Irish Times writers review the English language premiere of Dream of Autumnand listen to the Pussycat Dolls at the Point Theatre.
Dream of Autumn
Project Cube, Dublin
Following last year's Winter, in which the sparing, opaque work of Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse received its first Irish production, comes Rough Magic's English-language premiere of Dream of Autumn, a similarly chilly depiction of troubled relationships, numb communication and the icy slips of time. (If there are sunnier seasons among the titles of Fosse's 25 other plays - Spring Breakor Endless Summer, perhaps - such works have yet to be translated.)
When two people - Man and Woman - meet by chance in a graveyard, in "autumn, in the dark, in the rain", director Tom Creed affords their grim circumstances a rare and austere beauty.
Conor Murphy's striking design - a wide, shallow space, somewhere between a corridor and a display window - evinces an aesthetic sense of limbo.
On an iridescent path of glass pebbles, spectrally lit by Sinéad McKenna, each footstep yields a frosty crunch, while raindrops streak down a glass wall and wisps of curling smoke beckon from the right.
"Do you come here often?" Kathy Kiera Clarke's Woman asks Frank Laverty's Man, and the incidental humour of the line hints at the cyclical progression of the play; one in which funerals, anticipated deaths and eroding contact with the living measures out an uninterrupted autumn, a perpetual decline without the finality of winter or the promise of spring.
As it is gradually established that the man and woman have not met for several years, that he is married with children and that they are initiating a ruinous affair, time seems to contract and expand, sliding into a family funeral and towards the affair's emotional aftermath.
Previous Fosse translators have remarked on the peculiarities of his New Norwegian idiom, in which present actions may be described in the past tense.
However, neither Kim Dambæk's translation nor Creed's confident handling ever fret at Fosse's temporal ambiguities.
If the play is confusing - and Fosse is no ally to narrative clarity - the cast present its puzzle with precision and their tight, considered grip on the material makes the conundrum more engrossing than alienating.
In an ocean of uncertainty, however, there are still anchors of recognition.
Deirdre Donnelly's commanding performance, as Mother, for instance, hugs to something familiar.
Watching her torture Laverty with a passive-aggressive recount of his divorce, it is hard not to think of that old joke, how many Irish mothers does it take to change a lightbulb? Pressed to consider any clear meaning behind this cloudy meditation on love and mortality, we may share in the joke's punchline: don't mind us dear, we'll just sit in the dark.
But as to the appeal that Fosse holds for theatre-makers - discarding the baggage of history and place for a purely theatrical world - this assured production comes closest to letting some light break through.
Dream of Autumnruns until December 9th. - Peter Crawley
Pussycat Dolls
Point Theatre, Dublin
RnB temptresses the Pussycat Dolls describe themselves as "sassy but classy". Bumping and grinding around the stage in stilettos, hotpants and not much else, the six-member group performed to thousands of screaming, mainly female, youngsters at the Point Theatre on Friday.
Nicole Scherzinger, lead singer and by far the most talented of the group, strutted around, shakin' it with real RnB attitude.
Toned tummies and thighs aplenty, PCD performed a range of hits including Beep, which featured visual accompaniment from Will of Black Eyed Peas. They also sang covers of Tainted Love, Feelin' Goodand Led Zepellin's Whole Lotta Love.
The energy and vibrancy were a contrast to the somewhat dull stage, however, which featured a large staircase structure that looked more like a piece of scaffolding.
While PCD are at their best performing the trademark upbeat RnB pop - with tunes like Buttonsand I Don't Need a Man- their soppy, emotional side is never far off.
There were plenty of pauses in the performance when the Dolls, hands on heart, spoke with a sort of saccharine sincerity to the audience.
One rambled about the importance of being strong, dropping an awkward mention of dealing with her mother's "facial defect". Scherzinger described the essence of being a Pussycat Doll - something along the lines of being cute like dolls, soft like a pussycat but strong on the inside.
The high point of the evening was one of their earlier hits, which has the great cheesy lyrics: "Don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me".
Their low point was during a cover of Fever- one woman in the audience turned to cover the eyes of her husband - when the Pussycat Dolls swung their legs around poles, bars and straddled chairs in moves more suited to a lapdancing club than an audience of mostly prepubescent girls.
While the group shared positive messages for youngsters on the night - valuing friends, the importance of school - their overtly sexual moves ultimately spoke louder. - Sorcha Hamilton
