by Rose Rushe
‘BEAUTIFUL Dreamers’. Who are they? Where would we find them? What are their dreams?
It was Jo Mangan of the original City of Culture team who opened this ‘conversation with a city’ going back some time, resulting in a new collaborative and site specific work between ANU and The Performance Corporation. Written by Tom Swift and based on live conversations, interviews and explorations with people based here, ‘Beautiful Dreamers’ is running until Saturday December 6.
Take note. Audiences numbers of about 35 will assemble with ticket at No. 69 O’Connell Street for a choice of three performance times, 6pm, 7.30pm and 9pm. The move on towards a visionary experience is by walk, events, revelations and interaction that create together an otherworldly panorama of Limerick, informed by local stories.
“Interviews were by email or by setting up a series of meetings with people whom we thought would be of interest,” explains director Louise Lowe. “Sometimes actors went out in to the streets and talked to people. We spent months, recording and transcribing”.
Questions included ‘Where does love live in Limerick?’ and ‘What is courage?’
The professional performance ensemble is four women, two men who are lightning rods for ‘Beautiful Dreamers’ as followers are led to the riverside and then to vantage points. “There is no straight narrative. It’s an encounter with the city encompassing lots of different views and responses all the way”.
“It’s about being able to view the entire city [in a unique way], the soundscape is almost like listening to it come alive”.
Costumes by the Abbey’s Niamh Lunny, sound by Karl Kennedy, design by Owen Boss.
