JADE CITY
LIGHTING, SET & INTEGRATED CAPTIONING DESIGNER
THE BUNKER THEATRE, SEPTEMBER 2019
THE CAVERN, VAULT FESTIVAL 2019
VIEW FROM HERE
A punchy and hot-headed show exploring the dark, toxic and tumultuous friendship of two lads in east Belfast.
Sas and Monty are trapped in this place and in their heads. Their friendship orbits around a damaging and violent event from their pasts. Their imaginative and playful ‘game’ is the only way they can process the mess they feel inside.
Developed with support from Department of Foreign Affairs (Ireland), Jerwood Foundation and EastSide Arts Belfast.
CAST & CREATIVES:
Cast: Barry Calvert and Brendan Quinn
Writer: Alice Malseed
Director: Katherine Nesbitt
Movement Director: David Quinn
Sound Designer: Michael Mormecha
Stage Manager: Philippa Mannion
Lighting, Set & Integrated Captioning: Timothy Kelly
Photos from The Bunker (by Ali Wright)
"there is something undeniably powerful in this story [..] Barry Calvert and Brendan Quinn are both terrific, like two belligerent fighters unknowingly revealing their vulnerable spot, as they dance around Timothy Kelly’s simple boxing ring design which is a kind of trap"
“Visually, one of the most striking things about Jade City is the ‘boxing ring’ set-up. At a subliminal level it makes sense, but an aftershow talk with play’s creative team confirms that ‘the ring’ reflects the sort of communal places that lads like Monty and Sas would have frequented during their formative years. Perhaps more pertinently, for set designer Timothy Kelly, it symbolizes the boundaries of masculinity established by society, which far from being liberating, keeps Sas and Monty ‘boxed in’ when confronting questions about what does it really mean to be a ‘man’ – what CAN and what SHOULD they do. On a seperate note, the performances are also captioned, which obliquely brings the audience’s attention to the innate rhythm and nuances of the language, what is said – and what isn’t…”
“To ensure we don’t miss a word, captions are used throughout – and while these are certainly helpful at times for deciphering the characters’ Northern Irish accents, their inclusion feels as symbolic as it is practical: you get the sense that Sas and Monty are merely acting out a story that’s been written for them, and which for any good intentions they might have, can’t now be avoided.”
