Dublin by Lamplight
Tuesday, May 29th, 2007 by AnniRiverside Studios in Hammersmith, West London, is one of my favorite places to see unorthodox shows. Their choices are often a bit off-the-wall, and I’ve never seen something I didn’t like at this space. I saw an ad for this show in Time Out London. They had scary painted faces. The ad looked cool. So I went.
Good to know you can sometimes tell if you’ll like a show based on its picture ad in a Time Out.
The Corn Exchange is a Dublin-based theatre company who have been touring this show around the UK for a while now. And if you’re ever near one of their performances, I highly recommend it. It is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Performing essentially a melodrama, this excellent ensemble cast uses all kinds of tools at their disposal to tell a story.
The story itself is almost irrelevant, compared with how it’s presented, but I’ll run through it anyway. It’s the story of a theatre — and the people that work in it — at the turn of the century. Actors don’t make it to the stage because they are thrown in jail, so the seamstress plays the leading role… and chaos ensues.
Each of the excellent members of the 6 person ensemble play at least 3 characters each — and most of the time the transition from one character to another is so seamless you don’t even realize it’s the same person. Each character is so well crafted, using voice, body, gesture, and slight costume adjustments. Each actor wears commedia-del-arte painted faces, lending an other-worldy, gothy, ghostly feel to the stage — yet somehow this doesn’t compromise all the comedy, of which there is a ton. Mime and funny voices and uncomfortable situations create some of the best comedy moments I’ve seen lately.
Even the construct of the show is bizarre and new. Each character, while speaking to other characters normally, also will frequently turn to the audience and dictate, in the 3rd person, what their character has just done, or is about to do; basically everyone gets a constant, verbal inner monologue to deliver alongside their regular dialogue.
And, as with all good melodrama, it ends tragically. It’s amazing how much darkness and how much comedy have been crammed into this little gem of a show. Once you accept the universe of the show — it’s a bit jarring at first, but you adjust quickly — it is effortless. Almost impossible to describe, as it sort of exists only within it’s own world. Would see it again and again. Come to the USA, Corn Exchange! We’ll welcome you with open arms. Well, I will at the very least.
