Get Your Arts On

Further reviews:

Love and Other Disguises- St Nicholas' Church- (Chrysalis/Catastrophe) Site-specific Dance/Melodrama/Farce thingy

I've seen St Nick's used for lots of events--music (excellent), debate (disastrous) and even religious type events (crazy huh?) but this was definitely the most resourceful use of the space I've ever seen. Scene 1 outside in the graveyard, scene 2 beside the sacristy, scene 3 at the altar...well you get the picture.
Light, over-the-top, comic scenes interspersed with dance interludes set to songs by Mundy might seem an odd mix but it does work. I much prefer modern dance when there's a narrative attached. Very enjoyable, if not very deep (***)

Get Your War On - Town Hall-(Rude Mechanicals) OHP/Comedy/Agit-Prop/Theatre (Is nothing just one category any more?)

Web comics on stage? (Sample here http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war.html ) This is the 21st century alright.
This was a snappy, clever, bitterly sarcastic theatrical show on the topic of the Bush Administration's actions post 9/11. The performers display amazing dexterity and innovation in their use of over head projectors and say 'fuck'........a lot. Politicians are mocked, corruption is denounced, incompetence is highlighted and the line of taste is crossed more than once.
While some of the audience were offended by the Terri Schiavo sketch - an actor dressed as a feeding tube discusses his annyoance at not being used for a more fruitful purpose (oh yes) I quite enjoyed their shock tactics.
While they force their message down the throats of their audience (thankfully not using feeding tubes) they entertain throughout. A highlight of the festival so far. (****)

Autobahn - 4 cars outside Galway Arts Centre, Nun's Island - (Galway Youth Theatre) - Intimate Theatre.

Ever seen theatre so close you can count nostril hairs? Well that's what it's like when the audience occupy the back seat and the actors the front. Autobahn consisted of four 20 minute shows set in cars and each had the effect of a good short story--drawing you in instantly, keeping you curious and then building to a unexpected crunching twist at the end.
I vote as follows- Most creepy - Road trip, Most squirmy - Bench Seat, Most effective - Funny, Most funny - Long Division. They're all good, however, with great performances (to pick out just a few) from Orla Donnelly, Jimi McDonnell, Katherine Denning and Sean O Meallaigh (hope they're the right names--there's different actors for each show). A really slick show from a Youth theatre group. (****)

But what did you think? Comments, complaints, disagreements (ahem..... Declan), abuse of Declan (ahem... Gary) most welcome.