Rachel West- director RAW Theatre company

	OFF PLAN	Splendour	Under Ice	Electronic City	Family Stories	Winter
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PROGRAMME NOTE: David Barnett, lecturer of drama, UCD on The System Click HERE to View	THE SYSTEM Parts I&II By Falk Richter Part II – Under Ice Translated in cooperation with Goethe Institute by David Tushingham Directed by Rachel West A RAW production in association with Project Arts Centre. Irish Premiere 5th January 2006. UK Premiere 2nd August 2006, *Edinburgh Festival Fringe.* Connect-Collect-Delay-Porn-Love-Service industries-Globalisation- Mediasation- Homogenisation-Downsize- Outsource-Disconnect Enter the groundless space of THE SYSTEM One of Germany’s leading contemporary writers and directors, Falk Richter’s double bill THE SYSTEM confronts you with a heightened sense of what it means to exist in a highly digitised, globalised consumer-society where everything and everyone seems to be speeding faster and faster towards an unknown goal. Where human life is valued in profit margins and everyone is disposable. Under Ice tells the story of Paul Niemand, a management consultant - too old to start again and too young to retire. If efficiency and profit are the driving forces, Niemand knows his ‘personal effectiveness ratings” have dropped below acceptable levels and he’s next to be “rationalized”. His flight is closing, boarding has been completed.... but without him. He stands still. He freezes. As he hurtles, deliriously, through the incomplete memories and fantasies that was his life – the next generation is lurking, waiting for him to show a sign of weakness, waiting for the end of his career. Once again director Rachel West of RAW is working in association with Project Arts Centre, combining a sublte use of multimedia with Richter’s enigmatic text, which is underscored with original, commissioned music and video by Denis Clohessy and Martin Rottenkolber. THE SYSTEM -Parts I&II is shown in conjunction with a workshop and post show discussion with Falk Richter, an exclusive screening of Mark Bauder's documentary, Grow or Grow, and a performed reading by the ensemble of THE SYSTEM Part IV – Hotel Palastine, in a specially commissioned translation by David Tushingham. CAST: Adam Fergus, Phillip McMahon, Gary Murphy, Matthew Darcy (Dublin) and Jonathan Dorrian (Edinburgh). PRODUCTION DESIGNERS: Set Andrew Clancy Costume Suzanne Cave Sound Denis Clohessy Lighting Aedín Cosgrove Video Martin Rottenkolber Image design Nick & Chloe COMPANY: Rob Usher, Tara Furlong, David Barnett, Aoife O’Toole, Joe Stanley, Jeanine McCormick, and in Edinburgh, Clive Welsh, Phil Hunter, Gerry Balfe-Smyth, Little Seal. For Project: Willie White, Niamh O’Donnell David Quinlan, Dairne O’Sullivan, Aisling McGrane, Annette Devoy, Kate McSweeney, Joseph Collins, Barbara Beck REVIEWS: “ The universe of THE SYSTEM, the first two parts of which are given a lucidly impressive Irish premiere by Rachel West, is Beckett’s entropic cosmos, in which identity dissolves into amnesia, language loses its meaning and becomes a mere cry to fill up the silence, and humanity itself seems like a dying anomaly on an indifferent planet. But Richter sees these conditions not as an existential imperative, but as a political product, the consequences of a media-saturated, high-tech, market-driven globalisation. [...]Richter’s distinctive contribution is in the peculiar combinations and confrontations of familiar elements, and the ingenious mixture of forms, from monologue to video (superbly realised here by Martin Rottenkolber), from stand-up comedy to absurdist ballet, and from direct satire to a strange, fragmentary poetry. [...]Richter’s bone-dry wit, beautifully captured in translations by Marlene J Norst and David Tushingham that are so articulate that they don’t sound like translations at all. Richter is best when he is funniest and there are times when his humour, both satiric (the arrogant media language of the TV team in Electronic City) and absurdist (the childhood memories of the ageing businessman in Under Ice) is scintillating. [...]The other factor is the quality of West’s production, which is designed with acute precision by Andrew Clancy and Suzanne Cave, and performed with terrific skill by an outstanding cast. In Electronic City, Emma McIvor’s astonishing fluency as the dominant member of the TV team and Orla Fitzgerald’s wonderful command of different registers as she acts out her assigned role are utterly compelling. Adam Fergus’s rendition of the glib consultant in Under Ice is also memorable for the way it gradually pushes realism into preposterousness. And West’s deft control of the plays’ constant shifts of style and mood maintains a focus that is as sharp as it is unblinking.” Irish Times - Fintan O’Toole “ Through a torrent of good writing, Falk Richter succeeds in re-freshing all the standard neo-Marxist arguments against our version of capitalism. The excellent cast succeeds in articulating criticisms we all know, but have never condensed with such precision” -Irish Examiner UNDER ICE IN EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE “ Existential stagnation is not easy to dramatise, but Beckett made a career of it, and this production from his native city, Dublin, tackles the play with confidence and intelligence, emphasising its bleak, absurdist humour and its underlying compassion. As played by Gary Murphy, Niemand is a traumatised shell of a man, pouring out his despair in a blank-eyed, semi-conscious stream. His stoic stillness stands in stark contrast to the slick, vigorous performances by Adam Fergus and Phillip McMahon as the two younger men. All three give a spirited account of the wordy, partly abstract text. Under Ice is directed with acuity and vision by Rachel West, who has worked closely with Richter in Berlin. Her intelligent treatment of the drama is enhanced by a menacing electronic score by Denis Clohessy and a video backdrop of oppressive buildings and dreamy clouds by Martin Rottenkolber. Richter drives his dystopian vision to its logical conclusion – the eradication of humanity – but leaves us clinging to the hope that this is satire, not prophecy.” The Scotsman - Andrew Burnet “ Awestruck is the best way to describe the audience at the UK premiere of Falk Richter's UNDER ICE. The German playwright's finely crafted monologues, delivered here by a strong Irish cast, are intricately woven together in this gripping tale of Paul Niemand... flitting between the hilarious and the harrowing, this slick, highly intelligent production will leave a lasting impression on those fortunate enough to catch it this year. “ *****Three Weeks. BACK to TOP				Photo-Gerry Balfe-Smyth Photo-Gerry Balfe-Smyth



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