The Whistle/Turf

Dance Studio at Samuel Beckett Theatre

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Cognoscenti know that in theatre, a blackout is a kop-out, but Darragh McLoughlin has jerry-rigged a simple alternate: make the audience open and close their eyes when he blows a whistle. The spectator becomes co-creator and allows McLoughlin and his set of juggling balls to play with time and expectations. Splitting the audience into two alternating groups (so one has to imagine what the other is seeing) gives dramatic heft to the trickery that is unfortunately unrealised throughout the piece.

While empty bog landscapes have provided rich artistic pickings – literal and metaphoric – Liadain Herriott’s Turf solo dance internalises contradictions between the desolation of the present and hidden history that lies beneath sedimentary layers of turf. A bottle of milky cold tea reminds us of the human intervention in slowly filleting the earth. This dance is well performed, with the movement most effective when reflecting inward sentiment rather than displaying outward emotion.

Ends Sept 14