Gabry managed to get us tickets to the most controversial show in the festival. Written by someone from Rough Magic, one of Dublin's local theatre companies, it is a story set in a Loyalist home in Northern Ireland during the week preceding the annual bonfire on the eve of July 12th. Entitled The Bonefire, this piece deals with themes of nationalism, loyalty, gender roles and violence.
The accents were difficult to understand at times, though the intention was usually quite clear. It was witty and sassy at times and then fierce and uncomfortable at other times. I have mixed feelings about it. There was a point about 3/4 through when I felt things degraded a bit in clarity/focus. (I'm not sure if it's the script or if it had to do with production choices.) There were moments of great intensity throughout that were all the more intense for being in an intimate playing space. There was a point when there was a woman literally at my feet, collapsed in a bloody and battered heap, and I watched as one of the men spit on her. And it was an icky feeling inside, to feel complicit in these acts of violence and humiliation. (Also interesting was the choice for this woman to appear at the curtain call in a cleaned-up state.)
For those who are interested in reading this new work, it is available for purchase through Methuen, as is the Mark Ravenhill play Product.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment