A memory play that juxtaposes between the real and the remembered, Boss Grady’s Boys by Sebastian Barry, which opened at the Gaiety Theatre on Thursday night, is a solidly acted, optically alluring play which explores the past and the present of two aging brothers in rural Ireland, probing a codependent existence which was once the norm but is now dying if not dead. Where brothers and sisters lived as spouses on the farms where they grew up, surrounded by silence they need to break and memories they cannot escape, sharing the chores and even the bed, surviving in isolation from one day to the next.

Told through a series of unconnected scenes that fade in and out like anamnesis, it’s an evocative if not fully realised piece of theatre that needed a firmer directorial hand than Jim Culleton’s to push past the aesthetic and tickle the intellect. Barry is a writer whose work does not gladly welcome the uninitiated and there is a sense here that this work would have suited the page better than the stage.

That’s not to say the performances lack vigor. Far from it. Tom Hickey and Pat Shortt seem effortlessly authentic in their portrayal of the two codependent bachelors, one stoic, one simple, whose lives revolve around false hope and shattered expectations; of cinematic inspiration (The Marx Brothers and Cowboys and Indians) and hero’s of yesteryear (Michael Collins). The bitter bite of community is evoked through a bedside poker game, where local widows (Maria McDermotroe, Gina Moxley) and a widower(Donagh Deeney) trade barbs and pass the time while Maeve Fitzgerald and Mary Murray, billed as girl and woman respectively, capture the loss and longing that shaped and haunt both men’s lives.

But while the actors can’t be faulted for their performance and scenes work well in isolation there is a confusion that stems from Barry’s script that has not been worked through at the rehearsal stage, which often leads us to question what the production is trying to achieve. While the play has no linear structure and has an open ending everything is left that little bit too loose and never comes together as fluidly as is required. The vast Gaiety Theatre also swallows the plays quieter moments and forces the production to splash out on a gimmicky, if impressive, set by Paul Keogan which pulls focus away from what’s going on.

It could be argued that this was the present Gar from Philadelphia, Here I Come was running away from or the future he had in store should he have stayed in Ballybeg. And while the themes of this piece are certainly given better due than in Dominic Dromgoole’s production, the whole play is just that little bit to elusive to have a lasting impact.

Pictionary

Awarded at the 2010 Wave Festival in Brazil and at the 2010 Jade Festival in Antigua, the latest Pictionary advertising campaign shows a helicopter, a ship and a bear just as they would be if drawn by Pictionary players. How fantastic is that? Just look at the little bear, if only grizzlies were as cute in real life. The images were created by Oglivy & Mather and directed by Colombian Art director Juan Jose Posada.

Megan Geckler

Megan Geckler is a Los Angeles-based installation artist who creates site-specific one-of-a-kind installations using flagging tape. Flagging tape is a plastic ribbon typically used by construction workers on sites to mark space - you know the stuff, the red and white stripey tape that flaps around building sits all the time. Megan’s creations are a part of the space and she uses the architecture around her not only as a construction to work from and tie into, but also as inspiration for the form of the piece. Each piece is hand-made and yet looks as though it was done with a machine.

Her most recent piece called ‘Every step you take, every move you make’ (see above and ignore the cheesy name) is on display at the The Pasadena Museum of California Art. PMCA wanted a piece that represented craft, art and design, which Megan’s work certainly does. The enormous piece takes up practically all of the space in the gallery, she and her team of 20 worked for 700 man hours to create the enormous structure.

Ellen Rogers

Ellen Rogers is a London based photographer. All of her work is analogue and does not utilise any digital equipment or computer based manipulation (other than scanning the end result). According to Ellen, her techniques mostly come from experimentation with traditional darkroom processes. I love the romantic side to each of her images. The models she chooses as well as the styling and make-up fit together so well in the end result. It seems like the kinds of work that could have come from the 1800s, but would most certainly have been banned due to the fear that it might disturb Christian values and democracy.

Mouth-to-Mouth by Olivier award-winning playwright Kevin Elyot is the latest production from Kildare’s Crooked House Theatre Company, which runs at the Cube in The Project Arts Centre until the 4th of September. It’s one of those bourgeois comedies that Noel Coward perfected, where everybody is dicking everybody else and secrets and lies, so obvious to all but those in the play itself, are disclosed with lashings of wit.

Flitting between a mournful present and the raucous past, it is populated by maddening caricatures of middle class malcontents.  There is Laura (Jillian Bradbury), a middle-aged house wife who is ’still’ planning on leaving her dentist husband Dennis (Patrick O’Donnell), who is jealous of her almost Oedipal relationship with their son, Philip (Ian Armstrong). They’re ‘enjoying’ pre-drinks with Dennis’s brother Roger (Steve Gunn), a wine merchant and his new bride Cornelia (Sophia Cadogan), an interior designer fluent in Anglo-Saxon who have recently returned from Oz. Then there is Frank (Nick Devlin), Laura’s best friend, suffering from a terrible wasting illness, a struggling playwright, who listens and listens but is never heard himself and whose wandering hands are the cause of so much grief. There’s supposed to be more going on here than meets the eye but the constant disdain these characters show towards one another does little to suspend our belief and when the characters voice their true meanings to one another in private it is repetition rather than revelation.

It’s a clunky, if involving, piece of theatre, its 90 minutes playing time seeming longer than it is thanks to some overly florid scene changes and a distracting sound design. This disrupts the pace of the piece and lessens the emotional impact of a play, rather like inflating and deflating a balloon but never tying the knot. The acting is adequate, particularly Cadogan in her professional debut, but many of the cast get trapped behind accents and fly into a flip too readily, doing little to hide their characters true feelings.

Some moments are well executed- a tango between mother and son, a heart to heart between friends and a comical yet touching moment between strangers- and in the casting of Armstrong director Peter Hussey emphasises Philip’s youth over the buff physical allure he is supposed to have embodied in other productions, giving the whole affair a darker, more disturbing edge that works with the plays ending.

But all these do is highlight the weaknesses of Elyot’s script, which relies too much on ellipsis and clumsy exposition, where the writer’s fingerprints are so obvious they smudge the final product. He throws so much into the pot but forgets to spark the hob and get the whole thing cooking, dangling a pedophilic sub plot, a troika of affairs and two deaths in front of us, which neither he nor this production manage to make seem credible. Issues as intriguing as the rejection a father feels by a matriarchal society and the contortion of teenage urges are raised but discounted, while the extreme reaction of a father and son are mentioned but never satisfactorily covered-a fatal error that undermines the grief gripping the characters.

There’s also a random ghostly element that pops up intermittently and really isn’t utilised at all as well as a sleazy gay doctor whose sole purpose seems to be to jazz up the production, with his talk of doing a line off the bus boy’s appendage (oh me, oh my).

Mouth to Mouth kept my interest and got me thinking about loss, longing and the legislation of love. But as I applauded at the intermission I was shocked to learn that inspite of feeling longer than it was the play had, in fact, come to an end, with little resolution.

(Type type type…) “‘And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard rain’s a-gonna…autumn?’ Hmmmnn, this might need some work…”

You know how it is: it’s 2am, you can’t sleep and you’re on the internet copying and pasting song lyrics into foreign languages and then back again using Babelfish.yahoo.com. I was wondering whether some legendarily bad (and downright weird) lyrics might be improved by being subjected to the aforementioned process. Let’s look at some of the results shall we?*

“Life” by Des’ree into Traditional Chinese and back:

Traditional Chinese version! Oh! Oh life! Oh life! I’m is afraid dark is specially, when I’m in park, and there’ s nobody, oh I obtains shivers. My don’t wants to look at the ghost, It’s a frightened most I Sight; and a rather edible toast onlooking in the evening news. Chorus: Life, oh life! Oh life! Oh life! doo, Doot doot dooo… Life, oh life! Oh life! Oh life! doo doot doo I’m superstitious girl I’m is worst in the world do not walk under the ladder, I retain rabbit’s tail. I’ll adopts you to dare, any place; Gives the place, I’ll in there, caper bungee, I don’t cared! Chorus life oh life… Therefore after all mediates does me to know I’ m is not an only life may indeed be a pleasure, if you want truly. Sometimes occupies your dream, Ain’t is equally easy to look like its as if you to want the flight entire world, in a beautiful balloon.

“Love Plus One” by Haircut 100 into Russian and back:

The I, I did go to the right [bez] to speak before the meeting, before the meeting where it does go hence? Descent to the fear of lake i? Ay ah ah ah ah ah Ay ah ah ah ah ah after this I do cause you do ring love la La of the ring of the ring of ring (ring) (ring) (ring) (ring) plus one you do ring the ring of the ring of ring (ring) (ring) (ring) (ring) when I to call love give love a certain soul if I I can be sufficiently so bold where it does go hence? Descent to the fear of lake i? Ay ah ah ah ah ah Ay ah ah ah ah ah after this I cause you ring love la La of the ring of the ring of ring (ring) (ring) (ring) (ring) plus one you ring the ring of the ring of ring (ring) (ring) (ring) (ring) when I to call love you will fall in love with plus one

“Get Down” by Gilbert O’Sullivan into Italian and back:

To the once Said Piece of furniture before you And the won the tit does not say it more It does not reduce, it reduces, it reduces. You with reference to a defective child of the dog. But I want still it ’round the crawled dates When jumped on your feet Thus reduce, reduce, reduce. Maintain your hands she I’m rigorously from the limits. Once I have drunk a little wine happy. Era how much could be, happy it could have been. Now I’ the m. As soon as gradice a cat on a warm roof of the latta Child what you thinks you’ king doin’ to me once Said before you. And the won the t he does not say it more. Thus does not reduce, they reduce, they reduce. You with reference to a defective child of the dog. But I want still it ’round around. Still I around want aye aye aye the don’t to it; elasticity of t a maledizione and I’d the gradice if you can to. Reduces, reduces, reduces you ‘king defective child of the dog. But I want still it ’round. Once I have drunk a little wine happy Era how much could be, happy it could have been Now I’ the m as soon as gradice a cat on a warm roof of the latta Child what you thinks you’ king doin’ to me once Said before you And the won’ the t he does not say it more Thus does not reduce, they reduce, they reduce You’ with reference to a defective child of the dog But I want still it ’round around.

“My Humps” by Black Eyed Peas into German and back:

Which it gon’ do you do with this whole Trödel? This whole Trödel within your trunk? I’m a received, received, received, receive, you drunk, to receiving you you love drunk away from my embossment. My embossment, my embossment, my embossment, my embossment, my embossment, my embossment, my embossment, my embossment, my attractive small lumps (examination it out) I drives these moved brothers, I does it on the daily paper, you treats me really friendly, you buys me to all these freezes. Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi and Donna Karan, are them sharin’ Their whole money received wearin’ to me; Fly brother I ain’ askin, you say that they love my donkey `n, seven jeans, applicable Religion’ to t; s, I says No., but they hold givin’ Thus hold I takin’ And no I ain’ t taken we can on datin’ hold; I hold on demonstrating. My love (love), my love, my love, my love (love) you love my lady lumps (love), my embossment, my embossment, my embossment (love), my embossments received it you, She’ s received expenditure to me. (Oh) Spendin’ Their whole money on me and expenditure time on me. She’ s received spendin’ to me;. (Oh) Spendin’ Their whole money on me, up on me, on me which it gon’ do you do with this whole Trödel? This whole Trödelinnere trunk? I’ MA received, received, received, receive, you drunk, to receiving you you love drunk away from my embossment. Which it gon’ do you do with this whole donkey? These whole donkeys within it jeans? I’ m form, form, form, form you for cry forming you you cry, form you you cry. Lettuce of my embossment (ha), my embossment, my embossment, my embossment (which). My embossment, my embossment, my embossment (ha), my attractive lady lumps (examination it out) I met a girl down to the Disco. She said he, he, he Yea let’ s go. I could be their baby, you can my honey its Let’ s do not spend money of the time. I mix its milk ESPRIT my cocoa breath, Milchiger, milchiger cocoa, mixing you your milk with my cocoa breath, milchiges, milchiges riiiiiiight. They say I’ m really delightfully, the boys wish them to the sex me. It always standing near me, always, dancing near me, Tryin’ a feeling my embossment, embossment. Lookin’ at my lump lump. They can look however you can’ T-note it, if it I’ affect; MA beginning any drama, it don’ t do not wish in such a way a drama, not no drama, No., No., No., no drama to don’ T-course on my hand boy, it ain’ t my man, boy, I’ m straight tryn’ a dance boy, and shift you mean embossments. My embossment, my embossment, my embossment, my embossment, my embossment, my embossment, my embossment, my embossment, my embossment, my embossment. My attractive lady seizes together (lumps) my attractive lady seizes together (lumps) my attractive lady seizes together (lumps) in the back and in the front (lump) my lovin’ They receive, She’ s received spendin’ to me;. (Oh) Spendin’ Their whole money on me and expenditure time on me. She’ s received spendin’ to me;. (Oh) Spendin’ Their whole money on me, up on me, on me. Which it gon’ do you do with this whole Trödel? This whole Trödelinnere trunk? I’ MA received, received, received, receive you drunk, to receiving you you love drunk away from my embossment. Which it gon’ do you do with this whole donkey? These whole donkeys within it jeans? I’ MA form, form, form, form you for cry forming you you cry, form you you cry. Which it gon’ do you do with this whole Trödel? This whole Trödelinnere trunk? I’ MA received, received, received, receive you drunk, to receiving you you love drunk away from this embossment. Which it gon’ does ESPRIT do this whole chest? This whole breast inside the shirt? I’ MA form, form, form, form you for work forming you you work, work on you, form you you work. (a ha, Einha, Einha, Einha) [x4] She’ s received spendin’ to me;. (Oh) Spendin’ Their whole money on me and spendin’ Time on me She’ s received spendin’ to me;. (Oh) Spendin’ Their whole money on me, up on me, on me.

“I’d Rather Jack” by The Reynolds Girls into Italian and back:

All that we want to make is to amuse itself Then you have gone to eliminate our house Nobody has never asked our opinion Not, not, we don’t the tit obtains un’ opinion, FM, all those jazz We’d the rather it sings with Yazz What is happened to the radius? The golden songs never do not play that we know Oldies, Rolling Stones, we don’ the tit wants I behind to them; of taken rather than Fleetwood Mac No heavy metal, rock’ n’ seam, music from the passed; of taken rather than Fleetwood Mac I’d of taken rather Can’ t they see that every generation Has music for relative the own identity? But because the DJ on the radius station Is always two times more than age of me? Who has need of Pink Floyd, terrible straits? That’s not our music, it’ s antiquated demographic Stereotipia never does not play the golden songs that we know Oldies, Rolling Stones, we don’t the tit wants I behind to them; of taken rather than Fleetwood Mac No heavy metal, rock’ n’ seam, music from the passed; of taken rather than Fleetwood Mac I’d of taken rather, I’d of taken rather, FM, all those jazz We’d the rather it sings with Yazz What is happened to the radius? The golden songs never do not play that we know Oldies, Rolling Stones, we don’t the tit wants I behind to them; of taken rather than Fleetwood Mac No heavy metal, rock’ n’ seam, music from the passed; of taken rather than golden Fleetwood Mac Oldies, Rolling Stones, we don’t the tit wants I behind to them; of taken rather than Fleetwood Mac No heavy metal, rock’ n’ seam, music from the I passed; of taken rather than golden Fleetwood Mac Oldies, Rolling Stones, we don’t the tit wants I behind to them; of taken rather than Fleetwood Mac No heavy metal, rock’ n’ seam, music from the passed; of taken rather than Fleetwood Mac.

“A Whiter Shade Of Pale” by Procul Harum into Dutch and back again:

We beat light fandango concerning twisted cartwheels ‘cross the floor, I felt pleasantly of seasick but the mob which is exclaimed for more, the space buzzed mullet since the ceiling flew away then we for another spirits exclaimed the waiter brought a server and this way was it later that since the miller is tale told that its face twisted, at first only ghostly, a white shade of proved to be they said, ‘There is no reason and truth is clear to see.’ But I walked by my playing cards and her would not let one of vestal sixteen virgins be which left for the coast and although my eyes were they just ash well are able; closed

“Ironic” by Alannis Morrisette into French, then to Greek, then to English again:

Has a old person turned ninety eight this has gained the [lacheioforo] market and has died the next day. It? HIS black fly in to your Chardonnay It? Apology of district condemned in his death the two minutes excessively late and isn’t this… don’t? ironic? that you think it? Is like the rain your does day of marriage It? Free tour when you the already paid It? ; the good Council these you just didnt? Reception of it where would? Is his VE [skefmmenos]… presented K. Play It Safe did have the fear does fly this has packed his bag and it has embraced his children - [xanadeite] it has expected his [xameni] entire life it realises this flight and while l? Planes? It under shattered to it has thought the? Isn’t? Good? This…? Gentil? And isnt? This… don’t? Ironic? That you think It? Is like the rain your does day of marriage It? Free tour when you the already paid It? the s good Council these you just didn’t? Reception of t where would? Does his VE [skefmmenos]… present the good life it has a joke way cafarder ascendant you when you think everything’? O[oy] of [y] and everything? Is that they go well and the life they have a joke way to repair to you when you think everything? That they go bad and all they explode in your confrontation a bottling when you? Already with delay are non-fumeurs they are connected the cutting of your cigarette It? Is it likes spoons the ten when all that you have the need is a knife It? Is that it meets l? Person of my dreams and meeting then his beautiful spouse and isn’t? This… don’t? ironic? That you think little excessively ironic… and, ouais, i thinks really… It? Is like the rain your does day of marriage It? Free tour when you? The already paid It? The good Council these you just didn’t? Reception of t where would? His VE [skefmmenos]… presents the life it has a joke way cafarder ascendant your life it has a joke and joke way to repair to you you that you repair.

Once I’d got into my stride, some really good lyrics proved difficult to resist…

“A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” by Bob Dylan into simple Chinese and back:

Oh, where are you at are, my blue eye’s son? Where and are you at are, my dear young people one? I’ve tripped, in 12 have one side the mist mountain, I’ve walked and I’ve crawled in six curving highways, I’ve in seven sad forest middle strides, In 12 die in front of the sea is, I’ve is in the graveyard mouth’s 10,000 miles, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, It’s a hard rain’ s a-gonna autumn. Oh, what did you see, my blue eye’s son? What and did you see, my dear young people one? I possessed nearby it see to have a wild wolf’s new birth baby, I saw the diamond highway with nobody regarding this, I looked with retained drippin’ A blood’s black branch; I looked at the room to have their hammer’s a-bleedin’ fully; Human; I saw a water used all lid’s white ladder, I saw the wound tongue complete 10,000 talkative people, I saw the gun and in baby’s hand’s sharp sword, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s hardly with it’s a hard, It’s hard rain’ s a-gonna autumn. Oh, what have you heard, my blue eye’s son? What and have you heard, my dear young people one? I heard to roar warnin’ Thunder sound; Possibly heard to submerge the world wave the roar, I have heard the hand am a-blazin’ 100 drummers; I have heard 10,000 whisperin’ And nobody listenin’ I hear a person to starve, I have heard many people’s laughin’ Listens in the drain gutter dead poet’s song, I have heard in the alley sob comedian clown’s sound, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, It’s hard rain’ s a-gonna autumn. Oh, what did you meet, my blue eye’s son? And whose you have met, my dear young people one? I met, in dies nearby a pony baby, I met a dawdle depressed Caucasian, I met a young married woman who the body burns, I met a girl, she has given me the rainbow, I met a person who likes being injured, I met am wounded in hatred another person, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, It’s hard rain’s a-gonna autumn. And what’ll you present, my blue eye’s son? And what’ll you present, my dear young people one? I’m a-goin’ Cancels ‘ Front the rain starts a-fallin’ To the deepest darkness’s forest’s depth’s I’ll walk, there people are many, and their hand is completely spatial, there poison pill floods their water, there valley’s family meets the moist dirty jail, and executioner’s the face always good hides, there hunger is ugly, the soul forgot, there black is a color, anything is not the digit, and I’ll tells it, and speaks it and to think it and breathes it, and from mountain reflection, therefore all souls can see it, and In sea I’ll standpoint, until I start sinkin’ But I Starts singin’ in me; ls very before good knows my song; And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s hardly with it’s a hard, It’s a hard rain’ s a-gonna autumn.

“This Night Has Opened My Eyes” by The Smiths into Korean and back:

From river color baby of map; Send to the bottom; From news of head world her comfort her, the young girl protects this night opened my eye in the doorstep which throws away and you not to sleep assuredly again kicked hard and in compliance with the child A whom 25 threatens like the man who grew you cried, Oh, him he Said; therapeutic your evils but the didn’ t and he excepts your life and come, assuredly you In because; the dream which only 1 gets but goes the baby was realness and Oh, you she well work she was and poet one possibility or, foolish one possibility there was and badly Oh, you work and I Without being happy and the m not being and I Without being sad and, child your oneself who is not sour the shoes in the m swing being you she which does to make remember again to carry your trouble and Oh, she to leave a pain but, your life consequently, to except, you In because the dream which only 1 gets but goes the baby was realness and Oh, you she well work she was and poet one possibility or, foolish one possibility there was and badly Oh, you work and I Without being happy and the m not being and I Without being sad and the m being come… And I Without being happy and the m not being and I Without being sad and the m being come… And I Without being happy and the m not being and I Without being sad and the m being.

*I have made some very minor edits for clarity. If it reads like gobbledegook now, you should have seen it with Babelfish’s punctuation. They all looked like Radiohead lyrics. Which reminds me…

Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead into Russian and back:

Its green plastic [chonservnaya] jar for its false Chinese rubber plant in the false plastic earth that it purchased from the rubber complete by personnel in the town of completely rubber plans to obtain [osvobozhdannym] itself it bears it outside, it bears it outside it bears it outside, it bears it outside it lives with the broken person the cracked person of polystyrene who exactly it crumbles and it burns it he used in order to make surgery for [devushok] in afterward eighty but gravitational force gains always it bears him outside, it bears it outside it bears it outside, it bears it outside it regards first-class thing it tries as first-class thing my false plastic love but I can’ aid t feeling I could blow through the ceiling if I exactly I turn and to run he bears me outside, it bears me outside it bears me outside, it bears me outside if I it could be, then whom you wanted if I it could be, then coma you wanted always always… Always…

Coo Planning

This house located in Osaka, Japan by Akiyoshi Nakao of Coo Planning, was created for a couple and their small child. The interior is rich with woods, so if you don’t like wood then this isn’t the house for you. However, it is beautifully designed. It’s a combination of being extremely odd looking with some 1970s luxury thrown in. The architect designed the small square windows so that the ’sprinkling of the sun is felt’ without the need for a large east to west window to achieve a bright, ventilated space.

Entwurk-Direkt

The German Studio Entwurf-Direkt has been around since 2001 and is as much an art space as a furniture store. Each of their ‘Mismatch Drawers’ are built in close collaboration with the clients and are absolutely unique. All their dressers and chests are built by young carpenters. The idea behind using old drawers came from a fascination by all things used or discarded, in particular, old drawers. According to Per Schumann of Entwurf-Direkt, ‘They are the mute servants that help us through our daily lives, containing all kinds of secret things or just bric-a-brac’. A slightly odd explanation for the use of such commonplace ‘assistants’, but the revamped drawers look pretty darn cool so let’s just be happy some people have unusual thoughts about simple things.

The Copenhagen Wheel

The US National Winner has been announced in the 2010 James Dyson Award competition. Christine Outram and a team of MIT students invented the Copenhagen Wheel, a wheel that turns a regular bike into a smart, electric hybrid. This tech-wheel allows riders to capture the energy dissipated when breaking and cycling and save it for when they need a boost. Like most cutting-edge technology these days, the Copenhagen Wheel is controlled through the rider’s smart phone.

Following the death of her son in a homophobic hate crime, Anita (Eleanor Methven) has been forced to leave her home because of her neighbors ignorance. A 17-year-old kid Davey (Kerr Logan) has been following her and in her desperation to find out why she opens her door and lets him in. We find out that he was connected to her son’s murder - he found the body and Anita wants to know more, and more and more.

Director Sophie Motley talks here to Caomhan Keane.

Did u approach Prime Cut Productions or did they approach u to do this piece?

Prime Cut had been in touch with Belfast Pride, as Pride wanted them to do a production. So when Emma Jordan from Prime Cut approached me I went ‘Right, read this play!’. She read it, she loved it and that’s how it began.

I was fascinated to see how it would go down in Ireland because it has a really universal theme. It’s not an issue play but there is a huge issue surrounding it. It goes beyond homophobia.

What was it about this play that made you think it worth staging?

It was the play and the writing and where the writing sits in the writers cannon. It’s the first play Philip (Ridley) wrote that isn’t set in a twisted version of reality. His work prior to this was set in a post apocalyptic East London. So a huge thing that attracted me was that he forced himself to write about real people and real places. Real reactions to real crimes rather than escapism.

You directed Pitchfork Disney in 06. What is it about Ridley’s work that appeals to you?

For me it’s the fact that he’s able to force an audience to do the job themselves. What his writing does is it draws you far away from the room or the space that he has set the play in, through his storytelling and his description.

If you are shown a scene of a man being beaten to death that’s one thing. But if it’s described to you, beautifully, intensely and horrifically, then that’s going to have a lot of power.

It could also be said that because he plotting is so straightforward the dramatic tension needs to come from the choices the actors make. How did you go about casting this piece?

Eleanor was very obvious. She’s such a wonderful actor. I saw her in Edward Bond’s Saved in The Peacock and she was playing south-west London there. She just has this incredible power. But she’s got guts to her as well. So I knew she was able to portray a woman who’s gotten through some really tough times and is still grieving for the loss of her son.

But it was very, very hard to cast Davey. Because a lot of young actors don’t necessarily have the experience to sustain a two hander for an hour and a half with Eleanor Methven!

He needed to be a lost, confused teenager with a certain amount of rage and a certain amount of passion, all of it unbridled.Davey spends a lot of the play hiding his identity and the truth, so you need an actor who can hide all the emotion but then play it at the end. To have the soul as well as the craft.

Did you or your cast do any research prior to undertaking?

I did a lot of work with the Rainbow Project and Belfast City Council, just looking at statistics and looking at case studies. It was horrific, yet fascinating.  40% of the LGBT community in Northern Ireland have been subjects of a hate crime in the past three years.

But research is parallel rather than paramount. There’s a point where you have to just be objective and let yourself pick the play apart.

We had a lot of help from Philip on that side and because he gave us a lot of background information on where his interest in the play came from. A friend of his, who he went to Art School with, was murdered in a very similar way to Vincent. Philip had to clear out his locker and give its contents to his mother and that mother wanted to know everything about her son’s lifestyle.

Some of Ridley’s critics claim that Vincent River, for a play about homophobia, says little about its root causes and that Davey’s revelations are calculated, that they are in some way disingenuous?

I think that has more to do with the playing of it. It’s a play with a lot of exposition at the end but what’s essential about that ending is that it’s not for Davey or the audience, it’s for Anita. It is because of her need to know what her son looked like when he was dead.

At the beginning of Vincent River, Philip has two quotes, one is ‘Grief is to want more’ and ‘I use words to lick my thoughts clean’. That really helped us going into it because it was very clear about what the writer wanted from that final section of the play.

In the past 8 months I’ve seen 60 shows and this is the first one outside of the Gay Theatre festivals that  deals with gay subject matter directly.

I’m not so sure if the gay theatre festival necessarily helps that because it specifically segregates the subject matter of gay theatre. Does somebody with a play that has got gay issues in it say, ‘Oh I’ll wait for the festival where I know it will fit?’. Don’t we need to stop putting a line between two different types of theatre, isn’t it all art?

VINCENT RIVER,

Prime Cut Productions in association with Belfast Pride
8.15PM, 10 - 21 AUG 2010
Project Arts Centre, The Cube
Tickets €16/12

Your dodgy LV handbag with the off-centred monogram is one thing; while most people know about lawsuits following designers ripping each other off, the murky, glittery and sweet-scented world of beauty dupes is a far more niche affair. Put it down to not-so-secret formulas and the quality of ingredients- in these horribly wallet-hostile times, it’s never too hard to find direct colour clones for those suffering from acute M.A.C withdrawal. Lists abound on beauty blogs and forums, detailing the best highstreet substitutes, and then there are the direct copies; whether Chinese-imported rip-offs or (not-so) bare-faced imitations on the highstreet.

wrist-swatching: a science all its own...

The best option is to shop around and try out swatches on your hand, compare the colours and see which has the best staying power. Quality tends to be reflective of price, but then again what’s the point in spending €30 on Chanel Rouge Coco, gorgeous as it is, if you’re only going to wear it once a year? Temptalia’s Dupe List is the most definitive on the net, and a must for anyone with a crippling cosmetics habit. Similarly Makeup Temple have a great lipstick list and Makeup Talk’s one is ridiculously detailed. And for those who simply can’t be separated from their brand name face-gunk, head to strawberrynet.com and cdwow.ie , oddly enough, for designer haul at low prices.

Skincare is a trickier area for dupes, but the ’science’ pioneered by high-end companies haven’t stopped the highstreet from replicating market leaders. Vaseline’s Rose Lipbalm is a direct imitator of old-school favourite Smith’s Rosebud Salve, while Boots‘ Time Delay Cleansing Balm’ is an Eve Lom knock-off to rival the original (Liz Earle’s Cleanse and Polish, also, is a great middleground, a thorough but caring cleanser with natural ingredients priced at a fifth of the Eve Lom cult cream- check out this side-by side comparison with Eve Lom’s by beauty and fashion blogger The Daily Obsession).

Moving on to makeup, the world only recently caught on to foundation primers (invented in 1995, only, by Laura Mercier). Smashbox lead the field with their award-winning primer, a sublimely slippery goo which you smooth over the face under makeup for extra smoothness and staying power. The fact that it costs around €30 is no deterrent to its legion of fans, but if you’re looking for a cheap primer fix then GOSH do an amazing version for a third of the price. With stylish (and suspiciously similar) packaging to rival Smashbox’s, the primer even comes in multiple formulas for different skin types, and is available in chemists and branches of A-Wear. Those of you hooked on Clarin’s Beauty Flash Balm, also, should check out Barbara Daly’s Facelift Cream, a lightening, brighening, tightening cream for under makeup, and available at Tesco for under a tenner.

Bobbi Brown’s Shimmer Bricks are another much-imitated classic, a series of strips of blush-highlighter powders in a sleek black compact. The original is the last word in New York glam, and an international best-seller, but for a dead ringer at a teensy-sized price, Uk highstreet brand ME ME ME stock an almost identical compact. That’s not the only dupe they’ve openly created; even the packaging of their Poppy Tint and Beat the Blues replicates Benefit’s cult items High Beam and Benetint cheek stain.

If you fell in love with Tom Ford’s chic, matte, ‘colour wardrobe’ of lipsticks boxed in ceramic white, but balked at their €45 price, Revlon’s Colorburst line promises a similar richness and density of pigment. The shades, also, are a pleasingly retro selection of pale mod pinks and coral reds. Eyes-wise, Gosh Extreme Art Liners are a direct match for MAC liquidlast, while you can easily fake a Nars Orgasm (we mean the famous and scandalously-named blush, that is..) with Rimmel blush in Santa Rose.

Though many of the cheaper products perform just as well, and the steep price curve between highstreet and designer is enough to send anyone running for Penneys, there’s always the ethics of duping to consider. Do cheaper makeup brands use poorly-regulated ingredients that are dangerous to the skin? And is selling replicated colours a kind of intellectual theft? Companies such as MAC put time and effort into developing their lines, only to see copies crop up in the space of months, replicated wholesale and sold at bargain basement prices. It may not be as desperate as those people seeling fake MAC brush kits on Moore St at Christmas time, but still, for the serious stylehunter, its an issue which deserves further thought. What it boils down to is how you choose to define yourself by what you buy; no-one needs to know whether or not that blue colour on your nails came from a plush double C-topped bottle, but if you do splash out that extra €25, you’ll be buying an entire brand identity. The treatment you get from the salesperson, the vial of sample perfume, and the tissue paper-lined bag you take away with you all form a memorable experience and draw you closer to an aspirational brand. But don’t fall into the trap of believing only expensive is best; the beauty industry has always been about faking it…

]]> http://totallydublin.ie/blog/?feed=rss2&p=2520 http://totallydublin.ie/blog/?p=2531 http://totallydublin.ie/blog/?p=2531#comments Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:13:52 +0000 Caomhan Keane http://totallydublin.ie/blog/?p=2531

Frank McGuiness’ Baglady is the latest show to be revived at the recently reopened Focus Theatre.

Starring Maria McDermattroe as the titular character and directed by Caroline Fitzgerald, the former artistic director of the Abbey Theatre, the play’s ability to shock has lessened overtime thanks to the emergence of the ‘in your face’ play writes of the mid nineties and the real life horrors contained within the Ryan and Murphy reports.

What hasn’t decreased however, is the power and the beauty of McGuiness‘ words. His striking mythical prose and crude, stark imagery firing the darkest recesses of the human mind, creating a character full of confused rage and eradicated sexuality, frozen innocence and unworldly horrors.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of urgency in McDermattroe’s, a sameness that runs from line to line and makes the whole piece feel like a recitation rather than a performance. While McGuiness’ language is vibrant and alive, McDermattroe uses too few colors from her palette to breathe life into the written word. We see her anger but never feel it, we hear the horrors but are never given enough to suspend reality and believe that they ever occurred to this woman before us. The lines are delivered as if learned by rote, with no credible feeling or connection imparted by the actress.

Perhaps her discomfort with the text stems from Fitzgerald’s convoluted direction, which never sits well with the spoken word. It’s apparent that the actress is following a stage direction when she does things like ripping up a playing card or wanders around in circles rather than acting out of her own accord. Nothing happens naturally and it feels that boxes are being ticked rather than being opened and explored.

The show, produced by Eska Riada, runs until the 21st of August.

8.00pm, €16.00

There is a lot at work in Sophie Motley’s upsetting yet rewarding production of Philip Ridley’s Vincent River. An exposition of the mother son relationship, this play is a grief driven game of cat and mouse played by Anita (Eleanor Methven), a 53 year old single mother and Davey (Kerr Logan), the 17 year old youth who came across the body of her only child, ‘a butchered queer in a urinal’.

Using this hate crime as its starting point Ridley’s text takes us into the duplicitous world of the closeted homosexual and the unknowing parent, the lies told and the underlying score to a dance of denial.

As Anita and Davey trade tales of the past, their sordid and secret lives, the perceptions of the ‘other’ woman and the ‘good’ son build to a shattering crescendo - a roaring release after years of contempt.

As the gin and pills flow so too does the language as Ridley’s beautiful turn of phrase brings us into a world of consecrated cutlery, tortured souls, secret pin ups and invaluable possessions as both expedite their past to make sense of their present.

There is some remarkable imagery in this play - a mother’s shameful journey around London, her hands cut by the plastic bags brimming with her sons secret stash of pornography; the titular character’s snow and blood laced urinal death bed and a sexual awakening on a public bus. Sophie Motley’s ability as director to transform the written word into independent images in the eyes of her audience, as witnessed in her excellent reading of This Evidence I Shall Give, is further proven here as she utilises light and sound and the tone of an actor’s voice to draw us into the character’s memory, turning the shell of a set into an abandoned train station, a hospital bed or a fraudulent engagement party.

The acting is sensational. Eleanor Methven further proves her importance to the Irish stage. She captures the flighty, independent spirit of Anita’s yesteryear and blends it beautifully with the devastated bereaved mother whose ignorance to her son’s private life has left her unable to grieve for her ‘best friend’.

Fresh out of drama school Ker Logan makes a magnificent first impression as a wannabe gangster mammy’s boy battered by self-inflicted and parental betrayal. His accent occasionally wavers betraying his Northern Irish roots but more often it changes in a positive way to match his bravado or his wounded recoiling from the truth.

From their jarring first meeting - the discomfort of which spreads out into the audience - to their almost maternal relationship, depicts the simplicity and honesty of their performance. The way Davey sits and listens to Anita tell her tale to the way she removes her shoes, these are little moments that don’t add to the plot but add splendidly to the character.

The play falters at Davey’s final reveal and the scream that follows and where Davey continually turns his back on us, which is never clarified, but this play is exceedingly good - a piece that leaves you wanting more and dwelling over what you got.

A triumph for the Project Arts Centre, and for producers Prime Cut. It’s a shining example of what can be achieved when a cast and crew work in unison. More importantly this piece marks a breakthrough for the country’s gay community who, having been so long forgotten about or insulted by the Irish stage, are at last given a solid place on stage.

Vincent River

8.15PM, 10 - 21 AUG 2010
Project Arts Centre, The Cube, Tickets €16/12

Arthur Miller’s classic diatribe against the capitalist system, anchored by a masterful performance from Harris Yulin, is given a competent and thorough, if somewhat colourless, production at the Gate Theatre.

Directed by David Esbjornson, his occlusive approach emphasises the causes of Willie’s problems rather than the effect of his actions, the ultimate result being a stimulation of thought over feeling.

The production value is high, with a great set, minimal props and a pleasant enough score by Dennis Clohessy, although perhaps a little too melodramatic for the subject at hand.

Yulin is terrific as Lohman, drowning in delusion and sinking anyone who comes close enough to help. The plot juxtaposes between the past and the present, the real and the imagined and he deftly dances between the different states of consciousness. The tiny shifts in character that Yulin makes when portraying Willie the father, Willie the husband, Willie the brother and Willie the friend are what makes this such a fully realised performance.

What we know now and what they knew then has dissipated Lohman’s effectiveness as a tragic character. The stock of the American Dream has plunged significantly in the past sixty years and the true tragedy is not Willie’s desperate need to be well liked, but rather the trickle down effect it has on his family. This production though, like Rough Magic’s Earnest, is built around its Matinée idol, with few strong character decisions made for the supporting cast.

Garret Lombard is a solid Biff, seeing through the dissembled mess his father has created and desperately trying to untangle himself. Deirdre Donnelly a mumsy, insular Linda wages a futile war against her sons, trying to keep one from repeating the sins of his father while trying to keep the other from exiling him. It’s a vocally impressive and facially expressive performance, but she is trapped physically, rarely moving below the neck. Rory Nolan, though nailing the accent, is never allowed make Hap a character with any problems of his own, his desperate cry for attention is played for comedic effect, with no sign of the insecurity stemming from the overlooked little boy who resides within him.

While I understand the desire to put together the strongest ensemble you can, Barry McGovern brings nothing to his minute part, distracting from, rather than adding anything to the piece. Compare that with Elizabeth Moynihan’s Jenny, and you have a character who is fully believable off stage.

There are other directorial flaws like Stephen Brennan’s Uncle Ben’s reappearance amongst the audience towards the end of act two, pulls focus and loses much of the intimacy Esbjornson’s production earns as compensation for the small playing space while the changes in time and reality are not clear enough. There is also too defeated a feeling in the air from the start, perhaps unavoidable so, as the play is so well-known but even the moments of hope are saturated in a heavy-handed woe.

Despite this, it is still one of the most solid shows we’ve had this year, but given the talent involved you can’t help but feel slightly disappointed.