Saturday nights should be begin with the likes of The Boyz of Harcourt Street – mad beats, lots of dancing and lots and lots of giggles.
Rocket Octopus Theatre Company have projected themselves into the Dublin theatre scene amidst a flurry of young-urban-professional soul-less mayhem. Completing its run at Smock Alley last night, The Boyz is a fun take on the hectic lives of three young professional men living it large and ‘burning the candle at both end’ as my mother would say in the heart of south Dublin city.
The use of sound stands out from other plays I’ve seen; DJ Kieran Roche shows superb ability and talent in his role as sometimes voice over, sometimes sound effects, sometimes actual DJ. For all its clever and innovative use of sound however, the storyline does suffer slightly as a result. Loud music and caricatured dialogue said via voiceover from faceless characters interrupt the flow of the story, while the main actors play second fiddle. I get the feeling that if the three primary characters had more depth then the storyline would have pushed itself forward naturally, and sound effects would have been relegated to their rightful position.
The subject matter is suited to our generation of workaholic, recession cubs who dance between wondering what happens with our future whilst also embracing the moment because ‘who knows what tomorrow brings, sure we could all be out on our ear in the morning.’ The script felt like it was building up to some sort of epiphany which may have given the characters more poignancy but ultimately this becomes lost amongst the high-jinks on stage. Maybe this was the point all along?
Quality Waffle 