Wangst 1 (wängkst) Pronunciation Key
n. Self-indulgent anxiety.
Wangst--the bane of every Arts Festival has finally been given verbal form. Thank you Julian Gough for an entirely unpretentious and entertaining reading, and for my new word which could be useful in discussions in the Arts Festival Club of an evening. Why is it that so much of literature although written by middle-class people in comfortable social situations is about war, death, genocide, disease, tragedy, more death and people generally feeling miserable?? Why is tragedy 'high art' and comedy 'low art'? Too much wangst, not enough goddamn entertainment.
Ok I'm being slightly unfair; there have been some good shows in the Festival this year and for the record I'm going to do some mini-reviews here. Note: this may not interest non-festival goers but hell you might learn something.
Shows will be categorised, starred out of 5 and if wangst-ridden will receive either a small 'w' or big 'W" relative to how much wangst was present.
Stewart Lee @ Roisin Dubh---Stand-up comedy.
Quite funny, with some interesting musings but not mind-blowing. (***)
Projector of Dreams @ BOI Theatre, NUI, Galway. Modern Dance/Installation thingy
Contained some beautiful moments involving Yann Tiersen-esque music and a few tracks from Astral Weeks combined with some good dance and projector imagery.....but overall left me cold--no cohesion. One section involves two guys dancing with no music--seriously--is it dance if there's no music?? (**w)
The Revenant @ Druid (by Pat McCabe) -Theatre
A one-man show (more or less) which delves into the mind of the Francie Brady character from The Butcher Boy (TBB) except older, homeless and living with the consequences of his actions. It was similar to TBB except lacking the humour and character interaction that made TBB great. I thought it was slow, repetitive, boring and utterly wangst-ridden. Of course the rest of the audience were exclaiming how fantastic it was as they left and it was one of the first shows to completely sell out--so what do I know? (*W)
Divine Peaches @ King's Head Ruby Room - Lunchtime comedy theatre show
Was expecting the worst with this as it had been trashed by early reviewers but to be honest I quite enjoyed it. It was silly fun that didn't challenge the brain but frankly it did exactly what it said on the tin; the tale of the rise and fall of an 80s drag queen with cheesey music to accompany it. Highlight was definitely the routine to Ruth Wallis' 'You Gotta Have Boobs'
You've gotta have boobs
If you want to impress tycoons and rubes
You need boobs to fill out a sweater
You need 2 but 3 might be better
(***)
Julian Gough @ Radisson - Reading
Hugely entertaining reading of 'The Orphan and the Mob' involving a long introduction about life, literature and the reason for his fancy scarf - 'writers must look different- or else ordinary people might talk to them...' Seemingly to become a writer you have to go on the dole for ten years...hhmmmm. I had to buy the new novel (Jude: Level 1) when I heard Pat Sheeran was a 'yoda-like' character in it. Will read and report back. (****)
Particularly in the Heartland @ Town Hall - Theatre
Hhhmmmm this is almost uncategorisable--set in Kansas, three Jesus-lovin' kids lose their parents in a tornado and three random strangers separately turn up at their door...fairly normal so far...except that the three strangers include Dorothy a plane crash survivor, Tracy-Jo, a pregnant girl who doesn't seem to know how she ended up that way and finally Bobbie Kennedy. Yes Robert F Kennedy, despite being dead (and the other characters knowing this), makes up the last member of this motley crew. It's impressionistic, at times surreal but also thought-provoking and hilarious throughout. Front row audience members got to hurl eggs at one cast member and a short q and a session in the middle with characters also featured.
Basically I loved it and can't understand negative reaction of fellow theatre-fan Declan who saw it night before. Yes it did seem like a drama workshop at times and putting the spotlight on the audience can be disconcerting but the audience I was in was totally up for it, as was I. Good show. (****)
Cramming in lots more over the next few days--will there be a 5 star show???
Tune in at the weekend to find out--same Bones time, same Bones channel....
6 comments:
Maybe I'm just becoming cynical in my old age. As a theatrical spectacle Particularly in the Heartland is entertaining enough I suppose, but it just did nothing for me. For a start I didn't buy the whole point of the play: this kind of examination of American values. It tried to make a whole rake of points but succeeded glancing off most of them.
Fair enough it had energy and the acting was very good for the most part, but it was all over the shop. I don't have a problem with this style of theatre in general but this play was just too loose and it just seemed empty and trite.
I don't think it was aiming to make points as such but more to throw up issues and topics for discussion-- the contrast between middle and coastal America, cult of the personality, the Bible belt etc...You're right in that it was really loose in places. One person asked why they broke an egg over the pregnant gal at the beginning and they didn't have an answer.
I think you might be playing down the importance of having energy, decent acting and good characterisation in theatre. I've seen so much of late that lacks it and I for one found it refreshing here. I guess it comes down to personal taste at the end of the day.
Now now - let's not fall out over this. If Declan wants to harrumph through the entire show and for days after then that's his prerogative.
It's good to know I have your permission Gary.
I didn't say you had my permission - just that it was your prerogative.
This isn't my forum!
You're not getting a little wangst-ridden, are you?
I always was a little bit of a wangster :)
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