Loneliness often wears the guise of solitude. But freedom from company may be its own sort of manacle. Enda Walsh’s 80-minute play The New Electric Ballroom, staged by UAE theatre group Danu from February 22-24 at The Courtyard Playhouse Al Quoz, is a foray into the bleakness that comes with the fear of isolation.
On the surface, the dark comedy about three shut-in sisters has all the elements of humour; relationships strained by familiarity, isolation from the world, and that odd, thorny companionship that comes from a sense of us versus the world. But peel back the layers and a complex world, of mind-numbing starkness and of chilling monotony, is brought to the fore.
“The New Electric Ballroom whilst bleak is hilarious,” says director-producer Padraig Downey. It’s something he claims his Irish country folk excel at. “People will identify with themes of isolation and loneliness… Mental health is a major issue in today’s society. It is also taboo in many cultures. In this play, it is obvious that the characters are struggling with mental health [trouble] though none of them seek to help each other. The characters roam the stage like casualties of life.
“Ironically, these characters live in the majestic, sweeping Atlantic coast of Ireland, one of the most beautiful places on earth but in the midst of all this grandeur, they feel claustrophobic and suffocated, paralysed at their inability to change and seek a better existence. I feel the audience [will] connect with this as we all try to forge our own paths amidst our own solitary existential angst.”
Cast within these confines, however, the crew of Electric Ballroom are confident the audience will not feel disconnected. Gwen Watson, a three-time Edinburgh Fringe Award recipient who plays the oldest sister, broken by rejection and twisted by the helplessness in her own life that compels her to control the others, says: “I think any woman who is lucky enough to have a sister, will identify to some extent with the relationship between Clara [second sister] and Breda. Even the strongest sisterly bond can turn from jovial and loving to hate-filled in an instant, and there are few people you can be as brutally honest with.”
For Aileen Kelly, who plays Clara, the script invokes nostalgia. “Having grown up in the ’70s and ’80s in the west of Ireland I had the privilege of observing and being part of life in a beautiful and often times isolated place,” she explains.
The only male figure in this women-centric tale is the village fool, Patsy (Johnny Dillon), who delivers fish — and a needle-eye view of escape — to the women.
Dillon, who began his career in Scotland, talks of the rise of Dubai: “The growth of local arts festivals [in Dubai] and an array of purpose built performance spaces is hugely encouraging… The opening of the Dubai Opera and the success of La Perle by Dragone has introduced event productions to many people who may not have been a traditionally theatre-going crowd.”
In context, Dubai, built on the backbone of steel, concrete and tall dreams, has unshackled itself from the chains of isolation; from a port of transit to a hub of diverse cultures. But can the three reclusive women really follow suit?
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Don’t miss it!
Entry to The New Electric Ballroom, which runs from February 22-24 at The Courtyard Playhouse Al Quoz, is free, but requires registration.
