small metal objects

I almost didn't make it to this show because Ruth and I went on an epic walk around south Dublin. In the end, I got to the venue just before they started the performance. The venue was a temporary structure in Mayor Square outside the National College of Ireland in the Docklands. There were seats for about seventy although it was only half full. (The half of the seating that was full was the section where there was full sun for most of the performance. Clearly that dreary summer has left Dubliners sun-hungry.) At each seat was a set of headphones.

For those unfamiliar with this area it is important to know it is primarily a business neighborhood which means the performance occurs during the lunch hour of local office workers. The audience was oriented to look down a long footpath between the NCI and some shops which was full of folks going to and from their meals. Before the performance began, there was an interesting voyeur experience to this location.

Immediately prior to the performance, a man wheeled out a handtruck with a few large signs. A sign instructed the audience members to put on headphones. A sign informing us that there should be music coming from both ears. (To my surprise, I could hear the opening notes of "Shaft" coming through clearly.) A sign said the raising of a hand would signal an usher to come correct any problems. And finally we were assured that the performance would begin shortly.

The music became more of an ambient soundscape while we watched the space in front of us. Eventually we heard voices with the other sounds and the music. The conversation was about making a rice dish for an anniversary, about one of the two men (Gary) being married and having kids, about the other (Steve) wanting a girlfriend. It was clear to me by the tone of voice and the delivery of words that the voices belonged to individuals who were slightly simple. This dialogue continued to shift between lapses of silence and careful conversation with the soundscape in the background. Eventually I realize that two of the individuals in the lunch-hour chaos are speaking in sync with the audio in my ears. The performance emerged unexpectedly from the quotidian.

The plot thickens with an attempted drug deal. Again, we hear the voice of a man, Alan, on the phone with Gary, before we see him. There is even a man sitting in profile on a nearby bench who could have been the owner of the voice. Eventually, Alan emerges from the pedestrian background. The phone call has ended and we hear and see him walk up to random men in his attempt to identify Gary. There is some social manipulation when the deal is jeopardized because Steve refuses to leave the spot where he is standing in contemplation and Gary refuses to leave Steve alone (though he does stand a fair distance from Steve during this period of contemplation).

It was an interesting story about boundaries and desires and what is socially acceptable behavior. There were points during the performance that pedestrians inadvertently became part of the action. It was an interesting experience to have the office workers looking at the audience members because, for most of the performance, it was unclear who was performing.