Another year, another brain-frazzling Fringe program. This year themed loosely around activism, outsiders, women and children (it is the Lockout anniversary, after all), the cross-pollination of artistic and performative disciplines is astounding. We never have fun chopping the highlights down to six, but we’ve done it again anyway. Here’s the first highlight from the festival, Distance From The Event, the new show from Totally Dublin cover stars Collapsing Horse.
Distance From The Event is Collapsing Horse’s third show following MONSTER/CLOCK and Human Child. It’s billed as a sci-fi Irish noir, a genre that has gone somehow ignored, neither imagined nor discovered ’til now. “I was interested in the idea of Blade Runner and Flann O’Brien mixed together,” explains Eoghan Quinn, the both performer and pen-pusher for the group. “The world in which it’s set is quite dark, quite brooding. But I like to think that the characters are recognisable. It’s not dystopian, in the sense that everything is shit,” he adds.
The show is aimed at a 13+ audience, thereby embracing the darker and naughtier elements already present in their previous shows. “The people we look at it in the play are mobsters and detectives,” says Dan Colley, the company’s director. “I honestly don’t know where the idea came from. I just read a series of Kevin Barry short stories and they’re kinda dark, but also contemporary.” He goes on to explain why this bizarre world forms the comfort zone for Collapsing Horse. “It allows us to do is do what we like doing best – creating other worlds with echoes of ones from books you’ve read, films you’ve seen.”
The last year has been a whirlwind of success for both the troupe as a whole, and its composite parts. Jack Gleeson, immediately recognisable for his Game of Thrones role says “I don’t really get stick for King Joffrey being so evil. Just an odd Italian guy now and then will be like ‘You are a fucking ballbag.'” Aaron Heffernan has just finished filming in his first season of *Love/Hate*, and is double-jobbing rehearsing for The Gate’s Dublin Theatre Festival rendering of The Threepenny Opera, while musician Simon Bird has been racking up support slots for the likes of Die Antwoord around town.
It is curious to find out what they think has sprung them into playing in the big leagues of Fringe theatre in such a short period of time.” [Festival director] Róise Goan has been a great champion of ours since last year,” Colley explains. “She’s given us loads of space and encouragement, through the FringeLab also,” he adds “But the Dublin theatre scene in general is amazing like that – People are so supportive and encouraging. Raymond Keane for instance, was so key to teaching how to use puppets, how to move them even.”
Distance From The Event is running at the Samuel Beckett Theatre in Trinity College on September 5th & 6th (€10) and September 7th-9th, 11th-15th & 17th-21st (€14/€12 conc.) with shows starting at 8.45pm each night.
