Some plays can have you on the edge of your seat wondering what could possibly happen next, and others will have you more entranced by the everyday struggles of the very ordinary people in the world than you thought possible. Bill Mastrosimone’s The Woolgather by Blue Moon Theatre Company falls into the latter, with two captivating performances and an insight into the ability for hope to survive in the most unlikely of situations.
The Woolgather doesn’t have much in terms of storyline – it’s a straightforward boy meets girl, girl turns out to be a bit neurotic (a bit?!) and what do you know, so does the guy. How will they get on?
A lyrical play with some really beautiful lines combined with two very impressive actors (Sinéad O’Riordan and Michael Hough); The Woolgather is a captivating play that draws you in to a small, dingy apartment where you think nothing of any great interest could happen, opens up the troubles of the world to you and reveals the beauty in the struggles of life’s ordinary people.
Without the strong performances and really great accents by both actors; The Woolgather would not have been as captivating or as realistic as it turned out to be.
If you’re looking for something to draw you in and get you thinking I’d recommend this play – along with the opportunity to witness two extremely impressive performances.
Plays until April 13, 7.30pm at the New Theatre. Click here for more details. Images copyright of Anita Kulon.
I’m not the type to support this opinion, yet I wouldn’t describe myself as feminist. In general my opinion on the sex industry would be to each his own; yet No Tear’s Bound suggests that perhaps we should look at the prostitution industry a little closer and turn around the finger of blame.
Beginning with a quick reveal of that day’s performer (in my case comedienne Maeve Higgins); the play moves pretty quickly with ‘the actor’ reading a script they see for the very first time when they step on the stage in front of the audience. The script weaves between insane yet meaningful tales and an explanation of the structure of the play from the playwright who ponders on to whom and where it is being performed today.
Perhaps this strange removal from reality is why Run Amok’s The Horse Trading Diaries is worth a watch.
So I was a little worried when they announced there would be an interval half way through, but the two hours flew. A typical Irish play, ‘Love in the Title’ sees stories from three generations of women relayed through conversation in a strange, otherworld setting. Oddly, the eldest of the women is embodied in younger format and vice versa with roles reversed, thus reinforcing the unnatural setting in which the women find themselves.
