Shredder – Dublin Fringe Festival – Review

Shredder – David McGovern
Performances – 16 Sept, 21:15 (preview), 17 – 20 Sept, 21:15, 20 Sept, 15:45

Shredder –  written and performed by David McGovern

Placed on every seat was a small rectangular piece of cardboard (15 cm x 5.5 cm approx.). My card proclaims “We shred because we care”. On the other side, it contains all the information that a much larger theatrical programme would contain. At the end, it proclaims, “To shred is to be discerning. To shred is to take action. Live well and shred the rest”. It is unusual to say the least that shredding should be centre stage in a theatrical production, but it did, of course, have an important albeit subsiduary role in the life of Paul Howard’s Ross O’Carroll Kelly creation, where he was the managing director of a business called “Shred Focking Everything” as he disposed of the dirty secrets of the Celtic Tiger.

As you arrive in the auditorium, McGovern is already at work. He proffers each member of the audience a mint. Clad in a red coloured jumpsuit, he buzzes around the audience offering the mints and apologising, “where are my manners?” if he accidentally overlooks someone.

The primary object on stage is a lone shredder. It stands alone and aloof. On the back wall is a screen on which the number 50 will be projected. After a certain amount of patter, McGovern brings on stage several small bundles of documents, in a size similar to what every household will have arriving through, most likely, the letterbox. They, of course, gradually accumulate into a problem. The reasons they have been kept are not investigated. However, before putting each one carefully and almost reverentially into the shredder, McGovern gives you a snippet of its subject matter. They cover a bizarre range of topics. As each individual document is consumed by the shredder, the number on the screen reduces. There is a ritual.

But of course, the size of the shredded documents is by definition always increasing, so from time to time, McGovern has to empty the underlying bin. He has then to do something with the so-called waste. He makes this process into an art form. Of course, all this activity requires the use of his energy. Therefore, he must have a little rest. He lies down and falls asleep, and the screen on the back wall portrays what he is dreaming. He is a restless sleeper, and his body writhes a little with his unknown thoughts, but you can use your imagination.

He engages naturally throughout with his audience and as a result, we all had together to do a little “work” at his behest. The sound of us all doing it elated him. It was a small, gentle, beautiful piece of communal activity. At a different level, McGovern brings to the forefront the amount of information and corresponding detritus with which we are now living. How we manage it individually and collectively is important. This delightful production provides a joyous base to further that conversation. It is an engaging piece of theatre, both fun and serious.