A deep dive into the Irish history of English colonial Occupation. This little spectacle is both entertaining and educational; comedic and spooky.
Nestled away from the harsh winter air, one finds themselves in a small, but vibrant venue filled with an eager anticipating audience, Irish accents, and mulled wine: everything required for a “Spectacular” evening. A new work for the Camden People’s Theatre, the show follows two “Not-IRA” members in the present day as they try to test new modes of Irish Republican activism on an English audience. Written and directed by Séan Butler, “The Spectacular” interrogates Irish Republicanism and what it means to be a Republican in the post- Good Friday Agreement world.
“The Spectacular” brands itself as “an experiment in the performance of (Irish) nationalism”. In the spirit of experimentation, this two-hander does not shy away from mixed modes of performance. The production is ripe with EDM transition music, PowerPoints, video, flashing lights, elaborate (and sometimes messy) props, and of course audience participation. What starts out as a self-aware light satire takes on a darker atmosphere as the play’s subject matter delves deeper into the violence experienced, and sometimes perpetrated, by Irish peoples in their colonial relationship with England over the last 800 years.
While the premise of “The Spectacular” is excellent, and it has all the makings of a “spectacular” success, the show has some loose ends that could serve to be polished. In attempting to provide its audience with enough Irish history and background knowledge to adequately engage in its moral paradigms, “The Spectacular” sometimes has too much going on at once. For example, in the ladder portion of the show following a provocative scene, contextual history is displayed behind our two Republicans while they are having an argument. In trying to read the projection and follow the scene, I was unable to adequately engage with either. Though the historical context for that moment was interesting, I could have better experienced the stakes of that moment without the entire context.
Similarly, the acting and direction at times leaves more to be desired. These two characters’ relationship is integral to the audience’s experience of the extractive relationship between the English and Irish and moreover Irish Republicans and the Northern Irish. When the actors’ perspectives on each other and their circumstances are overly generalized (which at times they were), we lose this connection to the play’s greater themes. Additionally, “The Spectacular” has fantastic jokes. However, the actors did not always commit to them in the moment, which hindered how funny they were for the audience. That said the show has strong bones and is certainly worth a watch. I hope Butler continues to develop this “experiment” beyond its Camden debut!
(Warning: “The Spectacular” does deal with themes of extreme violence that may be disturbing to some theatre goers.)