This Solution – Dublin Theatre Festival – Review

SHAUN DUNNE AND PROJECT ARTS CENTRE
This Solution – BY SHAUN DUNNE

Review by Frank L.

Ellen Kirk, the set and costume designer, uses a vast mirror on the stage which reflects the entire auditorium so that the initial impression is that the theatre has doubled in size. However, the mirror in fact divides the stage in two. In front of the mirror is a dance studio and behind it is a porn studio. The porn studio is only seen occasionally by means of John Gunning’s clever lighting. Shaun Dunne (Rapids which was later adapted into the film How to Tell a Secret) states that the idea for the performance came from a story of a young man whom he met whose “life changed following the decision he made in his early twenties. It is a story punctuated by unfair ridicule and dismissal from his community, to the unethical upholding of perpetual image retention.”

In the dance studio a young man (Adam John Richardson) has come to attend a series of ten weekly private dance classes with a teacher (Jessie Thompson who is also the choreographer to the production). She lays down the rules from the get-go including punctuality to which he agrees. In order for their sessions to be mutually beneficial she requires that their working relationship is disciplined. Inevitably tensions develop. The young man cannot escape his past existence as an actor in porn movies and the negotiations or the lack of them which led him down that path in his youthful innocence. That past existence haunts him and is brought into view in the porn studio by three male dancers who are naked apart from black leather harnesses and jock straps. They dance in unison various routines. His angst with his past is greatly heightened by the fact that the images created when he was in the porn industry are not under his control and their distribution has caused him and continue to cause him shame and ridicule. They haunt him.

The three dancers (Adam O’Reilly, Michael McEvoy and Anderson de Souza) with their attire evoke the world of porn. Richardson and Thompson have not only substantial dialogue but perform various dance routines. They manage to carry off this demanding double act with flair. They are ably assisted by an occasional voice over and video. While the use of strobe lighting and the music of Robbie Kitt intensify the ambience.

According to the programme notes, 91.5% of men and 60.2 % of women engaged with porn in the past month but does not identify the source. Even if those percentages are innaccurate by a factor of 2 or even 3 it is a very large percentage of the population. Yet there is little or no discussion of the prevalence of porn. Its prevalence is another phenomenon which cannot speak its name.
Shaun Dunne once more marches confidently into a terrain where others fear to tread. With Claire O’Reilly he has created an arresting and challenging piece of dance theatre, which will hopefully be seen by a wider audience after the theatre festival ends.

Directed by Claire O’Reilly & Shaun Dunne
Directed by Claire O’Reilly & Shaun Dunne
Choreographer & Performer Jessie Thompson
Assistant Director Giulia Grillo
Creative Producer Killian Coyle
Set & Costume Design Ellen Kirk
Lighting Designer John Gunning
Music & Sound Design Robbie Kitt
Film Design, Photography & Videography Luca Truffarelli

Production Manager Eoin Hannaway
Stage Manager Rachel Ellen Bollard
ASM Aimee Crilly
Chief LX & Op Emily O’Riordan
Sound Engineer Charlie Moloney
Graphic Design Sarah Moloney
PR Niamh Mongey

Cast Adam John Richardson, Jessie Thompson, Adam O’Reilly, Michael McEvoy, Anderson de Souza.