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Yokes Night

 
Dixon Baskerville Review by Dixon Baskerville 5 Published: 21 Aug 2016 Pleasance Courtyard Show Dates: 3 Aug 2016-29 Aug 2016

A loophole in Irish law allows for the legal of consumption of Class-A drugs for 24 hours, and the youth of Dublin are not going to let Yokes Night slip by without taking full advantage. Imbibing a large amount of ecstasy, cocaine, and even the prohibitively expensive alcohol, our characters embark upon quests; our protagonist attempts to find his one true love; the heroine has a less than joyful venture in mind.

Feels closer to an experiment in physicality, a play in the truest sense between characters meeting and finding excitement in each other

Scott Lyons is our protagonist, the “just looking for love” Harry Finnigan. Lyons gives such a strong, enthusiastic and easy performance with his embodiment of this young modern day everyman that we utterly sympathise with his desire to find a soulmate and indeed really ask ourselves the questions the character finds himself facing later in the play. The energy he brings holds together this extremely demanding and at times incredibly dark tale.

The talented Zoe Forrester’s Saoirse takes us in so completely with her naturalistic charm that we simply see her as the harmed creature she portrays. The inhabiting of her character is so total that when Saoirse makes a claim we are taken in as completely as Finnigan, submerged in the backstory of this tragically damaged character. One of Forrester’s monologues is delivered with such devastating honesty it pulls the entire play from an exciting experimental piece of physical theatre into a humbling foray towards a very exciting piece of theatrical art.

The use of physical theatre in this piece is of a style akin to DV8’s John, but seemingly so much more underplayed that at times we forget we are watching a physical piece. Indeed at times it feels closer to an experiment in physicality, a play in the truest sense between characters meeting and finding excitement in each other, almost like children in a playpen. It is raw, fresh, challenging and beautiful to behold. If you are the sort to embrace a theatrical dive into the depths of drug-addled darkness and destruction on an early afternoon, this is the play for you.

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The Blurb:

Dublin, 11th March 2015. A slip-up loophole in the law declares all drugs legal for 24 hours. On this night of rebellion, Harry finds himself under the influence of Saoirse. Bound by the ecstasy of their union, secrets are shared, and the stench of bloodshed is looming. Stay Up Late and Bear Trap Theatre fuse cut-throat dialect with stylized movement, forging a fresh, progressive theatre experience.