Despite the fact that juggling writing and directing a play while doing an MPhil has been “challenging”, Aoife Meagher makes it look easy with her production, International Relations. It has just finished its three-night run at Smock Alley Theatre as part of Scene + Heard. Her theatre company, Faux Amis, is compromised of French and Irish actors, and this only served to enhance the uniqueness and charm of the performance.
With the 2015 Paris attacks gradually coming to the fore as the play goes on, it is not exactly easy subject matter to handle. However, Meagher brought elements of her own experience to the narrative, which is why the play feels so authentic. She and her “darling” Parisian boyfriend “spent the night of the 13th of November in the city centre of Paris, in rather different circumstances, and the play is a discussion of a night which stayed with us both, and in my case, needed discussion or expression”, Meagher says, speaking to The University Times.
The play undoubtedly fluctuates between the macro and micro, focusing as it does on the intricacies of human relationships and the inevitable awkwardness brought about by a language barrier, with the larger threat of terrorism and civilian death literally in the background. It is this fluctuation that, according to Meagher, makes it “a play that writes itself over and over again for anyone who spends an evening where they are both uncomfortable and utterly obliged”. The discomfort of the only Irish girl at the table, Jess, was palpable to the point of cringing at times. This is far from a criticism, though, as the only reason it created such a reaction was because it was so very relatable.
The story follows a group of friends – for lack of a better word – waiting on near-tenterhooks to meet Marc’s new girlfriend, the aforementioned Jess. Meagher puts it more eloquently, describing it as following “a disparate group of young people who don’t understand one another and who lash out in an attempt to solve this”. There is a distillation of past relationships, present ones and those that will develop in the future that makes for an intriguing and unpredictable on-stage dynamic.
The awkwardness of Jess not speaking fluent French is one of the main issues that drives the play, as the friends often fall into speaking it in front of her. With this in mind, mine is something of a biased review considering that I speak French to an upper-intermediate level, so I understood the majority of what was said. I enjoyed the parts where I knew what was being said just as much as those where I could not quite follow.
However, it seemed as though those with me who did not speak the language at all got an entirely different experience. In many ways, they experienced the meeting in tandem with Jess, most likely feeling two steps behind the action. This, I feel, was the play’s goal or at least the aim of this particular section of it. International Relations does what it says on the tin. It seeks to emphasise the doubled discomfort of not only meeting people who have known your partner longer than you have and shared different experiences with them, but also going through that with only a vague idea of what is actually being said. Essentially, Meagher certainly succeeded in doing this, though for me on a personal level the alienation factor was not quite as prevalent.
The idea of this multi-layered reception is an interesting one, though, and is why the play has so much potential, as audiences all over the world could appreciate this, whether they are fluent French-speakers or not. In addition, many people – especially across Europe, the Middle East and the US – will be able to remember acutely where they were when tragedy strikes. It is impossible to tell whether the events and dynamics of the situation in which Meagher found herself were easier to recall because they were set to the backdrop of the attacks.
For her writing and directing, perhaps they served to heighten her recollection of detail. Equally, perhaps they served to blur situations. Perhaps the attacks were meant to serve as a reminder of the fact that drama lies everywhere, from the domestic to the international stage. Whichever of these it is – if it is not all of them – the production is a masterclass in writing in a relatable way, while also dealing with trauma sensitively.
Following this first run of the play, it seems Meagher has undoubtedly been bitten by the directorial bug: “I’ve definitely got plans to write and direct more! Faux Amis is my new theatre company, formed with Catherine Bell, and we are moving towards a full production of the entire text of International Relations with the feedback we receive from our performance at Scene + Heard. We definitely have some more discoveries to make with this text.”
It’s not only expanding and bettering International Relations that is on her mind, however. Meagher hopes to combine her performance background with her current studies: “I’d love to work on a production for children in the near future – to really get a dialogue going with children themselves, and push the limits of theatre for children in Ireland. We’ve got some great resources in Ireland and Dublin particularly at the moment. Theatre for children is blossoming with the formation of new companies like Bombinate and Drawn with Strings, and there’s a great sense of fearlessness in these new makers. I could definitely go for some of that.”
While the showcase at Scene + Heard was only a preview, the performance nevertheless packed a thought-provoking punch. I look forward to seeing it extended to its full potential sometime in the not-too-distant future.
