This June sees the UK première of ANU & CoisCéim Dance Theatre’s These Rooms, an intense, immersive blend of theatre, dance and visual art by David Bolger, Owen Boss and Louise Lowe. The work is co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW, the UK’s official arts programme for the First World War centenary, LIFT and Shoreditch Town Hall, and tells the story of 15 civilian men who were killed in house-to-house raids by British soldiers on a single Dublin street on 28 April 1916, five days into the Easter Rising.
We spoke to Matthew Williamson to find out more.
You’re appearing in These Rooms at Shoreditch Town Hall, what can you tell us about it?
First off it’s amazing to talk with you about the upcoming performance of These Rooms by Owen Boss, David Bolger and Louise Lowe at this year’s LIFT festival running at Shoreditch Town Hall.
Originally a part of Dublin Theatre Festival in 2016 and created by two of Ireland’s leading Theatre and Dance companies ANU Productions and CoisCéim Dance Company, These Rooms is a response to witness accounts of the horrific murder of civilians in the 1916 North King Street massacre committed by the South Staffordshire Regiment. In an immersive theatre setting, audiences will be taken through the basement of Shoreditch Town Hall which has been completely renovated and reimagined to set the perfect scene for this performance. Along with 7 amazing artists, different important stories of what went on in North King Street that day is told and done so in tremendous style by all the cast of what will be extraordinary show.
Tell us about your role?
My role in this piece is a dance artist and I play a husband (George) of one of the women who witnessed some of the horrible events that occurred on North King Street that day in 1916. Women were separated from there husbands and children, not being told what was to become of them or where they where going. George was takien upstairs and shot in the heart, while his wife waited in the basement for him, with no knowledge of what was going on. The reimagined set for this the UK premiere of These Rooms lends itself to an amazing space for dance and movement.
How are different kinds of performance incorporated in to this production?
Extremely well – with acting, dance, lighting, sound, costume and set design being the key areas of performance in These Rooms, it is spread and blended beautifully throughout the show, with actors dancing and dancers acting, the trauma from the witness accounts is really felt in all performance fields, with amazing lighting by Ciaran Bagnall, superb sound design by Denis Clohessy, creative costume design by Niamh Lunny and sublime set design by Owen boss (ANU Productions) – are all massive and important key elements to this performance and is one of the major players in setting the mode and time frame for this collaborative performance piece.
Why is Shoreditch Town Hall the ideal place for These Rooms?
I think Shoreditch Town Hall is the ideal space for These Rooms because it provides a large area in the basement called the Ditch, which really suits the style and the time frame of the show. So many different things factor in, from its smell to its floor, its size allows for so much space for creativity which is always necessary for this type of production while offering the perfect opportunity for the audience to be brought on a truly immersive journey.
Dancer Matthew Williamson performs in ANU Productions & CoisCéim Dance Theatre’s co-production, THESE ROOMS – an immersive dance and theatre production from Ireland that sheds new light on British-Irish relations – runs at Shoreditch Town Hall from 4 – 22 June, as part of LIFT 2018 :: Further info – shoreditchtownhall.com/ liftfestival.com
These Rooms is a co-commissioned by 14-18 NOW: WW1 Centenary Arts Commissions, LIFT 2018 & Shoreditch Town Hall. Supported by Culture Ireland as part of GB18: Promoting Irish Arts in Britain
