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BUD TAKE THE WHEEL I FEEL A SONG COMING ON Lyrical generation gap drama from tipped young writer
Bud Take the Wheel . . . is the eagerly anticipated new work from Clara Brennan, whose short play Rain garnered much praise on its Fringe debut in 2008. Brennan’s new full- length piece may have a mouthful of a title but her graceful writing style promises to shine through. ‘The writing has an underlying poeticism,’ says the show’s director Hannah Price. ‘At times it feels as if the play hits notes that are a little unbearably beautiful and we have worked hard to bring both the hard-edged humour of the writing and the more lyrical sections together.’ The play is set in the green heart of
the English countryside and centres on a son returning to his family home after eight years who is set on re- developing the local paper mill. ‘This is a major theme in the play: the clash between tradition and renewal,’ Price explains, referring to the struggle between rural and urban lifestyles and the attempt to bridge an alienating generation gap. Meanwhile, acutely observed domesticity woven into grand-scale themes of rural entrapment and a lingering sense of musicality create an intriguing concoction that promises not to disappoint. (Amy Russell) ■ Underbelly, 0844 545 8252, 7–29 Aug, 4.35pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8.50–£9.50). Previews 5 & 6 Aug, £6.
THE SUM OF IT ALL . . . Storytelling to the fore in melancholic, stimulating multimedia extravaganza
Anomic is a brand new company, never before seen at the Fringe – but the style of the company’s debut, The Sum Of It All . . ., will ring some bells for Zoo regulars. Dan Shorten, Anomic’s artistic director, was also a co-founder of Precarious, and the marriage of performance and
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multimedia that made that company so invigorating is still a vital part of his work.
Anomic, however, isn’t simply Precarious by another name. The backdrop to The Sum Of It All . . . is a mosaic of projections and 50-inch TV screens – but Shorten insists that, unlike in some of Precarious’ shows, storytelling will take precedence over visual ingenuity.
‘With Precarious we always
approached the subject matter from a visual perspective,’ he says. ‘At times the work lacked focus and clarity. I’m trying to focus very clearly on one character’s emotional journey.’ That character is Stanley Ayers,
whose humdrum existence drives him to contemplate taking an extreme and disturbing decision. The show promises to be melancholic and introspective, yet energetic and stimulating – which, where Shorten’s concerned, needn’t be a contradiction. (Matt Boothman) ■ Zoo Roxy, 662 6892, 8–30 Aug (not 14), 8.35pm, £10 (£7). Previews 6 & 7 Aug, £5.
FREEFALL Dying for a hit
It would be misleading to say the latest play by Dublin’s Corn Exchange was about the credit crunch, the collapse of the Celtic Tiger and the scandals within the Catholic church, but those events were playing out when Freefall was created last year and the context rubbed off. On the surface, it is about an ordinary
family man trying to make sense of his life in the moments before his death. But one reason it struck a chord with audiences on its award-winning debut at the Dublin Theatre Festival last year was the atmosphere of bewilderment that captured the mood of the times. ‘The country broke and we did
nothing about it for years and years,’ says playwright Michael West when I meet him at the Galway Arts Festival. ‘It wasn’t just the bankers’ money – all of us stayed silent. The country was deeply involved in its own destruction. Why are we culturally so removed from our experience? How can somebody be deprived of the language to describe his situation? How can they be silent in the face of their own failure?’ (Mark Fisher) ■ Traverse Theatre, 228 1404, 8–29 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), times vary, £17–£19 (£12–£13). Previews 6 & 7 Aug, £12 (£6).
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BETTE/CAVETT 70s television and Holywood royalty come to the stage in Grant Smeaton’s acclaimed show
When you go to the theatre – unless you’ve bought tickets for a multimedia extravaganza – you don’t generally expect to watch television. So you might be surprised at being pulled through the TV screen to become part of the live studio audience watching 70s talk show host Dick Cavett interrogate the late and ever-great Bette Davis in Grant Smeaton’s verbatim show, Bette/Cavett. In the play, as in the original interview, a feisty and sincere Davis talks frankly about her life and career while Cavett lives up to his status as a 70s household name, drawing confessions from his guest with a persuasive charm.
A fan of Bette Davis, and also of the show’s 70s era, Smeaton breathes life into the television footage to bring it to the stage. ‘There was definitely an element of experimentation,’ he says. ‘Television is such a big part of all our cultural life and I think just taking a bit of TV and putting it on stage is quite an unusual kind of thing and I just wanted to know if it could work in that setting.’ The experiment paid off, receiving glowing reviews during its debut at Glasgay! last year.
‘I think as soon as you get the costume on it kind of takes over. There’s something about that whole iconic look and I think it’s just about getting the drive, it’s like a possession almost.’ The show uses the original interview script (complete with authentic 70s ad breaks), and Smeaton stresses that while it captures the spirit of Davis and Cavett it is not just a reflection or an impersonation; it is a performance that he and Mark Prendergast (who plays Cavett) have made their own. Fasten your seatbelts: it’s going to be a unique night at the theatre. (Amy Russell) ■ Zoo Roxy, 662 6892, 8–30 Aug (not 18), 3.05pm, £11 (£9). Previews 6 & 7 Aug, £8.
MORE LIGHT PLEASE Natalia Kostrzewa is a Pole apart Natalia Kostrzewa is sitting in the courtyard of Warsaw’s Teatr Praga, enjoying the early evening air. She’s just performed her one-woman show, More Light Please, drawn from her experiences of moving to Ireland, and is delighted to have delivered it in a
word-perfect English for the first time. More delightful for the audience is her distinctive Dublin accent. ‘For theatre purposes we had to
make it more dramatic, but most of it is true, either about me or people I met,’ says the actor, who worked with director Jerzy Lach to build the very physical performance. ‘I didn’t want to make myself pathetic. I wanted people to see the emotion.’ Telling the story of a 16-year-old Polish girl working in a Dublin shoe shop while dreaming of becoming an actor, the play is less about the question of economic migration – as it might have been just a few years ago – than about the challenges of establishing yourself in a new country. ‘I am an immigrant, a Polish girl in a different country,’ she says. ‘But I wanted to focus more on the girl growing up.’ (Mark Fisher) ■ New Town Theatre, 220 0143, 7–29 Aug (not 10, 17, 24), 2.45pm, £10–£12 (£8–£10). Previews 5 & 6 Aug, £6.