Theatre review: Brokentalkers bring Bellow to The Everyman
Danny O'Mahony, Gary Keegan and Emily Kilkenny Roddy join forces in a bold new production.
On the face of it, the question Dublin based theatre company Brokentalkers have set themselves in their latest production Bellow appears to be quite simple; what happens when tradition meets experimentation? Or, to put it even more accurately, what can happen when tradition meets experimentation?
Well this meeting has its opening awkward encounter, when two men walk out onto the stage and introduce themselves as Gary and Danny. One is an experimental theatre maker, the other is a traditional Irish musician. A couple of years ago, when they met for the very first time in the Clarence Hotel in Dublin, Danny approached Gary to see if he’d be interested in collaborating on a show together.
But Gary doesn’t make shows he tells Danny, he makes “pieces” and so begins the first in a series of push and pull sequences, which make up the unpredictable action of this unique play, symbolized perfectly by the accordion that Danny is holding.
With the scene set and having given just enough background information, Gary then has Danny take part in a couple of improv exercises. These don’t exactly get off to a great start, but eventually some breaking of the ice ensues, as he simultaneously tries to pull the traditional musician into his world of theatre making, while also giving the audience an insight into how the piece came to life and how he works as an artist.
This element of play and experimentation leads to multiple discoveries about Danny’s past, as he finally confronts the effects of having been a child prodigy and living the life of a musician for over forty years. It also makes Gary reflect on his own past success and failures in theatre, how he sees his own practice now and whether this encounter with tradition, which he previously would have refuted, might suddenly be having an effect on him.
While Gary is relaxed and at ease on stage, playing a heightened version of himself, Danny is stiff and stilted, even more so when he removes his protective shield and puts the accordion aside for the first time. Danny is after all, not an actor but a musician from North Kerry, yet there is an authenticity to his uneasiness on stage that is really appealing.
The play however, isn’t just layer upon layer of meta narrative, because what use are fancy techniques without an engaging story? And Danny’s story is very moving indeed; at different turns a tale of heritage, creativity, loneliness and abuse that unfolds in a most unexpected way. Just when you think you have a handle on what direction the piece is moving in, it changes into something completely different.
These changes, dictated by sudden shifts in how Danny recollects his own memories, are brilliantly conveyed by the lighting design by Sarah Jane Shiels and the sound design by Valgeir Sigurdsson, not to mention the array of tremendous props that are used to great effect throughout.
However, having moved the story forward as far as they feel they could together, Gary and Danny then openly admit they needed assistance to fill in the emotional gaps that Danny was unable to convey through words. For this, they enlisted the services of Emily, a dancer from Dublin, and with her appearance the play elevates itself even further.
She tells the audience how she came to be involved in the project and then asks Danny some questions about his feelings as a child and marks these out on a sketch of the human body, before interpreting them through dance.
Her movement is terrific, lithe one moment, slithering the next, as she swirls around Danny while he plays another tune on the accordion, physically embodying the push and pull of his life. With this wonderful interplay, the audience really gets to feel the confusion and loneliness Danny felt as a child and the crucial role of music in his very existence.
As Bellow reaches its conclusion, there is a slight lull towards the end and perhaps it could’ve done with being slightly shorter in duration, but this is entirely forgivable as the play dares to try things that mightn’t always come off.
For this show of bravery and three excellent performances, which are far more than just an actor, musician and dancer on stage, it is an inspiring production, exhibiting all the potential and magic of theatre in a thought provoking and emotive piece of work.
To return to that original question then, what can happen when tradition meets experimentation? The answer we discover, quite thrillingly, is anything and everything.
‘Bellow’ is at The Everyman March 12th-13th. For more info visit the Everyman here.