Macbethin Belfast and a double act in Dún Laoghaire reminiscent of Laurel and Hardy.
Macbeth
Crumlin Road Gaol, Belfast
Sir Charles Lanyon's gaol on Belfast's Crumlin Road first imposed itself on the city landscape in 1845. Architecturally magnificent, it is, nevertheless, a place of incarceration and execution, where the spirits of child prisoners, murderers and political internees still haunt its great stone walls, tiled halls, ornate wrought iron staircases and balconies. On a succession of chill autumn nights, this grim institution is the undisputed star of Richard Croxford's hugely ambitious site-specific presentation, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Replay Productions.
Rarely has a production of Shakespeare's Scottish play so forcefully captured the ever-present influence of the supernatural forces which drive Macbeth along every step of his blood-soaked downward journey. Niki Doherty, PJ O'Reilly and Rosie McClelland's witches are three pale, waif-like lunatics, in the grip of satanic forces, whose blasted heath domain is the vast empty space of the former exercise yard.
The promenade progresses inside through the stately black-and-white tiled entrance hall to the vast circular chamber from which the cell blocks lead and a three-storey corridor of locked cells, whose dimly-lit metal walkways provide the stage for the tangled maze of political intrigue in which the audience becomes embedded.
To complement the spectacular setting, Croxford has opted for a conventional reading of the text, whose dramatic effect is rather blunted by the building's echoing acoustics and the relationship between Victor Gardener's powerfully swaggering Thane and Bronagh Taggart as a youthful, girly Lady Macbeth, firmly under the spell of her husband, rather than the reverse.
Most affecting is the final moment, the sight of the three waifs, slumped against a balcony, drained and spent, their horrid task finally completed by the brutal death of Macbeth, humiliated and punished for his sins.
Runs until Nov 2 as part of the Belfast Festival at Queen's
Jane Coyle
Nose Missing
Pavilion, Dún Laoghaire
The first Flip Flop International Children's Festival, presented by Pavilion Theatre is association with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, got off to a flying start last Monday (lunchtime) with packed houses for a German comedy two-hander.
Performers Habbe and Meik are funny men whose style and antics bear a distinct resemblance to the illustrious Laurel and Hardy. The big guy is pompous and bossy, the small one apprehensive and tie-twiddling. Both are also masked and mute, relying on gesture and mime to communicate with the audience. We meet them shuffling in trying to read a map, and finding their way to the heart of the audience, walking on seat-arms and falling over each other. Finally frustrated, Large chases the incompetent Little until confusion reigns to the point where both are pursuers of they don't know what.
In the next number, they are carpenters, and Little becomes entangled with a step-ladder. His partner's attempts to free him are both futile and painful as the ladder-plus-plank swings wildly, delivering thumps to anatomically sensitive parts. The audience of seven to 12-year-olds found this particularly mirth-making. After this follows a surreal piece in which an insomniac has to cope with an animated mattress, an ingenious piece of slapstick.
Next they change their masks, transforming themselves into a schoolgirl with a short dress, bloomers and a doll, and a clumsy boy with apparently amorous intent - cue more uncontrollable laughter. The girl wins the contest by walloping the boy with the doll. Finally, a larger step-ladder is the framework for two cramped musicians who play drums and the melodeon in another but different sort of tangle. The pair are irresistibly funny throughout the hour-long performance.
The Flip Flop International Children's Festival continues at the Pavilion, Dún Laoghaire with different shows until tomorrow
Gerry Colgan
