Olympia – New Theatre – Review

until Oct 24th @ 7.30pm

Nathaniel is a brilliant, young medical student. He is always at the front of the lecture hall and the first to answer the questions of his lecturers. He has come to the attention of Professor Coppola who teaches anatomy. The Professor takes one student every year to help her with a seemingly impossible project, restoring the sight of her daughter Olympia. This year she chooses Nathaniel, and he devotes himself to the cause, working in her house late into the night. All is not as it seems with Professor Coppola and her mysterious daughter, and Nathaniel slowly starts to piece the puzzle together.

This is a new play produced by Pygmankenstein, who are Nora Kelly-Lester and Lauren-Shannon Jones. This is the same team that previously worked on Grow (2013) and the Assassination of Brian Boru (2014). They have been selected as the first writer and director in residence at the New Theatre. ‘Olympia’ is an adaptation of ‘Der Sandman’ by E.T.A. Hoffmann, which was first published in 1817.

There are five members of the cast, playing the various characters in Nathaniel’s life, including his best friend, fiancée, Professor Coppola and Olympia herself. The production is quite creative and delves into the dreams of the main character, with unusual images, projections and strobe lighting.

This is a horror play, the unusual genre that generally appears in the run up to Halloween. It is the story of a mad doctor who dares to tamper with things that should be left in the hands of God! These experiments never end well and this case is no exception. The production is quite ambitious and the variety of settings and locations they create are closer to a film than a piece of theatre. The actors on stage spend the moments between scenes furiously shifting the furniture into new arrangements in near darkness. The production has the feel of a Hammer horror, with the bright-eyed innocent characters and those of other dispositions waiting to prey upon them. For a nice touch of the macabre in the run up to Halloween, you won’t go far wrong with this fright before bedtime!

Pygmankenstein and The New Theatre – Olympia

Adapted by Nora Kelly Lester and Lauren Shannon Jones
until Oct 24th @ 7.30pm

Cast:

Michael David McKernan
Shane Robinson
Aenne Barr
Erin Gilgen
Claudia Kinahan

Creative Team:

Director: Nora Kelly Lester [PYG]
Writer: Lauren Shannon Jones [MANKENSTEIN]

Set Design: Fionn McShane
Lighting Design: Conor Byrne
Sound Design: Dylan Tonge Jones
Costume: Tara Louise Morrison
Make-up: Gill Lambert
Production Manager: Cein Sookran

Produced by Ailish McCarthy and Mark Ball