"Look at our new box office, it's gorgeous. That's built out of love. That's built out of zero, bar the fact that we want to will it there. And it is there now." Karl Shiels tells me as we sit, with Laura Honan, in front of the large window that overlooks the Liffey from Theatre Upstairs. Passion is a word that can be overused, like so many words these days, but in the case of this 46 seat theatre in the heart of Dublin, the fuel that drives it is obvious from the tone and expression: passion and love.
The new box office is also evident of the progress, change and development that Theatre Upstairs has gone through over the last few years. But it is the present and a curiosity about their new season, which runs from the middle of October until the end of December, that has brought me to their foyer, usually packed with patrons on show nights, but quiet and reflective this lunchtime while the October sun shines through the large window that gives a view of the Liffey and the Rosie Hackett bridge.
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| Photography & Design: Ste Murray |
"The first one out of the gate is going to be Mr. Roger Gregg," Laura says, "who we've had a relationship with for a lot of years here at Theatre Upstairs." The show is Venom So Sweet, written and starring Gregg himself. Some people might know him as Roger Gregg and The Bee-Loud Glade, a collective cabaret piece he has been running for years. "He's always had this reputation as being good at finding new talent and coming at things from a really interesting, usually musically inspired direction. But this is actually very text based." A more definitive description is 'a play with music', and Honan continues, "that he is now putting the music to the text. So the text is there, and it's really, really strong." Direction is by James O'Connor, "he and James have taken on the whole design themselves as well, which is really interesting."
"This is a passion for him, this particular play," Karl adds, mentioning that Gregg has created sound design and composition on plays he has directed. "It's a beautiful play and it's an American piece - Roger is American - and it's set in the Wild West, the frontiers, sort of like the snake oil salesmen, the false preachers and it deals with Native Americans, and it's a really unusual take on a story of a man, his fall and his trying to find grace." It isn't a one man show, as three other actors join Gregg in this new work: Juliette Crosbie, Alicky Hess and Madi O'Carroll - who play the demons in the piece, "who surround his story, his tale and they are all musicians and dancers as well."
"Roger's take on this is that it isn't a typical Halloween tale because it’s not just about these demons that are supernatural in the piece, but it's about these demons within all of us, and he feels that it's representative of what's happening over in England at the moment, and what's happening in America at the moment as well, about the good and the bad demons, and the good and the bad that exists in all of us," Honan explains. "It is very much there in the text, which makes it very contemporary."
"Although being set back a couple of hundred years ago, it is a very modern piece in relation to a person's struggle, be it man or woman; in relation to their consciousness of what's right and what isn't right, what you'll do for a buck and then you achieve that and what you do next," Shiels continues, their passion for this piece vibrant and on their sleeves. The lens of the past can sometimes be the best way to look at the modern world. "But it's a really beautiful piece, and I think the tone of it is very good for Halloween, but it isn't necessarily a Halloween piece.”
“There is an aspect of redemption to it,” Shiels explains, the idea that with every action there is a reaction, and what happens in trying to survive in an environment, and what happens when a line is crossed. "It's a play about consequences, I think," Shiels tells me. "And it's produced by Little Shadow Theatre Company in association with Theatre Upstairs," Honan adds. It is the idea of collaboration and co-producing. And what of the rest of the season?
"The next is Caitríona Daly's Test Dummy," Honan responds, "Caitríona Daly wrote Panned here - " which went on to play the Theatre Tent at Electric Picnic, like Leper + Chip did, and From Eden - "and it's a one woman play starring Caitriona Ennis," with direction by Louise Lowe, something that Honan and Shiels feel is very exciting. "I'll be designing the piece and it's already interesting having conversations with Louise about working in a traditional theatre space as well. Which will be interesting for our space as we like to push the boundaries of how the work is presented and designed." The last statement is true, and conjures up how the old and present space was used in such a skilful, and creative, way. The set of Slippers comes to mind, and Tales of Briar Hall, not to forget one of the more recent success stories to come from Theatre Upstairs - From Eden. And of course the use of real water for Panned. Trying new things, be it writing and design, and developing work, could be seen as part of the essence of Theatre Upstairs.
"The third and the final show that will round out the season," Honan continues, "will be Lee Coffey's new play [Murder of Crows] directed by Karl." Coffey's debut play was Leper + Chip, also directed by Shiels and that went to Electric Picnic, a run in the Project Arts Centre, and took a turn in Edinburgh, maybe one of Theatre Upstairs flagship plays. But so many plays and artists have walked through the doors from newly graduated to those working in the theatre scene for many years. Coffey's Peruvian Voodoo also ran at Theatre Upstairs and like before, Bitter Like a Lemon is producing Lee’s new play which features three strong female characters. "It's a beautiful piece of writing and Lee has done an exceptional job." Shiels feels this will be a strong finish to their season.
I did put the idea forward about Theatre Upstairs and their flair for new writing and if this was the original reason when it all started? "It was a platform for companies to be able to give it a shot; to be able to get up there and do it," Shiels says. It stems from the idea of letting creative people try different things, to have an artist’s space, free to try out work that they the artists wanted to pursue without worrying about being pigeon-holed. This approach resulted in an Irish Times Theatre Award nomination for Jimmy Murphy's play What's Left of the Flag. All of this while Theatre Upstairs was at The Plough. And then the theatre closed when The Plough was closed. One of the original team was Paul Walker, an award-winning playwright, who was recently nominated for an IFTA for his work on TV3's Red Rock, and there was also Andy Cummins, who most recently produced Dusk at the GPO.
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| Karl Shiels & Laura Honan |
After two years, Shiels decided to give the space at Lanigans Bar a try and Theatre Upstairs was reborn. The team was changed slightly - time does move on - which is when Honan came on board, and Sinéad Kelly, while Katie McCann was on the ship for a while as well. “And from The Plough right up to the present day, Simon Burke,” Honan adds, “has been the unofficial third member of the Theatre Upstairs team - the point man for all of the many renovations and technical developments that have taken place over the years.”
From speaking with them, the feeling that new writing is their passion comes through strongly; seeing something new, not knowing how it is going to go down, seeing an audience reaction to it, their reaction to the set, is all part of that passion and energy that comes flooding out in an infectious tsunami of excitement. More recently, Petals by Gillian Greer, presented by Roadkill Productions and Theatre Upstairs, directed by Shiels, was nominated for Best New Play at the 2014 Irish Times Theatre Awards.
"Every season has different challenges. Every play has different challenges," Honan points out. Those challenges can take different forms, such as development, or how to present the particular work. Theatre Upstairs has run the gamut from outrageous comedy to the dark undercurrent of society. "Each of these pieces," Shiels adds, "as productions, as ideas of productions, they all have their own life, and have to be let breath within their own zone. Our challenge is to be able to give each individual piece its own attention." That is what makes it exciting for them, that each time it is different. The audiences have, and are, responding to this approach, willing to take a chance on new writing and to see what it is like and where it is going. All adding to the vibrant theatre scene, while pushing things forward, keeping it fresh, trying new things out and taking the audience with them on this particular journey.
With the dawning of another season at Theatre Upstairs, Honan and Shiels remind me of the hard work put in when they changed the layout of the space two years ago, those who took part, people who didn't have to be there but freely gave of their time and skills (or learnt new ones as they went along!). In many ways, this commitment and giving says it all when it comes to what Theatre Upstairs does and stands for. It has been all accomplished without funding.
The passion of Honan and Shiels, their attention to detail and the art of producing a play, is infectious; it is a joy to see. They love what they do, and love bringing new plays and new ways of doing things to the audience that has gotten behind them. Passion, love and hard work from everyone involved is what makes it what it is. It is something to keep in mind when venturing to see their new season, and its trio of plays, over the next few months.
The passion of Honan and Shiels, their attention to detail and the art of producing a play, is infectious; it is a joy to see. They love what they do, and love bringing new plays and new ways of doing things to the audience that has gotten behind them. Passion, love and hard work from everyone involved is what makes it what it is. It is something to keep in mind when venturing to see their new season, and its trio of plays, over the next few months.
Theatre Upstairs’ new seasons begins Oct 21st with Venom So Sweet by Roger Gregg. For more information: www.theatreupstairs.ie
