Collaborations – Block Five – Finished yesterday at 2.30 in the Boy’s School – Smock Alley

The Collaborations festival has a number of shorter plays, grouped together into Blocks (2 or 3 depending on their length). These two short plays, approximately 30 minutes each, were Block 5 in the Collaborations series and had similar themes and both had two female actors. There is an element of chance in what you’re going to see, but I think that makes it more exciting! None of those involved are household names. Some of the pieces are works in progress, and some are complete in their own right, so you’re never sure what you’re going to see!

Collaborations runs until next Saturday 9th March at Smock Alley.

Tongues of Fire by Manikin Theatre

Two young women meet after a period apart. They were once good friends and confidants, but life has changed them. One now has a husband and is pregnant with her first child, the other is still young, free and single. The things they shared are no longer there, and it’s all too obvious that what was once easy has now become difficult.

This is an unusual short play, based around the topics of friendship and how events in your life can alter them. It is broken into three short acts, one while the young woman is pregnant, the next a surreal section (dream sequence?) set in a cave where they are trapped, and the final segment after the child is born. The young single woman talks of how her friend has the perfect life, with her husband and child, while the young mother shows signs that it is anything but perfect.

It is played on a light and humorous level but changes at several times to hint at a more sinister world behind. The two main actors Sorcha and Grace carry the parts off well. Both are recent graduates from D.I.T and show impressive levels of maturity and skill.

Directed By Deirdre Lennon | Written By Thomas McMullan | Produced By Manikin Theatre Company

Cast: Sorcha Bannon & Grace Hendy

UPTIMES by Margaret McAuliffe

Written and Performed By Margaret McAuliffe.

This is a simple but well written play that deal that deals with a short meeting between two women, one young and one older, on a train that has broken down. The main protagonist is the younger woman, and the piece starts with an opening monologue of the woman waiting for the train to arrive. It tells the tale of her last few years, and her various attempts to find a place where she is happy at work after a couple of disastrous attempts.

Once the two characters have met, sitting opposite on the train, they have a couple of brief exchanges which is enough for the younger of the two to decide that the older woman is treating her poorly! The older seems oblivious to much of it, and continues to read her paper. All the while the train announcement get more bizarre, and touch on the conversation between the two characters.

This play is purely focused on developing the characters of the two women, and it achieves its goal well, as each character is well drawn out over the course of the short play. The two actors Margaret McAuliffe and Eva Bartley (not Erica Murray! Thanks Mags) perform admirably in these roles and leave you wondering what becomes of these two unlikely acquaintances, and will they make their connection on time!