“The one that slithers its way into the deepest..darkest… most positively spookifying part of the whole forest.”
In the spirt of admiration, the above words were put to Phoenix Theatre Co’s associate artist, Andy Gallagher, about their entry, ‘In Search of Spring’. As playwright of the piece, he laughs: “That line sets the tone to it in a way. I think of ‘In Search of Spring’ as a modern fairytale but a fairytale for grown ups. There are adult themes of sexual health, alcoholism, relationship breakdown and we are trying to take that classic children’s format of the fairytale and use it to address these adult themes.”
Phoenix Theatre Co. graced the inaugural Limerick Fringe Festival of 2017 with ‘John in Heels’, subject matter evident in title. This year’s is a more ambitious piece with Gallagher narrating the twists and turns to the mythical ‘journey’ indicated by Gypsy Maggie, the Wise Woman of the Wood (Gavan O’Connor Duffy) to Dido (Amy Flood), Bianca (Chloe O’Reilly) and Gilbert (Mark Hughes). The director is Daniel Thompson, writer in residence with Droichead Youth Theatre.
“The Wise Woman points them to the woods first, she sets it all in a motion, a fairy godmother of sorts. “Gilbert is our leading man who has a little bit of a health problem. He meets Bianca who struggles with problems of her own on the music scene. She’s a singer and fond of the bottle.
“They also meed Dido, a bride to be who has sadly had her heart broken by her fiancé. The three of them decide to rally together.”
Grimm talk, enlivened by bawdy comedy and live music. Production values will interest as “design is a big part of what we do in terms of visual aesthetic and we like that to be top notch in any production.” Full wedding regalia and a creaky furry fright of a forest?
Belltable, April 5, 6 and 7; booking for all shows at www.limerickfringe.com
