Writer: Gary Duggan
Director: Nicola Murphy
The audience enters the theatre on the third floor of The Chocolate Factory to the sound of musician Keiji Ishiguri playing keyboard and delivering the most soulful version of mid-noughties hit Toxic (sorry Britney, but yes, this version was better). The music fades and two college friends, played by Ashleigh Dorrell and Siobhan Callaghan take to the stage.
The two Dubliners are meeting up for F’s last few days of her American road trip. M has spent the last three years living in New York but is excited to reconnect with someone from her past. It soon becomes clear that there is an underlying tension in their relationship and that once upon a time they were perhaps more than friends but not quite a couple. From the subway station to a tiny New York flat they set out for a nighttime odyssey through drink, drugs, sex, emotion, and confusion. Full of ideas of the past and hopes for what they could be as they dream and hallucinate, the audience follow them as they either fall together or fall apart.
Stop / Over makes full use of the whole of the third floor for the production. Turning the open plan, spare surroundings of The Chocolate Factory into New York. An otherwise empty space becomes Central Park in the rain, lights falling like raindrops on the couple as they work themselves out and recover from the high of the night before. Audiovisuals and movement were smoothly integrated into the story line with the soundscape and lighting propelling the narrative forward. This movement towards the immersive shows an interesting development for writer Gary Duggan that has proved very popular with audiences and adds extra value to the production.
Although F and M are so young at times their story felt older, as the themes reverberate with anyone who has wanted to love. The sense of longing, lust, and loneliness was palpable and yet one was never quite sure what would happen next. An immersive experience that fizzes with emotion and promise.
Image: Contributed
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