RUINING THE ACT

Anxiety, people pleasing, going through the motions, existential dread; what do we do to fight and continue putting on the Act? What is it to ruin the act? We’re going to lean into our reflexes. Send in the clowns. Take your money and leave you with nothing or leave you with everything. We know we can’t change the world in an hour, but we’ll try to. 

RUINING THE ACT is a dance performance that both questions and celebrates how we, as people, perform. It’s a look inside the social construct of performance and what that means to the individual. RUINING THE ACT explores how we navigate life in states of both the survival brain and the more curious learning brain. How do we suppress our instincts and can we thrive in the cathartic space between ecstasy and anxiety, capturing how we get through the performance of life on and off the stage. 

Performed by an outstanding cast of Irish dance artists, RUINING THE ACT blends physicality, dance and text, supported by a visceral soundscape, to show the light and dark of the process. So who are you today? What’s going on? When the whole world is a stage, why are you sitting over there? Get on stage, you’re on in 5!

CREDITS:

Choreographed by Emily Kilkenny Roddy 

Performed by Sibeál Davitt, Millie Daniel Dempsey, Rosie Mullin & Emily Kilkenny Roddy 

Sound Design by Oliver Ryan 

Lighting Design by Kevin Murphy 

Costume Design by Tobi Balogun 

Produced by Sophie Coote 

Image by Micheal Behan 

Poster Design by Ste Murrary

Funded by The Arts Council of Ireland. Supported by Dunamaise Arts Centre