Every second building is a restaurant here, every third a bar, every fourth a venue – this, truly, is entertainment city...!
Another slice of Enda Walsh today – a touching Galway Youth Theatre production of CHATROOM (originally, I think, a National Theatre Connections piece), following on from last night’s dance: Tania Perez-Salas ‘s Compania de Danza, beautiful but without the mental (or physical) tautness of the previous night’s circus. And I always think it’s a copout using Arvo Part’s beautiful Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten as an underscore – a case of borrowed majesty.
Talking to Thomas in the bar later about the central position of storytelling and the monologue (one of Michael Billington’s personal betes noires!) in Irish theatre. He made a point which at last shone some illumination on the whole thing for me. The great Irish writers don’t aspire, in his opinion, to put the whole world on stage, or write ‘Condition of Ireland’ plays like Brit and American writers sometimes presume to. Each play, each story within the play has the status of a barroom or fireside story addressed to you, the audience. The intention simply to hold the attention of that audience for the duration of the gag, the story, the play, through the self-conscious artifice of story-telling…
Myself, I prefer genuine confrontation, but it would certainly explain a lot!
They say it only rains twice a week in the West of Ireland. Once for three days, once for four. Please shine, sun…
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