Fairisle Meditations
In about a hundred years or so, when I've finished this project, I expect I’ll have plenty to say, but as I’m only at the start of a very long knit I'll save that for then. Rightly or wrongly, I’ve decided to stick with my own fairisle system which is closer to two-finger typing than to any more streamlined method. This is not something I’ll be whipping out when I'm bored at the cinema - I need space - space, and a place I can concentrate and line up all my yarns exactly as I need them.
But that ordered approach gives time not just to enjoy the colour but to think too, and this week my thoughts are running on theatre shows I've seen the day or night before. The Dublin Theatre Festival is in full swing and I find that fairisle is very conducive to post theatrical unscrambling - for instance while working on the green chains, I established exactly why I didn't like something I'd seen, and teased out if my reason was my own prejudice, or if there was something more objectively wrong. But much more importantly, I also worked out what I like - and if anyone's interested, and if you can still get a ticket, here are a few of my favourites so far...
... A Girl Is A Half Formed Thing -
Really one of the most nuanced, impressive and memorable performances I ever saw; the language is stream of consciousness and would be challenging, were it not for Aoife Duffin's total assumption into the role. The subject matter is child neglect and sex abuse - from the first second nobody moved in their seats other than awkward shunting at some of the really distressing aspects. Her performance doesn't seek to shock or explain - it just does. I heard someone complain a day after (few could speak a word in the direct aftermath) that the content was nothing new - for me that makes it all the more haunting and pertinent. If I had the gift of an overall award, this production would win (unless there's something better next week, but as I haven't seen anything so good in years, I really doubt that). I've seen Aoife Duffin perform before, but I'm really glad I got to see her in this, which I know will go down in the annals of "remember the year that..."
... After Sarah Miles…
Bobeen is an epically disastrous man made flesh by Don Wycherley - and anyone who ever spent time in a small coastal town will have met a Bobeen. The writing is beautiful and the performance held us spellbound = on the night I was there, they deservedly won one of those rare, entirely spontaneous, unselfconscious unanimous standing ovations
I loved Zoo and its initial lightness of touch - made its political message all the more compelling.
...Hello, My Name Is was funny, great fun too - it wears its messages lightly and allows you to attach as much (or little) significance as you like to its agenda. It's very much a festival show, and be prepared to seriously participate (and also maybe limber up a little first because it's a very energetic event) - I had to give a knitting class.
...Adishatz/Adieu only on in Dublin till Saturday 4th October - all I can say is GO! Poignant and shocking, out of the box and off the wall - everything that festivals should be about!