Despite being someone who has barely dipped her toe in the Fringe waters before this year, the name “La Clique” was familiar to me from hearing people rave about it and talking about booking their tickets weeks in advance to ensure they didn’t miss a performance.
The English Gents
So what’s all the fuss about? I went along to the opening night last night and I can safely say I have not seen a show as spectacularly entertaining or breathtaking in my life. And I can’t wait to go back for more.
To me, La Clique is a marvellous mixture of traditional and contemporary circus performance, music and comedy with a sexy, energetic twist. With the gorgeous velvety surroundings of the Spiegeltent, it felt at times like I was caught up in a scene from Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge
I don’t want to give anything away as the surprise and (at times) shock factor is all part of what makes the show so entertaining. At the very least it’s a showcase of some truly amazing talents and a visual feast.
Bath Boy
I laughed till I cried, I squirmed, I gasped, I sang, I danced, I whooped and hollered and left the Speigeltent simply buzzing. If you only go to one Fringe show this year, go and see La Clique. I’m going back for more before it ends on Sunday 20th. If you go tonight, you’ll get a lovely 20% off. And if I haven’t convinced you then maybe Darragh will.
I had the pleasure of seeing two fantastic shows on Saturday night as part of the opening weekend of Absolut Fringe 09 – Point Blank at the Project Arts Centre and Red Hot & Brass at the ever lovely Spiegeltent. The two shows were poles apart in pretty much every way but that’s the beauty of Fringe!
Point Blank
A remarkable show centred around 19 year old Nada and her quest to find the path in life she wants to take. She travels taking photos of complete strangers observing them often for days to see what they do and if this might be the life for her. I’ve put a review up on Culch.ie and highly recommend you go check this out if you can.
Red Hot & Brass
Well it pretty much does exactly what it says on the tin – they were hot, sassy and very much brassy! I haven’t danced as much in a long time and they had everyone in the Speigeltent on their feet on Saturday night – a fantastic start to fortnight of some hopefully equally brilliant performances.
Check out www.fringefest.com for a look at what’s on over the next 2 weeks. See you out there!
So tonight is Princess Bride night – watch and chat about the movie at Screencheck at Spy from 7 with yummy cupcakes, wine and cocktails on the cheap. Nom. The liveblog is all set to go here and if you’re partaking in the discussion via Twitter the hashtag is #asyouwish
I popped in briefly to the launch of the Dublin Fringe Festival 09 last evening – my was it a lively event! Still sifting through the packed programme of events to see what I might get to see but first impressions are awesome. Check the site for all the info you need and keep an eye on culch.ie for extra nuggets.
Autumn is creeping upon us ever gradually and with it comes the usual flux of awards events for the design world. While it’s a little quieter this year with the IIA Net Visionaries moved to the month of May as of this year, there’s still plenty opportunity to try your hand at getting something tasty for over the fireplace. The IDI Awards and Irish Web Awards are accepting nominations till the end of the month. The Golden unmentionables are taking place also and still charging ridiculous amounts for seats at the awards ceremony (€300 per head) and a saucy €150 per nomination. Stick with either of the previous I think.
“We will turn Dublin’s tallest building into a giant public canvas—and we want you to play with it. Our simple tools allow you to animate your thoughts and broadcast them on the city skyline.”
Today’s article in the Irish Indo says that 330 windows combined with some sophisticated LED lighting will turn Liberty Hall into a huge, electronic canvas as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival which runs from September 24th to October 11th.
It’s been pretty quiet in terms of post frequency here this past while, partly due to busyness and partly due to trying to form this post in my head. Here goes.
SPWC – I had never heard of it before some time in March when Darragh started mentioning it & how he was going to be involved & how much he was looking forward to it. What started out as a trip to Cork to see some SPWC & visit my sister turned into volunteering for both the Cork and Dublin leg of the festival. I had no idea what to expect but was more than pleasantly surprised by the whole experience.
Grant Goldie as 'That Man'
Out of the 2 legs, Cork was my favourite purely down to the venue (Fitzgerald Park) being able to cater better for the festival and the crowd it attracted. I was mesmerised by the sheer range of stuff I saw from fire juggling to a man going through a squash racket to a man on a 12ft unicycle. And loads more besides. My personal favourites from the festival were ‘That Man’ (Grant Goldie) and Mr. Toons, both for different reasons. The ‘That Man’ show was magical – it combined more “traditional” street performance trickery such as juggling but Grant had the very special skill of being able to interact & click with the audience down to a tee. And all without speaking a word. His contact juggling piece had me totally hypnotised, absolutely beautiful to watch & there are some beautiful shots of this on pix.ie.
Mr. Toons was amazing just for the sheer uniqueness & craziness of his show. From the 12ft unicycle to the giant balloon into which he climbs it’s just mind boggling to watch let alone wonder how on earth he came up with such an idea. Check out the pictures on pix.ie – has to be seen to be believed.
'Relaxed' by Phil O'Kane (click for more)
It’s rare to see such a mixture of generations all mixed together enjoying the day & that for me is one of the things I loved most about SPWC. Anything that gets families, friends, kids & big kids out, about & laughing together is a winner. Being able to do that for free & in the open air (& thankfully sunshine for the most part) was icing on the cake.
One thing that also struck me over the two weekends is how much the performers themselves seemed to love doing their shows. From time to time I’ve had chats with my dad about various professions, our own included & how most of the time you can take a step back and say “funny way to make a living!”. Certainly applies here too to all involved from the performers to the organisers and everyone in between! But I’ll bet they wouldn’t have it any other way.
'Blowing Bubbles #2' by Phil O'Kane
Thanks all for a fantastic experience & hopefully we’ll do it all again next year
