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Hope Hunt and the Ascension into Lazarus

A double-bill of extraordinary power and originality, Hope Hunt & The Ascension into Lazarus performed by Belfast-based Oona Doherty, gets beneath the hard exterior of disaffected youths to the humanity beneath in a show which achieves the hard act of being visceral and in-yer-face but also tender.

This is a show not to be missed.

Starting in the street, as Oona rolls out of a car and hits the cobblestones with a thwack: a dramatic, shocking start as she brings the street with her into the auditorium. A sense of humour bursts out here and there and she astounds with her flexibility and quicksilver lightness as a dancer.

I say ‘she’ but she has an androgynous look; the baggy clothes hinting at prison outfits, the loose walk, swinging arms and curled lip – all the swagger of street dance as she performs with fragments of hip hop, popping and locking to East 17 amongst other ‘dirty’ boy bands, interspersed with broken words or fragments of speech, some in German and French, referencing Kurt Schwitters, the Dadaist German artist famed for his collages (Oona, too is an artist who makes collages). This fragmented approach brilliantly expresses inarticulacy and a desperate search for self-expression, a rebellion against being thrown on the rubbish heap. Tellingly, the only set is a rubbish heap of fast-food cans and detritus in the corner.

Hope Hunt is not a rant, more a hunt for hope. Even more so The Ascension into Lazarus grows naturally out of it as a companion piece, continuing the theme of hope but conjuring a deeply moving elegiac mood. Oona lies on the floor, her face white and withdrawn as a heroin addict’s, she is dressed in white as if it is a shroud, like Lazarus whom Christ brought back from the dead. To the heart-rending High Renaissance choral work Miserere ('Have Mercy') by Allegri, with its impossibly high C then falling notes echoing from the heights of a great cathedral, mixed with the sound of shattered plates and angry voices, Oona rises and is spotlit at the back of the stage as if ascending into heaven suggesting that even in the bleakest of lives there is redemption. This is a show not to be missed.

Reviews by Stephanie Green

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Since you’re here…

… we have a small favour to ask. We don't want your money to support a hack's bar bill at Abattoir, but if you have a pound or two spare, we really encourage you to support a good cause. If this review has either helped you discover a gem or avoid a turkey, consider doing some good that will really make a difference.

You can donate to the charity of your choice, but if you're looking for inspiration, there are three charities we really like.

Mama Biashara
Kate Copstick’s charity, Mama Biashara, works with the poorest and most marginalised people in Kenya. They give grants to set up small, sustainable businesses that bring financial independence and security. That five quid you spend on a large glass of House White? They can save someone’s life with that. And the money for a pair of Air Jordans? Will take four women and their fifteen children away from a man who is raping them and into a new life with a moneymaking business for Mum and happiness for the kids.
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Theatre MAD
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Acting for Others provides financial and emotional support to all theatre workers in times of need through the 14 member charities. During the COVID-19 crisis Acting for Others have raised over £1.7m to support theatre workers affected by the pandemic.
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Performances

Location

The Blurb

Oona Doherty performs thumping sweaty dance-theatre. A physical expression of the place between the flesh and the soul. Heaving lungs shout in the dark as Doherty takes you through a dirty Europe, from the dark and into the light like a bursting lightbulb. Hope Hunt and the Ascension into Lazarus is an attempt to raise the male disadvantaged stereotype up into a bright white limbo. To make the smicks, the spides, the hoods, the neds, into the birds of a concrete paradise. This is a Hunt for Hope. Fade to white. Aerowaves, 2017.
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