Amelia McConville speaks with director Mollie Molumby, ahead of Half Light’s run at the New Theatre as part of the Tiger Dublin Fringe Theatre Festival.

Can you give us a short and enticing overview of what Half Light is about?

Half Light is a story about a kid who gets sucked into the magical woodland of his illustrator father’s storybook. Here he learns his Dad has been abducted by what the woodland dwellers believe to be a mysterious monster. The show blends theatre, comedy, storytelling and live music to explore themes surrounding stigma and families affected by mental illness. It’s a show for all ages.

 

What was the original idea that sparked the show’s conception?

The team and I are extremely passionate about raising mental health awareness. We believe it’s incredibly important to stage more stories which talk about depression, due to the huge numbers of people affected by mental illness today. However, that being said, we also knew that we did not not want to claim a solution. Rather we want to discuss one family’s experience with the hope that it might provide one avenue into an otherwise difficult topic of discussion.

Half Light is an uplifting play about a family affected by mental illness. It’s a celebration of those that we love, a piece that aims to spark a conversation, takes the audience on a journey and perhaps gives them hope that things will get better.

 

The show was already partially presented as a Work in Progress in the Samuel Beckett Theatre — has any of the text been changed since then and how has the show adapted with these changes?

When we first developed the show for the Samuel Beckett Theatre, it was written, designed and all music was composed in a very short time period of about five weeks. This time round we’ve had more time to develop it and rehearse it. The text is much more cohesive now!

We have had time to realise the musical parts of the show more fully too. There are two gorgeous new songs from Fionn Foley and an epic new sound design from Richard Durning. With the introduction of two incredible actor-musicians to the cast, the music has truly taken on a whole new life of its own. All music is performed live every show.

There’s also plenty more laughs!

 

The music is composed by Fionn Foley – what were the main musical influences upon his compositions?

The five major songs within the the show have been composed by Fionn Foley with shorter songs and a musical score composed by Richard Durning. The creation of all music in the show has been very collaborative, with the entire cast pitching in and adding layers and harmonies.

Fionn’s influences for the show include Nick Drake, Crosby Stills and Nash, Neil Young, Santana and Fionn Regan. Much of the music has a folky feel to it. We’ve also got one big musical number a la Rogers and Hammerstein thrown in for good measure.

 

How significant an aspect of the show was devising it with your cast?

Very! The whole show was created as a result of a passionate and intense collaborative process whereby the script and music were created from scratch. The show was first developed by performers Kerill Kelly, Martha Grant, Richard Durning, Colm Summers and Camille Oswald, stage manager Tilly Taylor, costume/ set designer Ursula McGinn and I, with songs composed by Fionn Foley. This time round we have redeveloped many aspects of the show, along with Fionn Foley now joining the cast, as well as the wonderful Juliette Crosbie. Our influence for Half Light include graphic novel I Kill Giants, Toby Allen’s Real Monsters, animated series Over the Garden Wall, Pixar film Inside Out and fantasy adventure films like Lord of the Rings.

 

Half Light has already garnered attention for its excellent use of theatrical space. Has changing the venue impacted upon the show’s use of space at all?

Our Tiger Dublin Fringe venue is The New Theatre, a sixty seat theatre tucked away in the back of Connolly Bookshop in Temple Bar. It’s much smaller than the Beckett and feels a lot more intimate, really adding to the show’s atmosphere. Much of the play is set in a story-book too. So having it in a theatre at the back of a book-shop feels pretty magical.

Will Half Light continue its run at another venue at a future date?

We truly hope so. Fingers crossed!

 

The New Theatre
13th -17th September 6.30pm
Matinée 17th September 3.30pm
Tickets €11/13/15