Bastet – Smock Alley – Scene and Heard Festival – Review

Bastet is the name of an ancient Egyptian Goddess who has the body of a woman and the head of a cat. In ancient Egypt cats had a special status and were treated as well as humans. They had Bastet as their guardian and she was also a God of war.

This is the tale of a young woman who thinks she has killed both her parents. She seems convinced of the fact, despite her mother dying in child birth and her father disappearing. She bears the guilt for their loss and sets about trying to make amends by looking after the local animal life, specifically the cats. This quickly becomes an obsession as she devotes her life to looking after the strays in her locality.

The staging of this piece is simple but very effective, with the stage floor covered in sand.  There are three chairs on the stage, one for each of the actors. The main protagonists (Eilis Carey) sits centre stage with a man and a woman on either side acting as a chorus, elaborating on her thoughts and spouting synonyms to anything she says.

As the piece was only half an hour in length, the story was relatively simple. It was an insight into the delusions of a young woman who has lost everyone she holds dear to her. This is a production which uses simple staging with some style. The three actors are immersed in their world and there was an intensity to the performance that worked well.

Find out more about Kepler Theatre here.

This play was part of the Scene and Heard Festival which continues at Smock Alley until

Directed/written by Clara Mallon
Cast: Eilis Carey, Shane Connolly and Lucy Miller
Produced by Orna O’Connor