Come Here To Me!

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last 16 years, you will most definitely have heard about the annual Absolut Fringe Festival. In those 16 years, it has grown from humble begininnings to become Ireland most exciting multidisciplinary festival covering all walks of culture; music, art, literature and performance.

Spanning over two- and- a- bit weeks, and visiting over twenty venues, the festival is ambitious in it’s enormity, but then again, why shouldn’t it be going on the successes of the last couple of years.  While it would be close to impossible to list a full programme here ( you can check that out on the official website @ www.fringefest.com , or alternatively pick up the free guide from cafés and bookshops citywide,) below are some of the events I hope to attend, and suprise suprise, they’re Dublin-centric.

As You Are Now, So Once Were We

As You Are Now So Once Were We, The Company

Blurb from the fringefest site:

“Why haven’t you read Ulysses? Ulysses is Dublin. You live in Dublin. So do we. Four actors in a city we don’t really know pick up the most important and unread book in Irish history and follow James Joyce as he invents a whole city and its people. Returning to this year’s Festival with the Spirit of the Fringe 2009 award for ‘Who is Fergus Kilpatrick?’, The Company are back to delve into Joyce’s seminal work and ask – where are you in this story? Join us as we rediscover what it means to be Irish. By the way, we haven’t read Ulysses either… yet. The Company are part of Project Catalyst, an initiative of Project Arts Centre.”

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Having laboured my way through Ulysees in my UCD days, I’m interested to see what the good folks from The Company make of it. The questions of nationhood and identity always stood out in the book, and this show looks set to examine both.

The Project Arts  Centre Space Upstairs, Sat 11th – Wed 15th, 9pm, €14/12

World’s End Lane

World's End Lane, Anu Productions

Blurb from the fringefest site:

“For over 100 years, Monto was the most notorious red light district in Europe. Presided over by infamous Madams and fortune-tellers, lost strangers sought sex, guidance and the divine. You and I will be the strangers. Immerse yourself in a fragile and intimate encounter, exhuming an area of Dublin that no longer exists, as presented by the multi-award winning company that brought you last year’s festival favourite, ‘Basin’. Presented in association with The Lab. Supported by Rough Magic Hub.”

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Monto; An area sung about in a thousand songs and the backdrop for a hundred thousand stories of woe and debauchery, lonliness and violence, intrigue and legend. Some say that a branch of the current Monarchy flourishes in Dublin City due a night on the town by a British prince here in the late 19th Century. It is written into revolutionary lore as it’s many brothels and slums were used as safehouses in the period 1916- 22. In World’s End Lane, we get a unique look at this unique period in Dublin’s past.

The Lab,  Foley Street, Mon 13th- Sat 25th, (times can be found here ,) €15.

The Hidden Garden

The Hidden Garden, Garvan Gallagher Photography

Blurb from the fringefest site:

“‘It’s like going to mass’ is how one local resident describes her time in one of the most charming and unlikely secret retreats in the city. This uplifting film maps the transformation of an urban dumping ground in the North Inner City into a vibrant community growing space. Winter surrenders to spring as the characters and the space come to life while the goodwill and honest nature of the local residents spill out like the cups of tea poured in their hundreds. As informative as it is inspirational, don’t miss the chance to see this heart-warming film screened in The Hidden Garden. Arrive early if you’d like to potter around the garden!”

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Whilst over the last couple of years, developers have tried to rid us of any green spaces we have in the inner city, there has been a struggle within some local communities to take back some peace and tranquility. With inner- city community spirit diminishing as office and retail developments push people into the suburbs, projects like the Summer Row Community Garden are to be applauded.

Summer Row Community Garden, Summer St. North. Thurs 23rd – Sat 25th, 8.30pm, €8.

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All details, blurbs and pictures (apart from my own interjections of course) are taken from the excellently informative www.fringefest.com . For up to date information, tickets and more details, check it out.