Scorched Earth – Dublin Dance Festival – Review

On the Abbey Stage – Dates: 23 – 24 May 2025

Written, Directed and Choreographed by Luke Murphy
Scorched Earth runs at the Galway Arts Festival from July 15th – 19th

A death has occurred under unusual circumstances. The body found was that of an outsider, an Englishman who had recently arrived and bought a plot of land. The police investigation was botched, and the case was ruled an accident. Now, a new policewoman has arrived and reopened the case. She wants to see the facts and talk to those involved, especially the man who rented the field for the last number of years. He was at the auction but didn’t manage to buy the land as the price moved too high. She sees him as the prime suspect in the case.

This work was inspired by John B Keane’s The Field, but it has more in common with the average crime drama than it does the play, which was first staged 60 years ago. The production opens with the grey surroundings of an interrogation room in a Garda station. There are 24 hours on the clock on the back wall. This is the time the police officer has to interrogate the suspect before he is either charged or released.

If this all sounds very formal for a piece in the Dublin Dance Festival, it is a hybrid of theatre and dance. The production has a fluid structure, which ebbs and flows with elements of dance and text-driven narrative. If emotions are raised, the performers resolve the situation through movement. If they are asked to recollect a previous time, they fall back to a reverie of dance. The introduction of an anthropomorphised version of the field itself to dance with our main protagonist is yet more evidence of the playful nature of the production.

The Choreographer, Writer & Director of this piece is Luke Murphy, who founded Attic Projects in 2015. Luke has worked with the immersive dance/theatre group Punchdrunk since 2009 on productions such as ‘The Drowned Man’ and ‘Sleep No More’. This new production is another step in his development and his first time on the main stage of the Abbey.

The production is not without its faults; some scenes run on for too long and would be better served with some editing. A 90-minute run time for a dance piece is extremely long, and there is little or no resolution to the narrative. It is no surprise that the performance really comes to life with the dance elements, and they vary from playful to violent and intensely sinister. The production delivers an extremely inventive approach to the tale, and this ingenuity shows glimpses of a major developing talent. It will be fascinating to watch Murphy’s continued evolution.

Credits
Choreographer, Writer & Director: Luke Murphy
Cast: Luke Murphy
Cast: Ryan O’Neill
Cast: Sarah Dowling
Cast: Tyler Carney-Faleatua
Cast: Will Thompson
Set and Costume Designer: Alyson Cummins
Lighting Designer: Stephen Dodd
Composition and Sound Designer: Rob Moloney
Audio Visual Designer: Patricio Cassinoni
Rehearsal Director: Stephen Moynihan
Production Manager: Simon Bird
Chief LX: Alan Mooney
Audio Engineer: Aidah Sama
Stage Manager: Chris Hopcraft
Stage Manager: Iain Synnott
Producer: Gwen Van Spyk
Associate Producer: Miles Harrigan