I found myself at the Teachers’ Club again last night. This time to watch some theatre from the week two programme of the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival. For my viewing pleasure I saw ‘Monastic’ from Ireland in my old stomping ground of the basement theatre; as well as ‘Like Orpheus’ from Outré Theatre in Canada. Continue reading IDGTF Review: ‘Monastic’ and ‘Like Orpheus’ at the Teachers’ Club
FESTIVAL REVIEW: The Number (runs with A Southern Fairytale) Teachers Club until Saturday 11th.
“The Number”: Review by Kerric Harvey — May 7, 2019.
It’s nine p.m. in the Teachers Club studio theatre. A man walks out onto the stage, a man in casual pants and a flannel shirt, an ordinary man, someone you’d see walking down the street or waiting for a bus or trying to puzzle out how the hell to pay for parking at Dublin Airport.
This ordinary man walks out onto the stage, and begins to talk. And something extra-ordinary happens. For the next fifteen minutes, his quiet voice draws you into the photo album of his own early life, which, in some vague but palpable way, evokes your own memories, and invokes the ghosts of who you used to be, even if they look nothing like his.
But there is still a connection, somehow, between his tale and yours, which this honest and simple bit of beautifully structured first person story-telling establishes without fanfare, and with not a wasted word. In this short but memorable bit of biographical haiku, veteran DIGTF playwright/performer Simon Murphy has crafted a poetic intertwining of Ireland’s long journey towards decriminalisation with one lonely gay boy’s journey towards the man he would eventually become.
In Limerick, no less.
It only lasts a quarter of an hour, but “The Number” makes a big point — the notion that “the personal” is also inescapably political, whether we like it or not. In doing so, it offers a little gem of personal reminiscence tucked around tectonic plate shifts in the public sphere of gay politics. Continue reading Festival reviews: ‘The Number’
So half of the run of ‘The Number’ in the 16th International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival has been completed. Last night was the fourth show of an eight show run. It’s been satisfying but quite exhausting thus far. Due to poor time management I have squandered my holiday allowance from my regular paying job on fripperies like foreign travel later in the year. Hence each day this week I have put on my work hat, toiled away at the coalface of office administration before making my way into town for the less lucrative, but more rewarding creative work life. Continue reading Showtime: ‘The Number’ at the 16th International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival
At 6pm last night in the City Assembly House on South William Street was the official launch of the 2019 International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival. As my paying job is in the industrial wastelands of County Dublin where I selflessly toil at the coalface of administration, an executive decision had to be made. So at 4.30 pm with an air of purpose I downed tools and departed for the day. Continue reading Launch of the 2019 IDGTF : ‘The Number’
There is a new chef in the canteen at my high powered, executive company in the industrial wastelands of county Dublin. His cooking is reasonable. While I’d be miffed if I was served up his dishes in a restaurant, for a canteen it is perfectly acceptable, no frills stodge – both a meat and vegetarian option. While on lunch today, discussing the merits and weak points of the various chefs who have worked here, a strange incident occurred. Continue reading A stodgy plate of confusion
So the Taoiseach (prime minister of Ireland) is a fan of Kylie Minogue. This is not surprising. Leo Varadkar is 40 so would have borne witness to Charlene’s explosion onto the international consciousness as part of Neighbours in the 1980s, and her evolution into a global pop sensation with Stock Aitken and Waterman a few years later. Kylie’s special place in the heart of the gay community might be confusing to some, but it is undeniable. Speaking personally, I have seen her in concert on numerous occasions, in various countries over the years, depending on where I have been living at the time. Continue reading The Taoiseach and the Showgirl
On May 6th this year (it’s a bank holiday) the 16th International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival opens. Running for 2 weeks, it features twenty plays across four venues. I took part in the festival in 2017 as both actor and writer with my first full length play ‘An unexpected party’ at the Teachers’ Club on Parnell Square. It was an absolute blast. So much so that I submitted another piece this year. Which to my delight has been accepted for inclusion in this year’s festival. So back at the Teachers’ Club from May 6th to May 11th, for 8 shows, my play ‘The Number’ will be showing. Continue reading IDGTF: ‘The Number’
May 23rd 2015 is a day that will forever be etched in the memory of the LGBT community in Ireland. It was the day the result of the marriage equality referendum was was announced, and 62% of our nation said that we were equal.
On 24th May 2015, Limerick woman Ann Blake received a text from her brother, asking ‘How’s the morning after the life before?’ This question became the title of the play ‘The morning after the life before’ which is currently playing at the Bewleys Cafe Theatre. Continue reading Theatrical: ‘The morning after the life before’
December 2015 was a funny time. I’d been back in Dublin for a month, after years in Amsterdam, feeling like I’d made the biggest mistake of my life coming home. It was the dead of winter – always a miserable time. I was working in the industrial wastelands of county Dublin with my bullying colleagues Mouth-Breather and Potato-Head (not their real names); and I was flat-sharing in the leafy suburb of Castleknock with the deranged FlatEnemy who lectured me constantly about how he was going to be a millionaire. I was less than content. I remember one evening seeing a YouTube link called ‘I’ve been radicalised’ starring the artist Scottee, describing his rage at being bullied and abused for being a fat, camp gay guy. It was powerful, in the way that honesty mixed with anger tends to be. Continue reading Theatrical: ‘Fat Blokes’
I arrive in Dublin city every evening after a day spent in the wastelands of county Dublin. Each day I walk past the ten screen Savoy Cinema, and throw a glance at the neon display showing the schedule, just in case there is anything that piques my interest and is about to start. Very occasionally something does. Today was one of those days. Continue reading Cinematic: ‘Boy Erased’
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