GYT maintain position as admirable theatre innovators

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Written by Administrator

Wednesday, 25 July 2007

From Renault Scenic, to Hyundai, to Fiat, Galway Youth Theatre hijack a dealer’s yard of cars for the sake of art. In the claustrophobic confines of faux leather and plastic walnut, GYT tussle with addiction, paedophilia and revenge as part of their presentation for the 2007 Galway Arts Festival. The company’s novel staging of Neil Labute’s ‘Autobahn’, and their commitment to theatrical gamble are welcome additions to this year’s theatre programme.

However, presenting Labute is not a major risk and artistic Director Andrew Flynn has chosen well in his selection for GYT. Labute writes neat but pungent narratives (finally the windows were opened in each car…), and his text suits the young performers.

Director Niall Cleary has had the mammoth task of directing 12 different teams of actors who, by the end of the week, will have notched up approximately 624 shows between them. Such is the price for allowing a total of three audience members into each car to see an individual performance. Cleary has done well and ensures that it is a fee worth paying: the audience is inserted as intimately as they possibly could be into the very private lives of each character and, inches apart, every nuance, breath and heart beat is counted.

As Labute himself states: ‘Hidden in the back seat of a sedan, I quickly realised how deep the chasm or intense the claustrophobia could be inside your average family car.’ A unique dynamic develops between audience and performer in this space; there must be just as much discussion amongst the actors about the behaviour and nature of each voyeuristic audience member as about their own performance. It would be interesting to see how this potentially symbiotic relationship develops over the two weeks.

There are strong performances throughout, but, in the 4pm showing, Katherine Denning has clearly understood the proximity of her audience and hers is an appropriately understated and almost deadpan dissection of an unrepentant drug addict. Both Sean O’Meallaigh and Beau Holland produce particularly well-judged and intense performances in Road Trip, perhaps the most dramatically successful of Labute’s cycle.

‘Autobahn’ continues to the end of the week, and in this production GYT maintain their position as admirable theatre innovators.

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