The one thing that probably everyone can remember about last year’s Fringe, whether you knew it was a part of the Fringe or not, it was quite hard to have missed Fergal MacCatty’s Liffeytown. If that still doesn’t mean anything to you, it was the art installation which involved giant Monopoly houses and hotels on the Liffey for the duration of the festival. This year, the same artist is back and, again, his piece involves his muse, Anna Liffey. The piece is called No Man’s Land and takes place between Sean O'Casey Bridge and Samuel Beckett Bridge for the next 2 weeks. I believe it involves the man himself, Fergal MacCatty, living in a tent under a palm tree on a desert island which will have been constructed in the Liffey. A lot more David Blaine than David Lachappelle this year, but I reckon I’m defo checking it out.
One show I’ll not be missing for sure is the Corn Exchange show, Man of Valour. As always the creative team of Michael West & Annie Ryan put together a piece with actor, Paul Reid, that I’m sure will be the highlight of the festival. I have heard through the grapevine that Corn Exchange since taking home a shit load of awards last January for their massive hit, Freefall, they have had their Arts Council grant severely cut which is nothing less than an absolute disgrace. You’d think that when an independent, cut edge theatre company nail a show that is not only successful critically but also has commercial success both here and abroad, you’d think they would be celebrated by the arts council and looked after, but sadly not. Check this show out, Man of Valour, if you’re going to anything, you can pretty much guarantee it’s gonna be slickly done.
There are some other ones I reckon I have to check out – Spilt Gin’s ‘You Can’t Just Leave — There’s Always Something’, they will be meeting with punters at the Nassau Street entrance of Trinity and then once everyone has arrived, you are brought to a secret location for the show. This is definitely one I’m gonna check out.
There is that Paperdolls thing down in the Complex in Smithfield that might be interesting, dancing ladies with moving colourful sets, shit loads of elusion, sounds like a good time to me. If spoken word is your thing, ‘Three Men Talking About Things They Kinda Know About in the International Bar should be sweet. Three men. Different histories. Same shit’ – nice tagline. It’s also directed by former X Bel Air director, Sarah Brennan, back where she should be, directing shows. Damian Kearney also does is one man show, The Flamboyant Bird in Smock Alley which I’d say will be well worth a watch.
Other things I’m looking forward to checking out are all these new venues that are springing up all over Dublin, there are so many that I haven’t been in. So I’m gonna try and get around to all these new spaces, places like The Back Loft, The Lir Theatre, and The Pearce Centre.
All in all, I’m gonna engross myself in the independent arts for the next two weeks and I strongly advise everyone else to do the same. Yes, you will probably encounter some horribly portentous crap on your travels, but you know what, that’s what it’s all about, I find that shit fuckin funny. I’m looking forward to shaking my head at some seriously self indulgent nonsense over the next while. I’m looking forward to it as much as I can’t wait to encounter some piece of quality that was wasn’t quite expecting. It’s been a while since I’ve done the Fringe and this year is my year. Bring it on.
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