Review: Sylvia's Quest

If you're in Temple Bar this July or August you might spot a pretty girl dressed in yellow leading around a group of people wearing headphones. She's Sylvia Sylvana, the protagonist of Sylvia's Quest, a new show by Wonderland Productions. The play is set in contemporary Dublin and uses the city as its stage. As Sylvia (played by Elitsa Dimova) guides her new friends through the streets she tells them about herself and the country she came from - the experience of the 'new Irish' is one of the production's main themes. Sylvia is a Bulgarian archaeologist who works in Dublin as a cleaner, and the concept of the show is that the headphones let the audience listen to sounds and voices which normally only Sylvia can hear. As an archaeologist far from her native land many of Sylvia's thoughts are of Thrace, the civilisation that existed in antiquity in what's now Bulgaria. (You know the one - it's where Spartacus came from.) The headphones also let us listen in on the phonecalls which provide much of the play's dialogue.

Immersive theatre - plays involving audience interaction with the characters, props or location - has been a popular part of recent theatre festivals. It's often quite provocative. Sylvia's Quest uses a gentler, less confrontational form of immersion. I loved it, and I think other immersive theatre productions should learn from it. There's a lot I could say about that - so I'll leave that for another article.

By its nature immersive theatre is more subjective than traditional theatre, and that is particularly true in this case given that Sylvia's Quest uses the streets of Temple Bar as its set. The weather, curious glances (or comments) from perplexed onlookers, and Sylvia's conversations with the audience members guarantee that no two performances will be identical. This variation means I can't be certain you'll have as much fun as I did, but despite that I'm going to give Sylvia's Quest a five out of five.

Its innovative use of technology and contribution to immersive theatre are commendable - but most of all Sylvia's Quest is lots of fun.
Rating: *****

Running time 85 minutes. As this is an outdoor performance it's recommended that you dress appropriately for the Irish weather. Tickets cost €16/€14 and are available from www.entertainment.ie. In September Sylvia's Quest will run in the Phibsborough Community Arts Festival (Phizzfest), the Newbridge 200 Festival and in Mermaid Arts Centre. Due to its innovative use of radio technology in theatre Sylvia's Quest is part of Dublin City of Science 2012. The show has received support from the Arts Council and Dublin City Council.

Claire Bradley will be interviewing Alice Coghlan from Wonderland Productions on Artbeat on Dublin City FM on Wednesday 18th July at 8 pm.

Review: 'Spurt'

"Finn’s dad has just died. But so has his fish," says the blurb for Spurt, and I admit I went into the show expecting a mildly poignant coming-of-age story but not much more. A nice solid three stars production.

Not a bit of it. This is a play about death, yet it's genuinely funny. It's novel and has touches of audience interaction, yet it's not one of those godawful egotistical plays based on the premise that the audience will just love watching actors clumsily batter down the fourth wall so they can tell us about their lives. At 60 minutes, Spurt is also the right length.

I don't want to say too much about the specifics of the play. The audience reaction to the method used by the actors to hit them emotionally is important.

Spurt isn't going to set the theatre world on fire but it's an enjoyable and astute performance.

Rating: ****

Spurt continues in the New Theatre until 14th July 2012 as part of the 10 Days in Dublin festival. Tickets cost €10.

Crisis Photography - Images from South Sudan in the Royal Irish Academy

On Wednesday 18th July Médecins Sans Frontières will present an exhibition of images taken recently in the refugee camps of South Sudan. The exhibition will be on in the RIA (Royal Irish Academy) on Dawson Street from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. Entry is free of charge.

Image right: MSF clinic, South Sudan, 2012. © Shannon Jensen

Terra Madre - a tiny piece of Italy on the quays

I had the great pleasure of dining at Terra Madre on Batchelor's Walk on Saturday evening.  It's a tiny underground restaurant/cafe, so small there were only 7 or 8 tables.  They're open a while but I hadn't managed to get there yet.  Everyone dining there was either Italian or spoke it, and needless to say it was staffed by Italians.  The menu was brief - just 3 bruschetta starters and 4 mains, 2 of which included rabbit and hare!  Gastronomically, it was diverse: dishes from Tuscany and south of Rome featured, and there was wine from Sicily, which was divine and we totally failed to ask the name of.

Everything we ate and drank was excellent.  If I hadn't been in Rome in March, I'd say it was the best Italian meal I've eaten this year.  If there's one flaw, it's that it is so small, we felt we couldn't linger all evening.  Every table was full and the air was filled with Italian food and chat.

They don't seem to have a website and finding their phone number (01 8735300) was a challenge but they are totally worth the effort.  I will certainly be back.  Watch out, Ciao Bella Roma, there's a new contender for best Italian in Dublin.

City Intersections #4

The next City Intersections is on Tuesday 10th July at 7 pm in U-Bar on High Street. City Intersections features three speakers discussing urban topics relating to Dublin. This month's panel are: Dublin City Council Beta Projects, artist and lecturer Anthony Haughey and Anne Bedos of bike shop / community group Rothar.ie.

I've enjoyed the City Intersection discussions I've been to - not only are the speakers good but the audience members tend to be pretty knowledgeable too. Lots of fun.

Graff House: Live Street Art Show

Alexa from White Lady Art has asked us to tell you about a free art event on Saturday 14th on behalf of charity. The event is called Graff House: Live Street Art Show.

Details from White Lady Art:
Where: The Chocolate Factory, 26 Kings Inn Street (just off Parnell St), Dublin 1.
When: Saturday 14th July, 6-10pm.
FREE!!!

White Lady Art, KIN, and Iljin Project presents, Graff House Live Street Art Show! An evening of live painting by some of Ireland's best street artists, at the Chocolate Factory which is just off Parnell Street.
BYOB!

Confirmed artists include:

Solus
FOX
VERZ
Killian Redmonk
KIN
Art by Eoin
Marca Mix
Kevin Bohan
Ellie Downey
Mick Minogue
Shem 1331
Holly Gardner

Each artist will be given a large 2 metre squared wooden board to paint between 6pm and 10pm right in front of you! As it's indoors there won't be any sprays, but artists will be using stencils and anything else they want to create an amazing piece in four hours.

The Chocolate Factory is a large renovated warehouse that is being used as a creative space. The ground floor will be transformed on the day into a live painting area, music stage, retail area and food stall. Don't forget you can bring your own booze!

We will be raising money for a Dublin kids charity.
Artists are bringing specially selected paintings and prints and stickers and stuff to sell at the stall, manned by our minions while they paint, and all that money will go straight to the artists who can donate what they can to the charity. You can donate directly on the day as well!

There will be live music too from the Baque Soul Band, DJ Pepe Paulo and MC Majic; food, you can bring your own booze, and bring your cameras to capture some of our artist's in action!

'Fourteen 12' - part of PhotoIreland Festival 2012

'Fourteen 12' opens this evening at 7 pm in Little Green Street Gallery. It's part of PhotoIreland 2012 and features a diverse range of works from emerging photographers and recent graduates of NCAD's Photography and Digital Imaging part-time course. It runs until 11th July.

For the opening night there'll be some complimentary whiskey. As LGSG note on their Facebook page, "Whiskey and Photography how can one go wrong!!!?".

Tango vocalist Martín Alvarado in the NCH

Martin Alvarado will be performing in the National Concert Hall (NCH) on Friday 24th August as part of the 10th Internaional Tango Festival in Ireland. Alvarado is a guitarist and singer, so the performance also features dancers Hernan Catvin and Simona Zaino of Compadrito Tango. Tickets cost €15.

'Flux', one of the plays in 10 Days in Dublin

The 10 Days in Dublin festival beings on Thursday 5th July and runs until 14th July. One of the many plays featuring in the festival is Flux, a one-woman play by Aoife Nic:

"The intimate setting in an upstairs Georgian room, invites the audience to share the fractured lives of singer Una, song writer Mary and manager Dara, as they take on the music world with their haunting sounds."

Last Train from Holyhead

Out of Time Theatre have a new production starting soon in the Teachers Club on Parnell Square. Last Train from Holyhead by Bernard Field stars Dave Duffy ("Fair City"), Stephen Gorman ("Leap Year") and Deirdre Jones ("Ripper Street"). Here's how the theatre company describes the play:

Two men discover more than they bargained for as they while away the night on a train to nowhere. With the help of drink, poker and a beguiling Gipsy, they explore the void within themselves through their experience of each other.

Drink, cards and prophecy, not to mention comedy and tragedy, pervade this intriguing piece of theatre which examines identity and how the seeds sown in the past have a habit of sprouting, whether we like it or not.

There have been several previous productions of the play. These seem to have received good reviews, so let's hope this latest production is equally successful. It's the theatre company's second production.

Last Train from Holyhead runs from July 16th to 28th at 8 pm each evening from Monday to Saturday. Tickets normally cost €15 (€12 concession), but only €10 for the previews on July 16th and 17th. There are also Saturday matinees costing €10.