Amongst the throng of shows about to descend on the capital for the annual Dublin Fringe Festival is acclaimed choreographer-performer Philip Connaughton’s latest piece Assisted Solo. Alongside longtime collaborator Lucia Kickham and French punk dance artist Magali Caillet, the show is a humorous look at often difficult societal relationships. The dancers will be joined by video footage of Philip’s mother as she experiences dementia, exploring the intimacies of human ‘assistance’, expectation and reliance. TN2 caught up with Philip Connaughton to explore his inspiration for the piece, collaboration and this year’s Fringe lineup.
How has Project Arts Centre space influenced your piece?
I suppose the playing space that the stage allows is the first thing that I have to take into consideration when choreographing so I make sure to mark that out on the floor of the rehearsal studio. Everything is decided taking into consideration the space – the set, lighting, distance from the audience etc. After Project Arts Centre we’re performing Assisted Solo at The Everyman in Cork on 22 September, a very different venue but both are very familiar to me so I’m always trying to imagine the finished work in both places. I enjoy that.
I also like how there’s a very fine line between laughter and despair. You can choose to laugh or cry but it doesn’t mean things are any less serious.
I think when you put two or more things together in the same piece they are instantly connected on some level. When I’m making work I don’t like to think of things separately. I just want to get an idea or a feeling across and will use whatever is necessary to do that. Whilst first working on Assisted Solo I asked Luca to film my mum as I thought it might be interesting to use at a later date or as material to inspire us in the studio but I then realised that it was very strong and would be interesting to show alongside the live performance.
In what ways did FringeLab assist this production?
FringeLab supported me with rehearsal space. I did a lot of my initial thinking/movement there. I love that studio space. It’s so private. I get all my good ideas there.
There are three dancers in Assisted Solo, yet it explores the intimacies of the relationship between you and your mother. Do you consider it to be a collaborative piece?
It’s a collaboration in every sense. From the very beginning I discussed the concept with my dancers and creative team and am completely inspired and guided by them. Although it’s fundamentally about me and my mum it also looks at support or assistance in other ways. The idea for the title came from the fact that even when performing a solo I never feel alone. You depend on support to make a piece work, whatever that might be, and I think that translates into life. Depending how you look at the show, it’s not always clear who’s assisting who and I think that’s an important message.
Is it important to you to incorporate humour into your dance pieces?
It just seems to make sense. I find things funny. I see humour everywhere. I also like how there’s a very fine line between laughter and despair. You can choose to laugh or cry but it doesn’t mean things are any less serious and I often like to create a scenario where the audience might laugh at the performer and not with him or her. This can be very unsettling for the audience but it brings up a lot of questions. It reminds me of the cruelty of life. It’s so existential and you don’t have to try and be clever- it just is.
What does the Dublin Fringe Festival mean to you?
Dublin Fringe Festival is such an exciting platform. I hold it very dear to my heart. It’s where I can express myself to the fullest. The audience are demanding. They want to be challenged, moved, inspired. I’m particularly excited by this years program. Such incredible, brave artists taking all sorts of risks with their hearts on their sleeves.
What are you most looking forward to seeing in this year’s Fringe lineup?
I’m excited to see AFTER by Liv O’Donoghue. She’s on in the same space at Project Arts Centre. Her work is so moving, so nuanced. I saw a presentation of this work earlier in the year and I was already blown away by it. Not to be missed I’d say!
Assisted Solo will debut at Project Arts Centre from 7-15 September and then run at The Everyman in Cork on 22 September.
Featured image by Luca Truffarelli, supplied by Phillip Connaughton
