After the hullabaloo of theatre festival season between August and October, the winter months can often see pantomimes and nineteenth century literary adaptations take refuge in Dublin theatres. This year’s cream of the crop include the Abbey’s Let The Right One In and The Gate’s The Red Shoes. The Irish lads from this year’s X Factor are kickstarting their Simon Cowell-free career with the Olympia’s Polly and the Beanstalk, should that take your fancy. But, if Linda Martin and Dustin the Turkey don’t do it for you, that big blue building in Temple Bar is providing us with a treat for the festive period instead.
Project Pop Up is an initiative run by Project Arts Centre alongside Nyree Yergainharsian and Shaun Dunne. Comprising of excerpts and mini-plays from an extensive highlight cast of emerging and established artists of the Irish theatre scene, it is being marketed as “a leap of faith into the unknown”, and is running for one-night-only on Friday 15 December. It is a theatre-restaurant, presenting a tasting menu of entertainment and performance. The art forms will not be limited, scoping across courses of dance, theatre, film work and new writing. The menu will consist of four 20-minute extracts and performances, as well as pop-up conversations and performances across the building.
The project came about through conversation between Nyree Yergainharsian (an alumnus of TCD’S BA in Acting Studies) and Shaun Dunne when discussing ways to build conversation between audiences and artists, and how to create a space for that dialogue. Dunne’s vision of the night was “to programme a night that was a mix of new work, scratch performances and interesting conversation… so Project Pop Up kind of emerged from the combination of those three things”.
To combat this issue, Project Pop Up will host two talk back sessions during the performance, giving the audience and actors a chance for feedback and discussion based on the pieces. Talking about the role of the audience in this production, Dunne said “We like to think of Project Pop Up as a bridge between new audiences and the artists we love. It’s kind of like we’re introducing our friends to people who we think they would get along with!” In the current climate most theatre feedback with actors comes in the form of small Q&A sessions once or twice during the run of the show. Project Pop Up aims to open this dialogue into something more personal and immediate.
Project Arts Centre, the show’s co-producer and host, has had a particularly busy few years. Last year saw birthday celebrations spawn into its successful Project50 programme, including work by Jean Butler, Pan Pan and Olwen Fouere, and the Maser ‘Repeal’ mural dawn it’s blue wall as public art. In February 2017 Emmet Kirwan (an alumnus of TCD’s BA in Theatre Studies and Acting) returned to the space to play a sell-out run of Dublin Oldschool before hopping across the water to London’s National Theatre. Project is renowned for nurturing and supporting its own artists and enterprises through its Project Artists scheme. Productions and companies such as Junk Ensemble, THEATREclub and Brokentalkers have all benefited and flourished from this scheme. Giving independent artists a home in the two stage venues and gallery, Project has acted as both a co-producer, and a mentor to numerous artists in its 50 year history.
Project Pop Up will help showcase the next generation of creatives and artists. Dunne sees the production as a way to give back to the building where he gained his premier experience, and to help sustain its future. In this year’s Budget 2018, the government allocated a less than five per cent increase in its €68m funding to the Arts Council. After the arts and culture sector in Ireland was amongst the worst funds hit by austerity measures throughout the last decade in Ireland, patrons and supporters of initiatives such as Project Pop Up are vital to the upkeep and continued blossoming of Dublin’s theatre scene.
Due to the element of surprise that Project Pop Up wants to excite from its audience by the live performers, the contents and subject of these pieces are set to remain schmuck and a surprise for the night. The ticket price includes a free drink, keeping the festivities of the holiday season rife for the audience. And even if this doesn’t sound like your cup of mulled wine, pop down to Project soon anyways – you never quite know what to expect from it.
TN2 are hosting a competition to win two tickets to Project Pop Up. To enter, see our Facebook page – TN2 Magazine. The winner will be announced on December 12.
