You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘theatre’ category.
I”m joining in with the decade-ending celebrationary reviews to post by Top 5′s of the decade. This is impossibly difficult of course, so it’s not in any way exhaustive, just a reminder of some great moments, and the realisation that I’ve been working in the arts for over a decade. Eek.
None of these are in any particular order, and given that i could only pick 5 under each category I’m sure the list would change all the time- particularly around music, but instead of choosing the “most important” or “best” albums I tried to choose albums based on what I’ve listened to most over the decade. Disclaimer: yes, I do work for The Model, but I also love the programme and am clearly there a lot, so I feel allowed.
Top 5 gigs of the decade*
- Electric Picnic 2005- ALL of IT but especially Arcade Fire and Goldfrapp
- Patti Smith, Model Sligo, 2006
- Feist, Tripod, 2008
- Presets, Village, Dublin, 2007
- Anthony & the Johnsons, mainstage, Electric Picnic 2006
Most listened to / Top 5 Albums of the Decade*
- Radiohead – In Rainbows
- Presets - Beams
- Burial – Untrue
- Arcade Fire - Funeral
- Iron and Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog
* This is ludicrous and far too difficult.
Top 5 Theatre
- Bedbound, Enda Walsh, 2000
- Terminus, Mark O’Rowe, Project, 2008
- Titus Andronicus, Project, 2005 (dir. Selina Cartmell)
- Festen, Gate for Dublin Theatre Festival 2006 (dir: Selena Cartmel)
- Genesi: from the Museum of Sleep, Romeo Castellucci for Dublin Theatre Festival, 2000
Top 5 Live Comedy gigs
- Reggie Watts, Edinburgh Festival 2006 and Sydney Festival 2008
- Dylan Moran, Kilkenny Comedy Festival, 2005
- Jason Byrne, Kilkenny Comedy Festival, 2005
- Colin Murphy, Sligo, 2004
- Stewart Lee, Edinburgh, 2008
Top 5 Art Exhibitions
- Thomas Demand’s L’esprit D’escalier @ IMMA, Dublin
- Monet’s lillies (Les Nymphéas) @ L’Orangerie in Paris
- Gerard Byrne, Model, Sligo
- Warhol & The Factory, Model, Sligo
- Rosalie Gascoigne, NGV, Melbourne, Australia
Performance Corporation have just posted a brilliant clip of Jig- their “flash ceili” performance devised for St. Patricks Festival. Wish wish wish I’d seen it!
read my post from yesterday about this “theatrical espresso” and Kiss’09 >
KISS - Performance Corporation for DTF
I love the performance corporation. Last year they did a sort of guerilla theatre piece called KISS for Dublin Theatre Festival and this year they put something similar together for the St. Patricks Day Festival. I wasn’t in Dublin today so I missed the whole thing but I’m sure there’ll be pics and video available from performance corp real soon. the first pics have already appeared on The Almond Croissant Dairies…
So what’s in a theatrical espresso? From where I sit it’s part flash mob, part theatre and all experience.
I caught KISS in the Ilac centre last Autumn thanks to a tip off. I knew something was happening but not what or where. I headed for the ilac centre, wandering around until I found a clearing that seemed a likely spot. As I hung around waiting for something to happen I felt excited, a bit nervous, a bit observed. I was looking at everyone walking around with their shopping wondering if they were part of the “performance”- how would i tell? At times I felt like maybe my observing of them was the performance…but I think I’ve just been working with visual arts too long!
I propped myself up by a shop window trying to look inconspicuous to the security guards and suddenly heard the strings of some instrumental/classical sounding music. Hmmm…that doesn’t sound right for a shopping centre. Then I spotted people in an upstairs shop window moving around….then suddenly there were loads of couples dancing, hugging and kissing all around me. All choreographed they moved at a similar pace as if to the music and as I watched- transfixed- other shoppers bustling past saw me watching and started to follow my gaze to watch themselves. That’s when it got brilliant. The reactions from people – the ones that notice, the ones that don’t, was the best part. People asking each other and me what was going on. One old guy prodding the young guy beside him to “grab his mot and join in” apparently he would if he had one. Course they all said he was too old but he fired back ” not a bit of it, you can play a new tune on an old fiddle! brilliant.
I wish I could have made todays flash ceili “shot” at Central Bank. It was part of St. Patricks Festival and it looks like it involved spontaneous dancing and music but i’m dying to know how it turned out! I’d also love to know how it feels to be one of the random public it happens around as a real surprise.
I’ll post a video as soon as I find one…I’m sure they’ll have one up asap
update: clip is posted>
also….speedy little clip on 9 o’clock news…and some of the irish and uk press picked up on it too.
