Blindfolded and bound, a foot massage or dancing the night away with a professional dancer and his mother, it’s all a part of the extraordinarily varied theatre strand of this year’s Kilkenny Arts Festival.
While every strand of the festival might reasonably claim to have ‘something for everyone’, the theatre and dance strand may have the strongest claim of all.
Curator Tom Creed has combined some of the country’s most innovative theatre offerings with some unconventional, intimate performances to engage the audience physically as well as mentally, in a programme to excite theatre lovers and novices alike.
“Everyone has the idea that a play is something that takes place in a theatre with actors reading a script and there are so many other kinds of theatre being made that speak to the present moment in an exciting way,” explains Creed.
“Everything is becoming much more interactive, with people presenting their work in a really intimate way which you can only experience live.”
A theatre director with a reputation for absorbing vast amounts of innovative, new, international theatre, Creed brings a bit more of his own personality to this year’s programme.
“I had things in mind that I was interested in,” he says.
“This is my third year with the festival so I had a good sense of what might be interesting for the programme and decided I would try a programme that works closer to my own tastes.
“It is really accessible and it’s about humanity and reality and taking it out of the theatres as much as possible.”
In this vain, performances this year will take place in diverse settings including popular local pubs, the historical Rothe House and the charming Hole in the Wall as well as Cleere’s theatre and the Watergate.
“It’s a bit of work getting people out of the pubs and into the theatres so we brought the theatre to the pubs,” he says.
The eponymous ‘Susan and Darren’ may take place in the Watergate, but it will be a “much more intimate arrangement” than regular theatre-goers are used to, according to Creed.
The production features Darren, a dancer, and his real-life mother Susan, a cleaner, and shows them “sharing their lives as a party on stage”. The audience are encouraged to sign up for a pre-performance dance workshop with Darren Pritchard which will play a role in the night’s show.
Two productions which are sure to garner a considerable amount of attention, as much for their unusual premise as their appeal, are ‘The Smile Off Your Face’ and ‘Foot Washing for the Sole’.
Belgian theatre company Ontroerend Goed introduce ‘The Smile Off Your Face’, an intimate piece of theatre for one person which involves that person being blindfolded and bound in a wheelchair.
“They are one of the hottest theatre companies in the world right now,” says Creed.
“They are pioneering immersive work for one person with a completely multi-sensory experience which is not at all frightening. It is a totally unique and uplifting experience.”
‘Foot Washing for the Sole’ is an award-winning one-on-one performance from live artist Adrian Howells during which he washes, oils and massages the participants’ feet. The unusual gesture is an attempt to help us reconnect with the world.
“This is a tender performance, a piece which came out of the time he spent in the Middle East, thinking about religion and humility and what the act of washing someone’s feet means,” Creed explains.
Elsewhere ‘Victor and Gord’ examines the relationship between real-life friends Vicky Curtis and Aine McKevitt.
“There is nothing artificial about it, it is really human and touching and funny. This is non-fiction work that is really current and really live,” says Creed.
‘A Western’ takes place in Kyteler’s Inn and again encourages audience participation as the two protagonists attempt to recreate an enduring, Sergio Leone-style western scene with two bottles of ketchup.
And ‘Group Therapy for One’ in Cleere’s and ‘Where Did It All Go Right?’ in The Left Bank continue the intimate, interactive theme that makes this theatre and dance programme so unquestionably exciting.
“There are great new Irish companies making contemporary theatre,” says Creed.
“It’s great that local theatre makers and artists are able to engage at a time when we are hearing stories about cuts in arts funding. This festival can have a role in supporting a whole new generation of artists, supporting their work as well as supporting the work that inspires them.
And while they hope to attract a whole new audience of theatre-goers, he expects the programme to be equally appealing to traditional theatre lovers.
“It is absolutely theatre for theatre lovers, that is what I am.
“It is really as human and funny and moving as any of the great plays you might come across and it is an opportunity to show audiences some really exciting and contemporary work.”
For full details on the theatre and dance programme for this year’s Kilkenny Arts Festival visit the website at www.kilkennyarts.ie or contact the box office at 3 Bateman Quay, Kilkenny on (056 ) 7752175.
