Heave – Dublin Fringe Festival – Review
Orla Graham & Seón Simpson

Performances – 21–23 September @ 19:00, 24–26 September – On demand
Venue – Your Place

Saorla is a young woman trying to find her place in the world. She lives with her boyfriend in Belfast and for the most part, their life together seems perfect. She waits for him to come home from work in the evenings, checking the traffic reports to see if he’ll be late. Their relationship is intense and they spend all their time together, that is until her boyfriend tells her he’s been offered his dream job in Brussels. It is a six-month contract and he intends to take it. Can their relationship survive this separation?

This new online experience is available in both Live stream and On-Demand versions. The play is described as a film/ theatre hybrid. The production is presented largely as a monologue with the actor talking directly to the camera as if she was on stage. There are also additional scenes and images added to break the flow. Sometimes animations are added to the image, whereas other parts show her acting out sequences described in the text.

The text is rich and written in blank verse which adds to the intensity of the performance. You are swept away in the flow of the language, with a near-endless cascade of images and ideas. You’re allowed inside the head of our protagonist, given access to her deepest thoughts and ideas. Their long-distance attempts at sex are as awkward as they sound, sending each other images on Whatsapp or video calls. For the beauty of the language alone, this deserves to have another life after the festival. With audiences returning to the theatre, maybe the video images and animations could be combined with a live performance to create a new hybrid.

Created by Orla Graham and Seón Simpson
Starring Orla Graham
Directed by Seón Simpson
Filmmaker/Editor Gavin Peden
Animator/Graphic Designer Fergus Wachala Kelly
Sound Designer/Mixing Oisín Jayat
Lighting Designer/Production Manager GinaDonnelly