When attempting a run-down of what to see at the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival, such is the abundance of highlights, it could prove more time productive to write about what not to see.
The programme of what is fast being recognised as one of the leading theatre festivals in Europe, reads like a Michelin-star menu of theatrical titbits and sensory sweetbreads. And, like the exclusivity of a Michelin-starred restaurant the most often-uttered complaint in relation to the festival is not the quality but the price. Tickets can be expensive, but of course costs cover not only high production values, but also the cost of bringing such shows to a sea-locked nation often for their European premiere.
Perhaps the best way then to advise upon what to see in the coming two weeks is to focus on things you might never see again. That’s not to say that the home-grown theatre should be ignored. Some of the best shows listed below are from Irish theatre companies, but more than likely these shows will tour or play for longer in Dublin theatres. If your budget stretches to just a few shows, then rather than lament the effect of the credit crunch on your travel plans, see the best of international theatre in Dublin now.
The start of your journey should be Isango/Portobello Theatre Company’s production of The Magic Flute, which relocates Mozart’s magical and mysterious kingdom to colourful and mysterious South Africa. The iconic opera proves popular this season with revivals by D.I.T. Conservatory of Music and Drama and by Lyric Opera at the National Concert Hall, but Impempe Yomlingo which consciously plays with the eponymous sing-play draws on the magic and music of the township setting swaying seamlessly between Vienna and Cape Town. Such a mixture of Western and African musical traditions will no doubt provoke debate and critical acclaim, and judging by its reception on London stages earlier this year and its Lawrence Olivier Award 2008 for Best Musical Revival and the Theatre Goers Choice Award, The Magic Flute is a resounding must-see.
Another revival of a classic text is Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis which is presented by Vesturport Theatre of Iceland and Lyric Hammersmith. The theatrically explosive tale of a boy who turns into a dung beetle requires new measures each time to justify its restaging. It is Borkur Jonsson’s gravity defying split-level set which promises to provide a new vertigo-inducing lens for the dizzying surrealist tale. With an original score by musician and lyricist Nick Cave, the production will no doubt bring the necessary poignancy and humour to one of the most enduring tales of the alienation of modern man.
Belgian company Victoria and Tim Etchells’ collaborative piece, That Night Follows Day, stands out in the programme for its clear, uncomplicated manifesto. The blurb describes the piece as one for adults featuring children between the ages of eight and fourteen that examines systems of parenting, care and welfare. A simple and poetic piece of theatre, it may well stand out for originality, form and poetry; as the Scotsman articulates ‘simply breathtaking’.
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, by U.K. theatre company, 1927, was one of the hits of the Edinburgh Fringe 2007. When the show arrives in Dublin tickets will be like gold dust. For those of us who are lucky to see it, the production combines 1920s cabaret, live music and performance, with impossibly glamorous movies and hilarious animation. Shows like this don’t sit comfortably in the category of theatre but straddle genres somewhere between late night entertainment, cinema, stand-up and avant garde performance art. If work like this can filter the Irish psyche through international festivals, the future is bright.
Of course, the four shows mentioned are just a minor sample of what the festival offers, selected for reasons of ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it-ness’ and subjectivity. The festival boasts a multitude of Irish productions that hold their own among international heavy weights. Coisceim premiere their show Dodgems, the Gate Theatre produces Brian Friel’s adaptation of Hedda Gabler, Corn Exchange take up Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Fishamble presents new play Rank. Similarly U.K. based companies boast an exciting line-up. Happy Days by the National Theatre of Great Britain featuring Fiona Shaw and Tim Potter, National Theatre of Scotland’s critically acclaimed Black Watch, News From Nowhere’s England and National Theatre of Great Britain’s Waves. Each of these presents many opportunity, to escape, to be entertained, to ponder, to be provoked, to laugh, to cry, to broaden our understanding of what theatre is and can be in 2008 and, as the Festival advertising promises, to feel. An exciting programme of events. The only limit: how far the purse strings stretch.