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

Exeunt Magazine

Dolores at Dublin Dance Festival

Chris McCormack

12 May 2018


Rivetingly dark: Junk Ensemble’s dance-theatre reimagining of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita is thrilling and revelatory.

What the devil is someone supposed to do with Lolita, Vladamir Nabokov’s 1955 novel about a middle-aged man’s obsession with an underage girl? Junk Ensemble’s excellent dance-theatre production finds remarkable pith in referring to its victim, whose nickname has since inspired a lot of pornography, by her true name.

For Dolores to be given new life, choreographers Jessica Kennedy and Megan Kennedy need to deal with Nabokov’s problematic protagonist. Predatory, loquacious and convincing, Humbert Humbert (Mikel Murfi) traps his step-daughter in a poisonous relationship before fleeing across the country with her. But here, when an older woman embodying Dolores’s escape and vengeance (Amanda Coogan) stuffs his mouth with a peach, it opens up new possibilities. Miraculously, the narrator can be muted.

That could make for a dance where the resistance of the narrative’s usual demands is more interesting than the movement. But Dolores is seen in rich complexity, embodied by three dancers. If Coogan channels her sense of revenge, Julie Koenig is given her youthful aspirations, while Deirdre Griffin shows her vulnerability and trauma.

Discovery is everywhere in this promenade production. Guided by girls’ batons, we’re ushered between tattered house rooms, a garden, and a stark roadside – all transformed by Valerie Reid’s painstaking design. Just as inventive, the piano and clarinet of Denis Clohessy’s sublime music whimpers until it warbles with unease. It all suggests a rivetingly dark dance.

It’s rare for Junk Ensemble, whose choreography often resembles combat, to create such intimate and sparing solos. We see Koenig spin desperately in a child’s bedroom, or feel Coogan’s hand reach out for us while she breaths inky water. Childhood dreams have been sadly dashed and replaced by something toxic.

Instead of going along with his fantasies, Murfi’s superb Humbert Humbert, crippled with paranoia, is allowed to give an extra performance: as corrupt playwright Quilty, who takes Dolores away. Such freighted movement suggests male torment as opposed to desire, in a production that suspends the novel’s risqué gestures. An unflinching duet with Griffin’s formidable Dolores, where there are headlocks and bodies dragged along the ground, is most evocative of a stirring power struggle.

Yet, in more sombre moments, this thrilling and artful reprove of Lolita offers a mournful look at trauma. A passage read aloud describes Dolores being slapped, spurring Koenig and Griffin to entangle and choke each other as if agonising with self-blame and destruction. But the production manages to find encouragement in its final moments, in a dance of splendour and baton-twirling, leaving us feeling lighter.

EXEUNT MAGAZINE review of Dolores, Dublin Dance Festival 2018