At the launch of the latest government, the Taoiseach Enda Kenny declared we were in ‘a cold and passionate dawn’. Yeats imagined his ideal man, a fisherman, as ‘cold and passionate as the dawn’. While the original is a simile that is… original, the reference is a strange weather report.
The depth and breadth of Yeats' work offers soundbites or something more. Brokentalkers have been engaged in a long and wide-ranging process as a response to WB. This show is a successful collaboration of choreography, music, writing, performance, scenic and mask design, as well as a suitable inhabiting of the space. The harmonious integration of these elements is offset by the nature of the action. The programme note informs us that they drew on material from A Vision, Yeats’ belief in the Occult and his ‘views on nationalism, fascism, and eugenics’. One idea, that time is cyclical is relevant for our current political culture that sees the rise of right wing ideology. At the beginning there’s a distinction made between words and images. Indeed the truth of ‘non-verbal poetry’ is the cue for Brokentalkers take. There are cats, blood, moons, masks. They bounce, dance, act within movements structured like arcane rituals. Within this field of irrationality one can sense an integrity. There is a strange mathematics at play. I can feel the absence of words and notice that hankering for a foothold, a narrative. The three musicians are driving within a compelling score. A foothold is withheld. The stuff of A Vision is all blurry. The few words that eventually come through are somewhat repulsive. It’s intriguing. Since the centre cannot hold, the sum of parts is the sum of parts. Yet I awoke this morning having dreamed heavily, I normally never dream. Martin for DRAFF |
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The Circus Animal's Desertion by Brokentalkers runs at the Samuel Beckett Theatre, as part of Dublin Theatre Festival, until October 8th. Image: Futoshi Sakauchi
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