"The Devil treats as vermin those who do his dirty work." It's a long time since actors and directors have had a chance to feel so controversial in this country. A steady stream of letters and petitions has been trickling into the Abbey Theatre for the last few weeks, ever since certain British newspapers declared the Abbey's Edinburgh Festival co-production of Valle-Inclan's Barbaric Comedies "the most shocking production in the festival's 54 years".
It seems that this is an orchestrated campaign, says the Abbey's head of marketing, Madeline Boughton, because the petitions, which have gathered as many as 300 signatures, are all the same, and the letters tend to say the same thing. It's mostly just a request that the show doesn't go on, but little notes referring to the Devil have been appended, and the box office staff has been faced with a written sign which can only be described as emphatic: "You will go to Hell".
There are also phone calls, sometimes as many as 10 or 12 a day. "It's like there's a script," says Boughton. "They're appalled at the use of tax-payers' money, the reduction in moral standards, contributing to the decline in young people's morals, and the increase in rape and violence." There are also veiled threats - "We will do everything in our power to prevent this show going on" - and the front-of-house staff is being schooled to deal with pickets. Boughton guesses the callers are between 50 and 70, and once you get talking to them, she says "They're terribly nice people. They're like your Mammy, it's that kind of thing," and they really believe in what they're doing. Artistic Director Ben Barnes doesn't wish to denigrate anyone, but adds: "The fact is, no one has seen the production." All that will change on Sunday, when Dublin Theatre Festival has its grand opening at the Abbey.
Gavin Kostick's The Asylum Ball, which Calypso Productions are producing at the SFX, hinges on the character of Paul Clooney, a schizophrenic. The cast spent five long weeks looking into their hearts and minds to build up convincing characterisations, and the first preview was just five days away . . . When Paul got sick in earnest. And this time it was physical, not mental. Gerard Mc Sorley, who had worked so hard to give him his first incarnation, had to take his doctor's instructions and relinquish the part.
Panic? The cast and director, Bairbre Ni Chaoimh, were too exhausted for that, says Calypso's Maria Fleming. Ni Chaoimh had worked with Belfast actor Sean Kearns before, she got on the phone, and found he had a "window" of two weeks. He had two days before the show went up to recreate this tortured human being. He rose to the task magnificently, integrating the script he held into the performance as one of the props of this bookish man. And if you go to the show tonight, tomorrow or Saturday, you may find he has dispensed with it entirely.
AS part of Dublin Fringe Festival, Carysfort Press, the Project Arts Centre and the Drama Studies Centre in UCD are running a day-long seminar on Saturday at the Project exploring performance styles in theatre and dance. "Inhabiting Performance - current modes of representation in theatre and dance" will include presentations by lecturers such as Robert Gordon of the University of London, and Diana Theodores of Dartington College, Devon, performances by Loose Canon and Dha Ean theatre companies, video excerpts from the work of Finnish choreographers Tero Saarinen and Jyrki Karttunen and panel discussions. Phone 1850 260027 for information.
