Dimensions and boundaries become meaningless aside from one fine line marking the horizon. Brush strokes seem gentle but precise in creating this mythical otherworldly scene, a throwback to religious pagan imagery.
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After a hugely successful debut with Othello last February, director Arin Arbus returns to Theater for a New Audience with another Shakespearian offering in the form of Measure for Measure, Shakespeare’s quintessential problem play. The story of a society dealing with extremism, puritanical religious views clashing with the reality of a sexually explicit society, the plot should pose little problem for contemporary audiences. However, we often have trouble coming to terms with the theme of chastity on which the story so desperately hinges. Despite powerful staging and strong performances from the cast, Arbus’ production fails to clear that common hurdle and, at times, the production doesn’t ring true.
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Towards the end of Fish Tank, Andrea Arnold’s most recent contribution to the film world and winner of the Jury’s award at the Cannes film festival, the heroine whips down her oversized tracksuit bottoms and urinates all over the carpet. Hurtling along at an unrelenting pace, the film has been building to this moment of release. It is an image so poignant that the viewer recoils and yet does not lose the thread of action even for a moment. We are held forcibly in this inner city concrete backwater for better or worse.
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Nominations have been announced. Check if your predictions were right…
After a tedious run of Othello at the public theatre, a more exciting prospect has arrived in the form of an Irish export. ‘Silver Stars’, a home-grown collaboration by Sean Millar and Brokentalkers theatre company, is a song cycle based on the lives of older Irish gay men.
Peering out the window of a train from London to Stratford Upon Avon, Adam Marple, a young American director, admires the passing English countryside and puzzles at the ‘festival culture’ so important to the traditions of British theatre. “It’s strange”, he says, speaking in a typically slow, drawn out manner, his usual thoughtful tone bringing the conversation to the brink of a full stop. “These cities like Stratford are packed pull of theatre-goers for, say, one month of the year, and then what? What happens to the city when everyone leaves?”
I guess it’s left there, devoid of the things that give it an identity, waiting for the next round of artists to come and give it life again. The trouble is that this reality could just as adequately apply to Marple’s life. As a theatre director emerging from Columbia’s Master of Fine Arts program, he is consumed by what he considers to be his vocation- making theatre necessary. Theatre is not simply his job, nor his art. It’s his life and his foremost priority. Marple’s dedication to his craft can start to seem a little strange if one looks closely and it is clear that theatre is the most vital component of the director’s existence, taking precedence over food (he didn’t eat for three days while working on Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard), water and human relationships. Without it, he is a little like an off-season Stratford- a man without a self.
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The first concert I’ve ever been to that involved commercial breaks, and suffered for it. Marketed as a concert with the filming for a TV station only mentioned as a side note, the organizers of John Mayer at the Beacon theater pretty much made an audience pay a hundred dollars a ticket to cheer and create ambient noise or ‘ambi’, as those in the biz like to call it. As Mayer muttered his way through the commercial intervals unscripted and unprepared, there was a distinct sense of being cheated amongst the troops- I mean, couldn’t he at least have prepared a joke or anecdote? Were we only there to serve the sales of his new album?
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Candice Breitz’ work, while definitely not purely novelty, has always been refreshing for its pure entertainment value. So often in contemporary American culture, artists strive to be artistic, to say something powerful through abstract means. Breitz has never fallen prey to this form of existential expression that requires a phD in literary criticism to decipher. She has always been an artist in and of her times, using digital technologies to make social comment on the celebrity hype cycle that pervades pop culture, and addressing issues to which even the average Joe B.A. can relate.
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THE SANTALAND DIARIES….A Christmas Comedy for Adults…
By David Sedaris, adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello
Directed by Stewart Roche. Starring Patrick O’Donnell
‘A remarkable performance’ SUNDAY BUSINESS POST**** (FOUR STARS)
‘Hilarious…there are no end of laughs’ METRO**** (FOUR STARS)
It’s a classic story - one man suffers for our sins, and we are all saved.
This year, that man is an elf.
Based on David Sedaris’ own experience, THE SANTALAND DIARIES describes the wickedly funny journey of Crumpet, a 33-year-old starving artist turned Macy’s Santaland Elf. At first the job is simply humiliating, but as he contends with cranky parents, badly behaved children and colourful career elves, Crumpet becomes battle-weary and bitter. But will the arrival of a warm and loving Santa - so different from all his drunken, lecherous predecessors - prompt our hero into an uncharacteristic act of goodwill on Christmas Eve?
For those who like a little spice with their Christmas sugar, THE SANTALAND DIARIES is the perfect antidote to holiday schmaltz.
‘Snappier than a Christmas Carol’ IRISH INDEPENDENT
Please note: THE SANTALAND DIARIES is not suitable for children. This isn’t an attempt to whip up some controversy. It really isn’t suitable. There are lots of bad words. And some singing. And Cher is mentioned. Frequently…
BOOKING & LISTINGS INFORMATION
Opens Tuesday, December 1st ( previews Nov 30th) and plays until Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009.
Mon-Sat at 1.10pm (doors open at 12.50pm)
Tickets €15 (includes light lunch)
BOOKING: 086-8784001 or info@bewleyscafetheatre.com
Irish Tour Nov. 12 – Dec. 19
The NASC touring network presents Druid’s sell-out hit of this year’s Galway Arts Festival -The Gigli Concert by Tom Murphy - a searching, challenging and funny story of hope and possibility and above all the endurance of the human spirit. This Druid production will embark on an extensive tour of Ireland between November 12th and December 19th playing in Letterkenny, Tralee, Longford, Portlaoise, Dún Laoghaire and Ennis.
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