Shona McGarry | Societies Editor
This year, Players is eighty years old. And when you’re a drama society, there are only two ways to celebrate that: with an updated version of a classic play, and with one-minute comedy revivals of some of their best (and worst) hits. The new sparkling production is A Woman of No Importance, and the revivable plays coming back with a vengeance are those we want to see again, and those we thought we said goodbye to a long time ago. It’s a fine mix of the brilliant and the dodgy, and it’s a perfect way for Players to celebrate their society.
But first: the story behind the shiny new production of one of Wilde’s most brilliant plays. “The idea behind the 80th Year Production was to celebrate the ‘oak’ anniversary of DU Players,” says director Darren. “But more importantly, to showcase what Players’ is capable of and allow all the members of the society to become involved.” A little like a Co-op, then, but with less abandonment and more taste – and with a somewhat superior aim. “We’re trying to bring a lot of alumni back to see the show, and press, to give it an air of professionalism,” says Donal McKeating, one of the producers. It’s an opportunity to “let the alumni see what progress Players has made since they left, and what we can produce.”
It’s no wonder their eager to show off their members’ work. “It’s an opportunity for us to show the theatre world what a student society can do,” Donal says. What’s more, Players has gotten “a lot of positive coverage in the press recently with Eric Argyle [an Edinburgh show with an Irish Times Theatre Award nomination, directed by ex-chair Ross Dungan and starring a host of Players’ faces] and Monster/Clock [last year’s Smock Alley success and a 2013 revival, penned by Eoghan Quinn.], so we want to harness that.” And Donal’s job is all about generating positive interest in the society. “We’re trying to build a bit of a buzz about it,” he enthuses. “We’re hoping everybody invests themselves in it, and I think everyone is quite excited with what Darren is going to do with the show.” And just what is he going to do?
“The play was chosen by the society’s members in December,” Darren says. “And the production team was interviewed for their positions. A Woman of No Importance belongs to the whole society.” But Darren’s not staging a typical version of Wilde’s classic drawing-room drama. It just wouldn’t be student theatre without a little shake-up now, would it? So, I ask, what’s on the cards this time? “We’re moving the play ninety years into the future, relocating it in 1980s England around the period of Leigh Bowery’s explosion onto the underground club scene and the New Romantic movement.” Wow. Sounds heady. There will be “decadent parties with lavish costumes and make-up”, a paint-splattered piano, and cross-dressing waiters to add to the new image. And, just a few hours ago, Players updated their Facebook status to let everyone know that train tracks and other necessary items had just been delivered by Ianrod Eireann for the set, so that gives even more of an indication as to just how radical this is going to be. Additionally, Darren says that the dress code will be “men in heels and women in suits.” Not entirely what Wilde would have imagined, then. While it was “an excellent opportunity to challenge myself as I’d never directed a comedy before,” and yet another chance to “work [with] unbelievably talented and brilliant people,” it’s also clear that Darren knows this text back to front and can afford to “have loads of fun” with it. With the Lords and Ladies recast as “an uber-cool 80s clique… playing with androgyny and experimenting with drugs”, it’s going to be Oscar Wilde as you’ve never seen him before. And that’s just as Darren wants it. “For this production I wanted to find something new and exciting,” he says. I think we can safely say he’s done just that.
Elsewhere, members are getting ready to revive their own plays for 80 Plays in 80 Minutes. Old favourites from Players’ back catalogue – including the memorable Jurasstastic, the unforgettable Brownbread, and the stimulating Inadmissable Evidence – are coming back for one last whirl on the stage. If you’ve ever been to a Players’ show, then this is the place to be. Celebrate the fifty minutes of your life you’ll never get back (thanks to a diabolical ‘re-imagining’ or a dodgy musical) when the directors and stars (stars!) get back on that stage for a one-minute rendition of that play they spent months working on. In a week where the cream of the crop are showcasing themselves in the Beckett, spare a moment for those who just tried too hard to bring Shakespeare to the masses, or who really, really thought that improvisation was a better option than learning their lines. This week, Players are celebrating the best, the worst, and the downright desperate. Whether you’re marvelling in the Beckett or cringing at Oedipus, there’s something for everyone to celebrate.
not again!
A Woman of No Importance runs from February 19th to 22nd at 7.30pm in the Samuel Beckett Theatre. 80 Plays in 80 Minutes is on February 22nd in Players’ Theatre.
