The Dublin-based Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland showcases “Starjazzer”, an ingenious adaptation by Louise Lowe of Sean O’Casey’s refined short story, The Star Jazzer, awarded a four-star rating. With exactness and poignant depth, the play presents the characters as genuinely themselves, as opposed to O’Casey’s description of his friends in his fourth autobiography installment, Inishfallen, Fare Thee Well.
Throughout Lowe’s skilful modification, O’Casey’s robust poetry is transformed from a third-person narrative into a first-person monologue. For example, a quote about the passing of time morphs into a weary lament from Liv O’Donoghue’s portrayal of an overworked mother living in a tenement house.
Unusually, this adaptation omits the violent figure who tries to silence her in O’Casey’s original story. Instead, it’s left to O’Donoghue to illustrate the terrifying reality of sexual assault within marriage without another actor to interact with.
The moving and resourceful Anu adaptation of Starjazzer pairs a burdened O’Casey female protagonist with her equally victimised granddaughter. O’Donoghue’s character expresses her daily adversities and emotional scars powerfully through a passionate interpretative dance, performed so close to the audience her flushed skin is visible from relentless chest thumping. A line taken directly from O’Casey’s narrative – “I met a man and lost my head and him I wed: he gives me bread” – becomes a heartbreaking cry of desperation.
Anu productions, led by Lowe, encompass multiple artistic disciplines and a strong social awareness, a potent combination creatively utilising the unconventional theatrical setting afforded by Ireland’s Royal Society of Antiquities, nestled in Merrion Square. The audience is split into two segments, to experience two parallel performances – above the humble dwelling of O’Casey’s beleaguered leading lady, we encounter her granddaughter, portrayed by Ciara Byrne.
In being artfully developed, Byrne’s character subtly reflects intergenerational cycles of mistreatment, alluding to her forbearer’s heritage of folk-based Christianity and star-led philosophy. Her narrative artfully gives a fresh perspective to The Star Jazzer, adopting the lens of a contemporary survivor of domestic violence. The character patterns her day by manically circumnavigating her bed, an imitation of her everyday life juggling tasks such as navigating city centre streets shorn of cash, evading potentially familiar faces.
Both female characters underscore the cycles of deprivation that shape their existences, choosing to work under the covert cover of darkness to escape daily chaos. On one hand, we witness a woman filling her pail with the sparse trickle of water allocated to her low-income housing; on the other, we see a woman eking out a life from her suitcase, choosing to do her washing under the veil of nightfall.
The dual-setting allows for Rob Moloney’s acoustics to permeate the plays in turns. Interestingly, this only strengthens the narrative’s central premise around the transmission of trauma across generations.
The audience should be prepared to engage in dialogue, climb staircases, and manoeuvre through the grandeur of the Georgian house during the performance. Warm clothing is advised as portions occur outside. This is a small ask given the innovative and moving nature of the performance.
The production is ongoing at the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland and is a part of the Dublin Theatre Festival, scheduled to run until Saturday, 19th of October.