Shona McGarry
Societies Editor
Whether you’re into plays or not, you’ve got to be into the Players Freshers shows, partly because they’re full of first-time actors, and partly because they’re prepared in less than a month. First up this week was Pocket Full Of Posies, a devised piece written and directed by Breffni Holohan and Fionnuala Gygax. Devised pieces are always a bit of a hit at this time of year – last year’s Outside The Box was a make-it-up-through-improv set-up, as is the hugely successful annual Freshers’ Co-Op – so Posies was filling the gap this time around. Exactly how much of each play is written before and how much devised is anyone’s guess, but the end result is always something a little unexpected. This one was no exception.
From the quirky primary school poster to the cyclical plot, it was certainly different. Starting at lunchtime and lasting a little under an hour, most of the audience were on the floor, cross-legged, by the end, but the lack of seating added to the sense of uncertainty that we were all feeling. Uncertainty as to what exactly was going on – six people wake up on a carousel with no idea how they got there – and uncertainty as to whether or not we were all late for the show. We weren’t – there was no beginning or end to this piece, the circle of the carousel going round and round forever. That was the sort of intrigue we were dealing with here, and it was pulled off with aplomb. The set – a nightmarish carousel of papier mache horses’ heads, wire, and corrugated cardboard – and the lighting effects, were completely flawless, as were the costumes and, indeed, the actors. All in all – very interesting. Worth going along to see – free, weird, and not something you’re going to see everyday. As far as plot goes – if you’ve seen a devised piece before, you’ll know what you’re in for – if not, welcome to a whole new world where nothing is certain, and everything is unexplained.
The five o’clock slot of Fourth Week was taken up by a different kind of intrigue – that of the hardened murder mystery, always a theatrical favourite. Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None starred ten first-time Players and was directed by Grace Nuttall and myself. Of course, I could give you all a glowing review of it – who better than the director to do such a thing? – but I don’t think that would be wholly appropriate, funnily enough. Instead I’m going to talk about how we did it in two and a half weeks. The truth is, I don’t know. I don’t know how the cast learnt all their lines in that time. I don’t know how the set designers built hanging windows, French doors, and a mantlepiece in a weekend. All I do know is that watching your own play is one of the most drastic things you will ever do. Every line is agony and every movement questionable.
After hours, when the set was being taken down, we gave them the usual feedback – more energy, smoke less, try not to run through the invisible wall this time, don’t eat all the biscuits, who forgot the coffee – and then went home to sleep until the next day, when everything started up again. Nights of ovations were mixed with nights of fluffed lines and – gasp – that one time when everybody forgot their lines together and were left on the stage for two agonising minutes of silence. Directing. Not for the faint-hearted. As with Posies, I think it was generally enjoyed by the masses – but that’s just me talking, and I might be slightly biased, don’t you think?
If you did manage to see both plays – eager – you may have noticed that although they were poles apart in their direction and plots, they did share one line. Characters in both plays said ‘until the cows come home’, so I think that proves that Players shows are, somehow, on the same wavelength as each other. Or maybe that’s just a really, really common phrase, and Players shows are just cliches.
I’ll leave it up to you!
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Next Week: musical antics with Horrifical and more mysterious goings-on with Tales of Poe.
