The heating system has arrived at the Spiegeltent, the evening shows are starting bang on time (so get there promptly), and the crowds waiting at the red velvet curtains in force at 11 p.m. each night for admission to the joint Fringe and Dublin Theatre Festival club. Take note: now the main festival has opened, the club is packed every night, so arrive as close to 11 p.m. as you can to have a realistic hope of getting in.
Last Friday night saw a capacity crowd for the hugely popular Slovenian band, TerraFolk, in their first Dublin appearance. Earlier this year, they won BBC Radio 3's World Music Audience Award, and they certainly thrilled their audience here. The four-piece folk band, which displayed enough energy to power any troubled national grid, played an exuberant, confident, and eclectic programme of gypsy, Eastern European, Russian, Balkan and Scandinavian tunes. They even threw in a version of Óró sé do Bheatha Abhaile in honour of the Irish audience. At one point, fiddler Bojan Cvetreznik played his violin under his chin, behind his back, and on his shoulder - all with the same insouciant aplomb. "I practise my violin for 27 years now, so it is forbidden I enjoy playing?" he asked rhetorically. The audience showed their approval with a standing ovation.
On Saturday night, a space was roped off i to create a boxing ring. You could call it, er, squaring the circle. The Big Fight in question was a novelty series of jazz bouts: the British Billy Jenkins Big Three of Billy Jenkins, Roberto Bellatalla, and Tom Bancroft versus the Fighting Irish of Michael Buckley, Karl Ronan, and Michael Nielsen, with MC Gerry Godley. Some musicians togged out in martial arts gear, but, funnily, the audience seemed to prefer the fashion statement of the lady in red shorts and stilettoes, who sashayed round the tent to signal the beginning of each round. The jazz teams played in opposing pairs, improvising for two minutes at a time; guitar against trombone; double bass against saxophone and so on. The two minutes got quite a bit wilder, larkier and musically more aggressive as the sets were counted down. Winner? The partisan home-crowd roared for the Fighting Irish.
Tap-dancing is something we tend to see performed in this country only by precocious people under the age of six, on dire Christmas television specials. Four-part dance-team, Tapestry, presented two short but sharply-executed shows called Hoofers on Monday and Tuesday. Accompanied by the excellent Derek O'Connor Quartet, the four dancers - Diane Richardson, Eric Weitz, Katy Davis, and Tracey Martin - made their feet talk and it was a surprisingly enjoyable conversation. The only gripe was that the low stage - perfect for most of the acoustic-based shows - meant a lot of the footwork was blocked from view unless you were right up front, or standing on a chair.
It was cheering to see on Monday night that sometimes money doesn't talk. In an all-too rare courtesy to performers, despite the packed house, the bar was closed for Tanztheatre Cabaret's Murder Ballads, sung by Camille O'Sullivan, Ríonach Ní Néill and Ester Ó Brolchain. O'Sullivan's two shows for next week, Jacques Brel and The Black Angel, are currently the tent's hottest box-office tickets.
The Arts Council-sponsored Critical Voices free lunchtime series of arts-related panel discussions continued this week, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Given the intriguing range of topics and the consistently solid line-up of panellists - and the availability of excellent home-made soup from Eden - it's a shame they are not better attended. Tuesday's topic was Criticism and Arts Writing on the Web; the Issues? chaired by journalist Jon Ihle. Panellist Karen Fricker, editor of the quarterly Irish Theatre Magazine, which also has a free, different online version, pointed out that one medium can complement the other, but when it comes to economics, the main reviews must be located in the pay-for print version. Aside from economics, one audience member raised the point that while web criticism allows more space for reviews than print, it is difficult to find trustworthy, focused criticism amid the sheer mass of websites and blogging. Panellist Ian Shuttleworth, theatre critic for the Financial Times, pointed out that the Edinburgh Fringe had some 1,550 shows this year, and their hitherto generous press office had for the first time been forced to establish a hierarchy of ticket allocation for online review publications, otherwise complimentary tickets would have outnumbered paid tickets.
Wednesday's topic was The Value of Off-Site Work, chaired by Willie White, director of the Project. Is locating visual art and theatre in unusual venues only of novelty value, or does it have artistic merit? Panellist Karl Shiels, who brought a theatre audience into the unlikely venue of St Stephen's Green toilets at last year's festival for Semper Fi's hugely successful Ladies and Gents, commented that, used properly, "an alternative space can become another character. You have to be clear why you want to use an off-site space - you use the space, rather than the space using you."
Mark Garry, whose art-filled pink containers around the city aroused controversy on The View this week, said he saw the containers as a way of attracting an audience to art which would not visit a gallery. Panellist David Bolger, director of CoisCéim Dance Theatre, who is devising a show for the bar area of the Peacock, confessed he had to be strict with himself not to try and turn the bar into a theatre, with lighting boards etc, as otherwise the space might as well be a theatre. The audience pitched in gamely, making it one of the liveliest discussions so far. Check out Critical Voices section on www.artscouncil.ie for details of next week's talks.
Singer David Kitt was a late addition to this week's programme; he played the tent last night as part of its Foggy Notion Magazine Evening. There's a late change to today's advertised programme: Australian singer, dancer and choreographer Melissa Madden Gray replaces Phil Kay in the 7 p.m. slot. Gray's show is called Meow Meow, and the Sydney Morning Herald had this, er, slightly cattish, review of her cabaret-style voice: "Uttering the full arsenal of screams, wails, visceral groans and coloratura squarks known to contemporary vocal technique . . . a voice of the utmost purity and agility."
You can't keep a secret in Dublin. Everyone now knows that tomorrow morning's "surprise" guest at the tent, to participate in a recording of BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends, presented by Ned Sherrin, is that gothic angel, Nick Cave (left). He'll be singing and taking part in a panel discussion, with the Chieftains. Sadly, there's no point calling the box office - the free tickets for this event are all gone. If you have a ticket, you must turn up at 10.30 a.m. sharp to gain access, not 11 a.m. as previously advertised. Approximate finishing time is 11.50 a.m.
Finally, being a tent, bathrooms are located outside in pre-fabs, and someone can take a bow for their (thus far) consistently clean and well-stocked appearance, despite the busy nights.
www.fringefest.com
Rosita Boland
