These Rooms is a collaboration between ANU and Cois Céim Dance Theatre. It will run as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival throughout October and for select dates in November. Amelia McConville spoke to actor Craig Connolly about the show.

 

Can you give us a brief overview of what THESE ROOMS is about?

The show is about a massacre that happened in North King Street during the 1916 rebellion. During the final few days of that week, there was lots of fighting happening on that street. The British couldn’t get anywhere near the rebels, they’d lost men and had been fighting for hours. This British Battalion called the South Staffordshire Regiment had come over and there was an order given by Colonel Taylor to go into the houses in North King Street and tunnel their way in. He basically said “take no prisoners”. So these soldiers went into the houses – some of them even sat down and had cups of tea – and then they separated the men from the women, and murdered them, shot them or killed them with bayonets. Two men were buried in a barrel – they had taken down curtains to set fire to them so as to burn the evidence. We have the accounts from 38 women who were there – and some of them are just horrific. They went in, tore up their houses and completely wrecked things. We still don’t know the true extent of what happened.

 

So was this show created with the idea that you would have that information?

This show has been in development for nearly two years – Louise Lowe and David Bolger have been researching for a long time. Louise has a remarkable knowledge of history from all her research. I think we did originally think we would have this information, but the fact that we don’t raises an important question: why do we not have the right to know our own history?

 

What sort of space is this show going to take place in?

The building that we’re in now is an old bank – it was actually Sean O’Casey’s home.  It’s on Dorset Street. The way ANU work is they do a lot of site specific shows. You can’t do a site specific work when there’s no site left, because the houses on North King St aren’t there any more – there’s just a green patch. So we picked this location. We walked in and it’s just rooms. Downstairs has been transformed into a bar. We have rooms that have holes built into them, where the soldiers could have knocked through the wall. Owen Boss is the designer – so he’s taken things from the testimonies and created rooms inspired by them, that are visually amazing, even without the actors.

 

Will the audience move through the space or will they sit?

Thirty people will come through the main door into the bar, then from the bar they go wherever they want through the building, guided by us, we’ll bring them round the building – the audience will never be seated in a theatre seat. They’re going to be always fully engaged with the actors in the room.

 

Will every audience member’s experience be different then?

If you wanted to experience every possible aspect of the show you would have to be there for seven hours! So each person who sees the show will have seen something slightly different. The aim is to really interrogate why we put on plays – it’s not merely for entertainment. Cois Céim’s aim is to produce works that actually require the audience to be there – they’re really there for a reason. They want everyone to be fully engaged in what they’re seeing to the point where they are totally required to be there.

 

Have you been with ANU and Cois Céim for long?

When I was in the Lir I worked with Louise Lowe, and from there she asked me to do Sunder with ANU, then I went to Manchester, and now I’m here,  this is my first time working with Cois Céim. Its brilliant – interesting because dance is dance and acting is acting, and we truly combine the two here. Earlier in rehearsals there was a guy doing an acting scene in a bar, and I was watching the movement piece that accompanies it – and it’s just amazing how you can get the inner feeling of the scene from the movement, in a way you might not have if it was just acting.

 

You mentioned that the historical accounts you used are all from women  – is there a predominantly feminist aspect to this production?

The women speak here because the men were all killed – so the main reason for the female voices is because it is only the women’s accounts that we have left. But as well as giving voice to women characters in theatre, of course I think that we still need to be stressing the importance and presence of female theatre makers in Ireland. Louise Lowe is a prime example, as well as Annabelle Comyn, they’re amongst many brilliant female directors working today. We actually look at the Repeal the 8th movement here – we think it’s crazy the women of 1916 had the same abortion rights as the women of today have. That is to say, none. And that’s not right. Through history we get to examine these kinds of issues.

 

Did you all have to negotiate between the different mediums?

The actors dance as well as act, and the dancers act as well as dance – we all do it all! The way ANU and Cois Céim work, we don’t have a hierarchy. The sound designer, costume designer, director – we’ve got all these people who are all in the room at various points, and they’re welcome to give their input. It’s a complete collaboration on all parts. If someone has a suggestion, we’ll all sit down, see if it suits the piece and works well. It’s like every single day we make a new piece of art, and at the end of every day we have to throw the piece out and start again. Sometimes if it’s not working, so we have to be able to throw it away and move on. One of the most exciting things about this project is that every day is a new experience.

 

For more information, and to book tickets, visit:
artscouncil.ie/ART-2016/these-rooms/
theserooms.ie/home-2/