Endings. – Dublin Fringe Festival – Review
Springheel Productions

PERFORMANCES  – 9, 10, 13 – 16 September  – 18:30, €15/€13
Venue – Project Arts Centre – Cube
Duration: 80mins

We meet Henry on his birthday. He’s out with friends but he doesn’t feel like there is much to celebrate. His life hasn’t gone according to plan, he has a job he hates and he is still living at home with his Dad. He wants to go home early but there is a surprise waiting for him at the nightclub, as a number of his friends are inside! He tries to enter into the spirit of the occasion but ends up abruptly leaving the club and stumbling out onto the street. He decides to go to another club, where he meets a mysterious stranger who seems to know a lot about him. This stranger offers Henry a deal to put his life back on track but as ever, the deal has consequences.

This is a new work from Writer/Performer Fionntán Larney, which is from Springheel Productions. Fionntán founded the company, in 2020 and his debut production BEAT was part of the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2018 and received a five-star review from the Irish Times.

The show is billed as a “concert, a concept album, and a musical that explores mental health”. Fionntán is the sole performer on stage for the duration of the piece, but he is joined by a variety of other prerecorded voices which add to the complexity of the production. Fionntán also uses a second microphone which alters his voice to create the character of the demon or devil which offers him the Faustian pact.

The musical element of the production is one of the main aspects, with a number of songs performed live over a soundtrack.  Fionntán has a strong interest in rap and hip-hop and has combined it with his theatrical background (he’s a recent graduate of the Lir) to create this work.

There is also an element of audience participation in the piece as at several times during the performance, the house lights come up and the audience is allowed to alter the direction of the performance in some fashion. It’s an unusual concept that works well to allow the crowd at least the illusion of control over the production.

While the concept of the story has been heard many times before, this work does put an original spin on it and is performed with some style. This is an interesting and varied work that should sit well with fans of Fringe theatre or the Hip-hop scene. It would be lovely to think it could attract a crowd outside the normal theatre audience who go to most productions around Dublin. There are similarities with Dublin Oldschool which is a production that had many lives, eventually ending up on the big screen. Who knows where this production could go to!

Cast and Crew:
Writer/Performer: Fionntán Larney
Director: Joy Nesbitt Composers: glasseyed & Rhoshi
Set + Costume Design: Freya Gillespie Lighting
Design: Pedro Pacheco
Stage Manager: Alannah O’Leary Producer: Signe Lury
Marketing & Publicity – Lucy Holmes

Image:
Fiachra Larney