Last month, NUIG’s DramSoc ran a show titled ‘The Wonderful World of Dissocia’. The play was written by Anthony Neilson and directed by Emily Aherne – a final year theatre student here in Galway.
The play runs for about an hour and a half of wonderfully visual, witty and often poignant storytelling. It tells of a leading character, Lisa (who is expertly portrayed by young actress Emily White ), tormented by guilt to the point of dissociation from reality – a subject made digestible through the show’s array of wacky, hilarious characters and plot lines. When speaking to director Emily about the piece, she describes it as “if you like Alice in Wonderland but there’s not enough sex and violence in it, this is the show for you”.
While the performance is loaded with youthful articulation and laughs, over-simplification and a reliance on humour is something youth theatre strives to distance itself from. On stage are dedicated, rehearsed actors. In the gantry are trained lighting and audio operators. A photographer captures both still shots and a full recording of the piece. The shows are all directed by students of the university, most of whom both work weekend jobs and study towards a degree. These are professional-level performances, organised by amateurs – involved only for the love of the game.
“Everyone there has the same experience, everyone’s there to enjoy themselves, and that’s the main thing that you’ve got to focus on. It’s great though, when everyone’s around the same age, when it’s young people in theatre – everyone is so excited and ready to give their views, thoughts and ideas. It’s a really cool little hotbed of activity”.
To the aspiring playwright, actor or audience member, Galway is the perfect stage on which to set your piece. When asked what she thought of the city and university as a place to be involved in the performing arts, Emily drew a keen smile – “(Galway ) is the understated hub of it to be honest. Although we don’t have the bigger theatres that you’d see in Dublin, there’s so much going on all the time. If you ever want to go to something at any given moment, you’ll find something”. The BOI Theatre next to NUIG’s Áras na Mac Léinn, the Black Box and of course the Town Hall are but a selection of venues teeming with theatre.
This industry, so heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic – Zoom performances, while valuable pieces of contemporary storytelling, simply no not do the natural, in-person theatre production a moment’s justice – is now on the sharp lookout for new recruits. Theatre is all-too-often a vocation overlooked for fear of being up in front of an audience, something I’m guilty of myself. However, my conversation with this endeavouring young director has given me much to think about. When asked about how theatre has affected her life, the response was emphatic;
“I would not be the person I am now. I would not have the confidence I have now. With theatre, I think everyone can get something out of it. Even if you don’t want to stand up on stage and perform, there are so many things you can learn through the technical and backstage aspects of it. You get skills that are so transferrable to a lot of other things, even if you don’t pursue theatre as a career.”
So, now that our players and playwrights have returned to their playgrounds of passion, perhaps you were thinking of joining them? And why not? The stage and all its technical scapes give us another realm for expressionism and escapism, in an environment completely free of judgement or prejudice (theatre kids are lovely ). If you’re half considering it, Emily puts it best; “I would say just go for it! Take every opportunity, nothing’s wasted. If you love it, you love it. If you don’t, you don’t. You’ll enjoy everything else along the way”.
