That Magical Time of the Year When Ireland has Theatre

be doing the same thing. I could have watched it 15 times, watching a different performer each time, and would have had a different experience each time from watching it through their perspective.

Lastly, I would like to talk about the beautiful What We Hold. From dance company Our Steps, and created by Riverdance star Jean Butler, What We Hold was an exploration of Irish dance. The piece was an immersive experience, taking place in City Assembly House, where we were walked by the dancers through the house’s beautiful rooms. We saw a boy practicing his steps on a wooden board, facing the mirror, something I remembered doing myself back in my dancing days before transferring my need for onstage attention to acting. Jean Butler herself performed in the piece, dancing barefoot on a table with a young girl adorned in medals, as the audience sat around the table. We listened to pre-recorded voices of older people talking about Irish dance, one woman expressing the accessibility of dance as a hobby for those who did not have the money to buy their children musical instruments. The piece ended in a beautiful crescendo of the dancers of all ages coming together, looking at one another in a familial way, and creating an at- mosphere of community and togetherness amongst them through dance. This finale was also somewhat reminiscent of the Satanic cult at the ending of Hereditary, due to similarities in the music and the fact that the dancers were consistently silent. This, combined with the apparent contentment on their faces, made me think they were hiding something.

The showcase of work during the Dublin Theatre Festival makes me long for consistent showcases of experimental and movement based theatre such as Bros, Crowd and What We Hold throughout the year. As someone from the west coast of the country, I know first hand that theatre in rural Ireland is few and far between, and if I were still living there I would be forced to move to Dublin to experience it. However, I often joke that there is no theatre in Ireland for ten months after the Fringe and DTF, and I very much hope this can improve. By bringing platforms to smaller creatives and inviting more international ones to our stages, theatre could expand outside the city. Otherwise, I guess I’ll see you all in London. Let’s just hope they don’t take away Smock Alley’s ‘Seen And Heard Festival’...well, take it away again anyways.

WORDS Saul Sherrard