Articles and Reviews
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THE IRISH TIMES review of The Bystander, Dublin Theatre Festival 2018

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THE REVIEWS HUB review of The Bystander, Dublin Theatre Festival 2018

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THE ARTS REVIEW review of The Bystander, Dublin Theatre Festival 2018

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IRISH TIMES review of Man At The Door (Number 54), Cork Midsummer Festival 2018

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IRISH TIMES review of Dolores, Dublin Dance Festival 2018

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IRISH INDEPENDENT review of Dolores, Dublin Dance Festival 2018

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EXEUNT MAGAZINE review of Dolores, Dublin Dance Festival 2018

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THE ARTS REVIEW review of Dolores, Dublin Dance Festival 2018

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THE BIG LIST NI review of Soldier Still, Dublin Fringe Festival 2017

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THE IRISH TIMES review of Soldier Still, Dublin Fringe Festival 2017

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THE ARTS REVIEW review of Soldier Still, Dublin Fringe Festival 2017

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EXEUNT MAGAZINE review of Soldier Still, Dublin Fringe Festival 2017

THE REVIEWS HUB review of Soldier Still, Dublin Fringe Festival 2017

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THE SCOTSMAN review of It Folds, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016

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THE STAGE review of It Folds, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016

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THE HERALD review of It Folds, Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016

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EXAMINER.COM review of Walking Pale, 2016

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THE IRISH TIMES review of Dusk Ahead, 2015

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THE IRISH TIMES review of It Folds, 2015

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THE STATE OF THE ARTS review of It Folds, 2015

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BROADWAY WORLD review of It Folds, 2015

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LE COOL review of It Folds, 2015

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THE NEW YORK TIMES review of Dusk Ahead, 2015

TANZ MAGAZIN review of The Falling Song, 2014

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EXEUNT MAZAZINE review of The Falling Song, 2014

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THE PUBLIC REVIEWS review of The Falling Song, 2014

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THE STAGE review of The Falling Song, 2014

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THE IRISH TIMES review of Dusk Ahead, 2013

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THE SUNDAY TIMES review of Dusk Ahead, 2013

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EXAMINER.COM review of Dusk Ahead, 2013

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IRISH THEATRE MAGAZINE review of Dusk Ahead, 2013

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IRISH INDEPENDENT review of Dusk Ahead, 2013

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THE IRISH TIMES feature on junk ensemble and Dusk Ahead, 2013

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IRISH EXAMINER review of Dusk Ahead, 2013

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THE IRISH TIMES review of The Falling Song, 2012

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IRISH THEATRE MAGAZINE review of The Falling Song, 2012

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RACHEL DONNELLY review of The Falling Song, 2012

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TOTALLY DUBLIN review of Bird with boy, 2012

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THE SUNDAY TIMES review of Bird with boy, 2011

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IRISH THEATRE MAGAZINE review of Bird with boy, 2011

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THE IRISH TIMES review of Bird with boy, 2011

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THE VIEW on RTE TELEVISION review of Five Ways to Drown, 2010

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THE IRISH TIMES review of Five Ways to Drown, 2010

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IRISH THEATRE MAGAZINE review of Five Ways to Drown, 2010

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THE IRISH INDEPENDENT review of Five Ways to Drown, 2010

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IRISH HERALD review of Five Ways to Drown, 2010

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DANCE EUROPE review of Drinking Dust, 2009

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THE IRISH TIMES review of Drinking Dust, 2008

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THE METRO review of Drinking Dust, 2008

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IRISH THEATRE MAGAZINE review of Drinking Dust, 2008

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THE IRISH TIMES review of The Rain Party, 2007

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THE IRISH INDEPENDENT review of The Rain Party, 2007

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THE METRO review of The Rain Party, 2007

THE IRISH TIMES ★★★★

The Bystander, Dublin Theatre Festival 2018 

5 October 2018

Michael Seaver

In 1964 Kitty Genovese was stabbed and sexually assaulted outside her apartment block in Kew Gardens, New York. According to the New York Times, 38 neighbours saw her being attacked three times over 30 minutes, and eventually murdered, by Winston Moseley, but none came to her aid. The parable of indifference was summed up by a neighbour’s comment: “We didn’t want to get involved.” The incident, which quickly gained notoriety, became the first example of what psychologists dubbed the bystander effect.

Except much of that story isn’t true. Genovese was murdered, but there weren’t 38 witnesses. Few neighbours saw what happened, the police were in fact called, and Genovese died in the arms of a neighbour, Sophia Farrar. Forty years later the New York Times admitted its initial reporting was inaccurate, and so the parable of indifference became a parable of inaccuracy, oversimplification and rush to judgment.

Junk Ensemble’s The Bystander remains driven by anger at Genovese’s murder, but the dance language is nuanced and recognises the complexity of the bystander effect. In particular it goes beyond the value judgment of selfish apathy to more deep-rooted inhibition. Movement is deeply embedded, jittery twitches and guttural contractions that portray the conflict between conformity and individual responsibility. Societal conformity seems to wins out. The dancer Tilly Webber outlines how constant movement in the crowded London Underground is necessary: “If you stop you are not one of us.”

Genovese is recognised as a person rather than as a symbol (as Junk Ensemble did previously with Dolores Haze, from Nabokov’s Lolita). Stephanie Dufresne warmly recounts her sunny disposition and self-assurance through Farrar’s words. In contrast, text starkly outlines Moseley’s sociopathy – he just wanted to kill a woman – and entwines the murder committed by Meursault, the anti-hero from Camus’s The Stranger. In this context, quoting the novel’s closing lines suggests that an indifferent universe (“so brotherly” to Meursault’s own indifference) will always allow violence to thrive.

The dance shows that the bystander effect exists on a spectrum from local street attack to global social injustice. “What about the clothes we wear and the mobile phones we use?” asks the actor Steve Blount, in an age when “shares” and “likes” have replaced direct action. Appositely, Junk Ensemble’s trademark visual polish feels rawer, with darkly insistent performances from the cast, including the dancer Stephen Moynihan.

THE IRISH TIMES review of The Bystander, Dublin Theatre Festival 2018