Specky Clark – Dublin Dance Festival – Review

Performed at the Abbey Theatre
Find out more about Oona Doherty here.

Specky Clark – Co-produced and presented by Dublin Dance Festival and the Abbey Theatre – Written, Directed and Choreographed by Oona Doherty
Dates: 14 – 17 May 2025

After the death of his mother, Specky (Faith Prendergast) is forced to move from his home in Glasgow to Belfast. He is the proverbial fish out of water, as he finds himself living with two difficult and ghoulish relations. There is a feel of the ugly sisters about the two women as they pull on cigarettes and scowl at this young man who has landed on their doorstep! They order Specky to start work in a local abattoir to earn his keep. That’s when things start getting truly bizarre. The first animal Specky kills is a pig, but on Halloween night/ Samhain, the pig returns with a mission in mind.

This is a new work by Oona Doherty, who is known for works such as Navy Blue and Hard to be Soft, which both featured in the Dublin Dance Festival in recent years. This work is a change in direction, with a strong narrative, and it is heavily text-driven. It is described as a “blend of fiction and biography” and tells the story of how Oona’s great-great-grandfather arrived in Belfast with a few embellishments to the tale!

This week in the Gate Theatre, Lovesong opened. Directed by CoisCéim’s David Bolger, it is a play with frequent elements of Dance and Movement. This is the other side of the coin, a piece of Dance Theatre with frequent segments of text and a strong narrative. The line is often blurred between the two art forms, and in truth, there is no problem with this other than from a purist’s point of view. With Oona Doherty being so talented with dance, it would make sense to stick with what she’s good at, but she continues to evolve as an artist. Whether this change in direction is a long-term decision or a one-off, we’ll have to wait and see.

The music is a mix of contemporary sounds, featuring artists such as David Holmes, Jamie xx, and LANKUM. The two centre-piece songs are Necessary Genius by David Holmes (Featuring Raven Violet) and a sprawling and ghoulish cover of Ghosttown,  The Specials classic.

The production is stylish, with its moody lighting and moments of eerie calm, as the drones of Lankum play out in the background. The costumes are playful, with the creatures of the Tuatha Dé Danann emerging from the other world to dance and play on this Halloween night. These divine beings in Irish mythology stand tall against the diminutive Specky, looking like giants and filling the stage. The visuals are extremely strong, and the combination of Lighting Design (John Gunning), Set Design (Sabine Dargent) and Costumes (Darius Dolatyari-Dolatdoust and Constance Tabourgait) has created something quite sumptuous. The scenes of dance are when the production really comes to life and feel wild and irreverent, with chaotic pagan dances, as the stage films with these bizarre creatures.

Choreographer, Writer & Director: Oona Doherty (in collaboration with the cast)
Performer: Diarmuid Amstrong
Performer: Maëva Berthelot
Performer: Malick Cissé
Performer: Tom Grand Mourcel
Performer: Gerard Headley
Performer: Clay Koonar
Performer: Gennaro Lauro
Performer: Michael McEvoy
Performer: Erin O’Reilly
Performer: Faith Pendergast
Music: Lankum
Cantu Tenore: Gavino Murgia, featuring David Holmes & Raven Violet
Composition & Sound Design: Maxime Jerry Fraisse
Lighting Design: John Gunning
Set Design: Sabine Dargent
Costume Design: Darius Dolatyari-Dolatdoust, in collaboration with Constance Tabourga
Costume Assistant: Aela Bristiel
Costume Assistant: Lena Manin
Costume Assistant: Paul Escamez
Costume Assistant: Ambre Beylier
Costume Assistant: Meryl Degez
Costume Assistant: Christina Clerisse
Rehearsal Director: Solene Weinachter
Audio Cast: Louise Conaghan
Audio Cast: Janie Doherty
Audio Cast: Sam Finnegan
Audio Cast: Stephen Rae
Audio Cas: Garry Rowntree
Engineer: Juliette Pierangelo
Engineer: Jessie Chalumeau
Film & Photography: Luca Truffarelli
Subtitles: Nadir Bouassria, in collaboration with Maxime Jerry Fraisse
Mentor & Dramaturgy: Enda Walsh