How many hipsters does it take to change a lightbulb? Hit Trinity’s Samuel Beckett Theatre during The Company’s 2012 Fringe show for answers to some of life as a South William Street denizen’s biggest questions (and some vodka in jamjars). A show that could go terribly, terribly awry in the wrong hands, Brian Bennett and Nyree Yergainharsian’s production is light and fluffy enough to escape the arch wrath of its subjects.
What does a hipster have to do to be liked?
Nyree: So basically what we wanted to do was a photography project for the Fringe this year, so we emailed our friends and got them to send in photos of themselves. They had to be on the Fringe’s themes this year – Creative Disruption, Playful Protest, Joyful Abandon, and we left it open to give it a more global feel.
How did the hipster theme come into it?
Nyree: Well I guess having all of these themes, we needed a context within which to present these photos and we decided that the ‘hipster’ idea was funny.
The blog contains stuff like the ‘hipster bag’ that contains books in Flemish, an old walkman, and “an acorn that later you tell the Hot Hipster fell out of a tree that morning and it reminded you of yourself”.
What role does the blog have in the actual show? Is it a piss-take?
Brian: What you see in the blog is how we were – and in the show you see how we have become…Sort of.
Nyree: We’re not ripping the piss out of hipster culture, having hipster tendencies ourselves it wouldn’t make sense, but embracing the whole idea of hipster culture for our show has really allowed us to have fun and play.
Brian: The joke is really on us, it has to be.
As a company you’re about deconstructing performance, text and form. So how does photography work within this show?
Nyree: All our rules of working as a company are still there, it’s just muscle memory and it just comes out in the work.
Brian: This show is about photography work, so we take that form and try to see how we can play with it.
So, what to expect?
Nyree: It has a very intimate, casual, non theatre-theatre vibe. You walk into the Beckett Theatre, candles are lit, you get some free vodka, music is playing and it’s really chilled out. And Brian and I will start presenting the show we’ve curated through our hipster-selves.
Brian: And then…something might start happening. Little bit of a rom-com…
Nyree: You might learn something about coffee….
Words: Roisin Agnew
