[dropcap]S[/dropcap]hane Byrne is a member of THEATREclub and he is very excited. The collective has been responsible for some of the most noticeable and provocative work seen on Dublin stages in recent years such as HEROIN and HISTORY, as well as producing a show in association with the residents of Moyross last year for Limerick City of Culture. THEATREclub have also been responsible for presenting the new work of other artists through a series of festivals under the banner name of THE THEATRE MACHINE TURNS YOU ON. Byrne is producer of the fourth edition of the festival, subtitled THE JAM SESSIONS, which launches this week and runs from January 21 to 24 in Project Arts Centre. The festival is a celebratory showcase of work-in-progress pieces, with last edition’s artists getting the opportunity to jam their work, hence this year’s subtitle. Every night of its run, the €14 admission ticket gives you four half hour performances back to back, with sixteen productions being staged this time round.
The event has become a semi regular fixture of the Dublin theatre calendar since its first edition, becoming a proving ground and a safe haven for artists who want to create quite different contemporary work. “We did it first in 2009 and we were young and were making contemporary experimental work and we wanted to meet like-minded people. We didn’t meet many like-minded people but we met lots of people that we liked, so that was great,” Byrne explains. “It was about people meeting each other and making connections.” The landscape for theatre in Dublin has changed from the one that existed when the collective were starting out. “The supports back then were different, a big one for us was a thing called Project Brand New which was work-in-progress as well […] it came from a group of artists coming together and saying ‘right, we need some more platforms, so let’s invent one.’ Those kinds of things were beneficial to us and now we’re providing them, which is mad to see in a short space of time,” Byrne tells tn2. The supports given to those showing their work in the festival include mentors and workshops, while also covering practical aspects like tax returns and applications for funding. “Our job here is to support the development of everyone’s practice, so that when they leave THEATRE MACHINE they’re in a better position to do whatever they want to do next.”
“There always has to be someone who is going to go ‘no’ and that’s a very important thing that is the job of artists — to complicate that narrative and pick at what’s going on. The comedians are doing that and they’re leading the way”.
The audience gains something valuable from the experience too: a cheap ticket to four performances and the opportunity to see some big shows that are still at an early stage. THEATRE MACHINE has a knack of programming works in progress that go on to be hits. One such show is Dead Centre’s Lippy, which first played during 2012’s THEATRE MACHINE TURNS YOU ON VOL. 3 – A Revolution is a State of Mind. The show has toured New York, won awards at the Edinburgh Fringe and starts a run at the Abbey at the end of the month. “That’s really exciting to see because the first twenty minutes are the exact same twenty minutes that they did in THEATRE MACHINE,” proclaims Byrne. Though that work has a very experimental and contemporary feel, it’s about to be staged in the National Theatre, proving that audiences will take a risk in a way they are perhaps not always given credit for. Byrne says that showing this work is a big part of the festival’s remit. “It’s important that THEATRE MACHINE is providing a platform for people who are a little bit outside the box or haven’t got a ready-made audience to fit into.”
Something different this time round is the appearance of three stand-up comedians on the programme, which is as a result of more stand-ups applying to show their work than ever before. “What’s going to happen over the next couple of years in Dublin, I predict, is that there’ll be a big change in the type of comedy that is going on and the type of comedy we’re exporting.” When I mention that our biggest comedy export is currently Mrs Brown’s Boys, Byrne says that push-back against the show may be part of that. “There always has to be someone who is going to go ‘no’ and that’s a very important thing that is the job of artists — to complicate that narrative and pick at what’s going on. The comedians are doing that and they’re leading the way.”
Dance is also a big part of this year’s programme, especially when dealing with the issue of connection. One of the shows is Warm Edges by Nadia Gativa, and it deals with living in an urban context. “It’s focused a lot on Grand Canal Dock — a place everyone hails as being great — but there are these thousands of people in this tiny area and they’re all walking around cold.” Hoping to explore what happens when we look up and make a connection to another person, the dance is devised starting with eye contact and then body contact. GHOSTS by Ruairi O’Donovan is another dance piece which explores the connection we have with our mobile phones and the idea of a digital limb.
Natasha Duffy is also a producer on the festival this year. She is coordinator and founder of the Spirit of Folk Festival in Dunderry and has programmed a music programme which goes on into the evenings. Punk, electronic and trad music are all examined over three nights featuring performances from the groups Carriages, Fierce Mild and Lynched. “The idea is to provide something different that we don’t normally provide. INTO THE SONG is not just a gig, it is three different things where punk, trad, and electro get into bed together.” Byrne says that the same approach to audience participation and feedback is part of the musical performances. “What you’re doing with the theatre work is giving the audiences a chance to look into the rehearsal room where they’ll get the chance to give feedback afterwards, and we’re doing the same with the music.”
“It’s important that THEATRE MACHINE is providing a platform for people who are a little bit outside the box or haven’t got a ready made audience to fit into.”
The spreading of theatre to those audiences who don’t normally feel like it’s for them is something that Byrne is equally passionate about. “Another show that started last time, Noelle Brown’s Postscript, toured loads of places around the country and it’s brilliant to think that contemporary work with a contemporary focus and form is being seen in venues all over Ireland […] so that’s equally satisfying to me as somebody being in New York for three weeks.” Just as there are certain perceived “rules” to creating a theatre show, there are certain perceived rules to being in the audience of a show: “Imagine the first time you go to the theatre to be like the first time you go to the gym,” Byrne suggests as a comparison. “If you’ve been going to the gym for a while you know how it works and you do what you want and nobody looks at you. If you’ve never been to the theatre you might feel like you have to dress up really well and be posh and drink red wine but that’s not the case at all, there’s plenty for everyone to see. I think there has to be more of that in Ireland, reaching out further and saying to people that theatre is for everyone.”
THE THEATRE MACHINE TURNS YOU ON VOL. 4 – The Jam Sessions runs from January 21 to 24 in Project Arts Centre. Tickets are €14 per evening. For full details and for each evening’s line-up, click here.
