Irish Times critics review The Ballad of the Sad Café at the Samuel Beckett Theatre and an exhibition from Katherine Boucher and Beug Telemachus at the Fenton Gallery, Cork.
The Ballad of the Sad Café at the Samuel Beckett Theatre
Of the many writers associated with the American Deep South - Eudora Welty, Truman Capote, Harper Lee and others - Carson McCullers was probably the most original and penetrating. Her haunting novella was adapted 40 years ago for the stage by Edward Albee, and is the current production by the graduating students of the TCD School of Drama.
The story is an extraordinary parable on the nature of love, and the relationship between the lover and the beloved. In a small town, in a cavernous barn, the hulking Amelia Evans runs a moonshine business, unloved and uncaring. One day a twisted hunchback, Cousin Lymon, arrives to claim kinship with her, and she becomes obsessed with him. The barn becomes a social centre ruled by Amelia and Lymon.
He ferrets out her secret. She was once married to the local wild boy Marvin Macy, but the union collapsed in two weeks. But now Marvin has returned, after a spell as a prisoner on the chaingangs, and Lymon falls in love with him and becomes his ally. An explosive climax sees Amelia alone again, a tortured recluse.
Directed by the clearly inspirational Robin Wilson, the actors give wholly credible life and depth to this strange story. Their work is as entertaining, and as professional in its values, as that of any student production I have seen, and will reward those fortunate enough to see it during the run.
Ends today
Gerry Colgan
Katherine Boucher and Beug Telemachus
at the Fenton Gallery, Cork
Insight into the processes which lead to the production of a specific body of work, naturally facilitates a deeper appreciation of the artist's intent and ambition. Katherine Boucher Beug is a case in point, as supporting texts and reproductions from her sketchbook (seen in the accompanying exhibition catalogue), reveal the inspiration and starting points for her paintings.
This inspiration comes primarily from the landscape and, in particular, the isolated country houses that populate it. References to the text of Homer's Odyssey are a factor also, but this is not explicit, and adds a tantalising mystery to the equation.
This is all the more pertinent as the imagery constituting these paintings is, to all intents and purposes, abstract, with the essential visual characteristic based upon the linear structure of a grid.
The employment of this grid is not pristine, à la Mondrian, as the axes of the structure waver from true, with expressionistic flourishes upsetting the equilibrium further. The contrast between the architectural inference and the gestural splashes of paint is an arresting and multifaceted combination, made all the more interesting by Beug's deliberate, but thoughtful use of colour.
In the vault space of the gallery, Beug shows a series of wonderful monoprints based upon a moon motif. These have considerable impact due to the seductive atmospheric quality of the tones and textures, expertly controlled within this most immediate and unpredictable of disciplines.
Runs until June 4th
Mark Ewart
