“Where Ye From?” – Growler – Dublin Fringe Festival – Review

Performances: 10 – 14 September @ 20:30, €15/ €13
Venue: Dublin Castle – Chapel Royal

Find out more about Growler here.

Who or what is Growler, I hear you ask? According to the website, she is an “82-year-old drum banging, shamanic vulva from the Liberties in Dublin”. And who are we to argue? Although on the night she admitted to being significantly older, having had at least three husbands and ‘rode the hole’ off all of them!

The Chapel Royal is a stunning location for any event, and as the audience took their seats, gentle music played and a diffuser sent out the scent of lavender into the air. The night was introduced by St Patrica, the sister of the attention-seeking Patrick. Her aim is to bring the snakes back to Ireland! She gave the audience some background information on Growler, which only added to the mystery.

Growler appeared on the balcony, performing a spoken word piece to a backing track, before making her way down to the deconsecrated altar of the Royal Chapel. She then talked about the history of the building itself and Dublin Castle being the seat of power of the ruling English.

Later, she talked of the power of the divine feminine, and that male power had ruled the world for far too long. She evoked the spirits of the dead and even Albert Einstein paid her a visit live on stage! All this was done along with her crude sayings and a variety of filthy jokes.

The last part of the evening included a number of folk songs, as she was joined on stage by a guitarist, as Growler transmuted “the shite out of the female collective trauma”. The guitar was often looped and Growler played along on her drum with wild abandon! One part performance art, one part folk singer, this odd creation is perfectly batty Fringe material.