The Plough and the Stars at the Abbey at The O’Reilly
Theatre, Dublin
I had the good fortune last night to get into town in time
to catch a pre-show talk by Richard Boyd Barrett TD on Sean O’ Casey at the
Abbey at The O’Reilly Theatre, Belvedere. The talk, titled “O’Casey and
Politics” was under the banner of the Abbey Theatres “Other Voices” series of
talks http://www.abbeytheatre.ie/engage_and_learn/talks/
Boyd Barrett’s talk spoke of O’ Casey the socialist and how
his political beliefs shaped his view of events leading up to, during and after
the Easter Rising of 1916 and how the horrors, confusion and dichotomies of
what O’Casey witnessed shaped his interpretation of the consequences of the
events as expressed in his writing of The Plough and The Stars.
For me, Wayne Jordan’s interpretation
and direction of the production is engaging and informative at times riveting and
at times inspiring. The down stage opening tinkle on an old up-right piano in
front of a dirty large off-white front cloth engaged the prepared minds of the
audience for transportation into the opening act. The front cloth gathered its self
up into a border, rucked like a stowed sail on a square rig spar. Apart from
its evocative and decorative presence, it set the upper margin to the framing
of the stage.
The revealed set conveyed the oppressive
gloom of the spaces inhabited by the poor and the working class city dwellers
of Dublin at that time. The construction of the set, its texture, its fabric, its
decor and its lighting echoed a previous life of the building as being one of Colonial
Dublin’s, second city of the Empire, grand Georgian town houses. Now it is but one
of many, a gutted shell of cramped sparse privacy and little comfort against
which Nora Clitheroe (played by Kelly Campbell) strives maintain some small
sense of civility and dignity.
Scenographer, Tom Piper’s concept for
the set conveys all of this very well, the lit central performance area and
lighter toned floor recede upwards and outwards through the dark textured tones
of the set into the blackness of the flys and the wings, allowing the audience’s
attention to remain focused on the performers.
The cage like structure of H section reinforced
steel joists (RSJ)s functioned as elements not only to divide the space but they
also held back the crumbling edifice from tumbling in on the occupants.
I am in two minds as regards setting
some of the contemporary lamps so visibly on stage, on both sides of the set.
While they are a visible reminder that we are looking at a period performance
on a contemporary stage, they were also incongruous, a jarring visual paradox
against the ambience and atmosphere created by the characters, the costumes and
the predominant statement of the set .
The brass, shell like reflectors of
the period foot lights, while saying one thing they were contradicted by being augmented
by contemporary lamps on floor stands.
That said Tom Pipers set works and
works well both as an appropriate and visually satisfying environment supporting
the script the director and the performers interpretation. Also to be borne in
mind is that this is a touring production, see below.
The work of Costume Designer
Joan O’Cleary maps the characters and their roles into the period. Through her Costume Designs, Joan establishes
the characters, their age, their gender, their socio-economic standing,
occupation and their demographic and contributes hugely to establishing the
where and when of the play.
Sinead Mc Kenna’s lighting design contributed to
establishing and maintaining the overall gloom but where appropriate, brought
changes in mood to the scenes and defined the different areas of performance.
The off stage sound effects by Ben Delaney were very
effective and prompted the convincing reactions of the performers.
The resetting of the furniture, dressing props and hand
props by the cast between the acts was well done and maintained the theatrical
illusion.
You can see “The Plough and The Stars” when it tours Ireland
and the UK this autumn.
1.
Grand Opera House, Belfast. Tues 18 – Sat 22
Sept. www.goh.co.uk
6.
Siamsa Tire, Tralee. Tues 23 – Sat 27 Oct. Assisted
performance Thurs 25 Oct. www.siamsatire.com
7.
The Lime Tree, Mary immaculate College,
Limerick. Tues 30 Oct – Sat 3 Nov. Assisted performance Thurs 1 Nov. www.limetreetheatre.ie
Richard Boyd Barrett: http://richardboydbarrett.ie/
Tom Piper: http://www.tompiperdesign.co.uk/
Sinead McKenna:
http://www.sineadmckenna.com/
Joan O’Cleary: http://www.abbeytheatre.ie/people/view/joan_oclery
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