Macnas's new biblical production proves it is now time for the company to stand up and be counted on the world's theatrical stage, writes Rosita Boland.
It's a warm June evening in Coventry, England. Mikel Murfi, associate director with Macnas and temporary resident of Coventry, is thirsty. He goes into a corner shop and comes out with a bottle of Coca-Cola - and Jesus.
"Meet Jesus!" he says convivially, and passers-by turn their heads our way, and stare.
This Jesus is actor Anthony Taylor, one of seven professional actors in Macnas's big co-production show, The Mysteries, for this year's Galway Arts Festival. The other half of the production is Coventry's Belgrade Theatre and co-director Richard Hayhow. The show will open in Galway and then transfer to Coventry with the set and core cast members. Each city has its own local chorus cast, both of which are currently being trained in their separate locations.
"It's a tale of two cities. And two directors, two casts, and two venues," Murfi says.
The Mysteries has a cast of 92, twice the size of any other show Macnas has previously created. It's a production of biblical proportions, as befits a show with a biblical theme.
The Mysteries is a cycle of medieval plays, a series of interconnecting biblical stories, which usually tell the story of Creation through to Judgment Day. Traditionally, they were written collaboratively, by craftsmen and guild members. There are several versions, the most famous of which are the York and Chester cycles. For the Macnas production, the words are by playwright Vincent Woods.
Macnas and the Belgrade Theatre have been working towards this production for a year, with Belgrade providing most of the funding.
"Every three years, Belgrade commit a budget to a large outdoor community project. They invited us to work with them," explains Murfi.
Last year, Grainne Mhaol, a Macnas production, played in Coventry; thus, there was already a connection with the city. The Mysteries was chosen as an idea, as "it's a story that everyone knows". Mystery plays were traditionally performed outdoors, and Macnas will continue the tradition, performing in promenade, with an audience that will move around with the action for 80 to 90 minutes. In Galway, the venue is the university's tennis courts; in Coventry, the show will be staged in the eerily beautiful ruins of Coventry Cathedral, which was bombed in 1940. The ruins abut the extraordinary modern cathedral, architect Basil Spence's most famous building, that was consecrated in 1962.
The wood and stone cathedral also contains some specially commissioned works from artists of the time: an immense, commanding tapestry by Graham Sutherland; gorgeous stained glass by John Piper; and carved stone tablets by Ralph Beyer. Despite its vast size, such is the ingenuity of Spence's design that the cathedral somehow manages to feel both inclusive and as intimate as a hermit's cave; a truly contemplative space.
At the disused Daewoo car showrooms on the outskirts of Coventry, the volunteer community cast are half-way through a three-week rehearsal period. Back in Galway, where half the major props are, another cast is awaiting training. Each cast includes a number of people with learning difficulties. Logistically, The Mysteries must be a bit of a nightmare to produce, yet the atmosphere at the Coventry rehearsal space, while certainly exuberant, is primarily one of order.
The night I'm there, commuters slow down as they drive past the showroom's concourse. The cast is split into teams, each of them working on particular scenes. The ark animals team are working outside, astonishing-looking flamingos and buffalo and rhinos scampering among the parked cars, sometimes stampeding into other groups, who are working with outsized palms and lanterns on rods.
"I'm palmed off!" one pun-loving volunteer quips, when his palm catches the breeze and topples over, taking him with it. It's a reminder of how particularly physical this show is and how challenging it will be to work outdoors, without amplification for the actors and with some huge pieces of scenery to manoeuvre in unpredictable weather.
Inside the showrooms, another team is working with pillars, which are transformed from a temple into an ark. There are several other arcane-looking pieces of scenery, their secrets contained within the machinery. Even at this rough stage, it's clear there are some wonderfully imaginative trademark Macnas setpieces in store.
The public probably still associates actor and director Mikel Murfi with Barabbas, but he actually left that company three years ago, and has not performed in two years. Directing and devising work is what has occupied him since. He has worked on two other Macnas shows in the past, the uneven Van Gogh show, Diamonds in the Soil, and the award-winning, beguiling The Lost Days of Ollie Deasy, but this is his first in his new role as associate director for Macnas. Declan Gibbons is currently general manager, but he is shortly leaving to be a full-time musician.
"I wouldn't be expected to programme the next show; I'm one of the people who contribute to Macnas," Murfi says, trying to explain something both of his own role as associate director, and of the company's structure. He is aware that Macnas, as an organisation, is currently in a nervous place, and that the public is sometimes puzzled as to what Macnas now is.
Is it mainly a visual-based performance company, or is it moving towards theatre? Is it a Galway company or a national company? There will be no parade for the Galway Arts Festival this year, for the second year running. Part of the reason is a cut in Arts Council funding, part is that resources are being put into Macnas's appearance in Dublin at the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics, and part is that the company plans on parading in Galway later this year, at Hallowe'en.
There is no doubting Macnas's talent, imagination and creative bravery. The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner and The Lost Days of Ollie Deasy alone could account for the monicker "Macnas Magic". They do not always get it right - Grainne Mhaol, last year's festival show, while it contained some spectacular setpieces, had some poor reviews.
Neither has the recent trend of mixing amateur cast with professionals always worked successfully. Of course, no company gets it right all the time, but Macnas works on such a hugely ambitious scale that its less successful shows inevitably seem proportionately more disappointing as a result.
But the real question at this point must be: why is Macnas's international profile so modest? Why isn't it being invited to perform at major international arts festivals? Is there a wider plan, or does it simply respond to every invitation that comes its way, which is part of the Macnas magic but is also a dilution of its creative energies?
"The beast that lifts its head highest at a certain time is the beast that gets fed," Murfi states, acknowledging that Macnas needs to examine its direction and focus. "Their weakness and strength is literally because Macnas is so versatile, a bit like an untameable spirit."
A practical viewpoint, part of Macnas's strength and weakness is the fact that it creates such enormous shows, which don't travel easily. But it's difficult not to think that the masters of the set could not occasionally make something more adaptable that could travel.
"They are some day going to make a piece of world-class theatre," Murfi says with certainty. "And then they will really be on the map."
Meanwhile, in Coventry, rehearsals continue. The ark is built and rebuilt, the Garden of Gethsemane appears and disappears, the volunteer cast are so enthusiastic that they are even forgoing tonight's England match, although there are occasional updates via text message.
Composer Derek Nisbet, who is writing the music for the show, is trying out a new piece of music that evening. It's a sort of wonderfully arresting and edgy fairground sound of moody concertinas and fiddles, which will resonatepowerfully outdoors.
"I make music for unusual situations," Nisbet says. One of his last commissions was a piece of music to be played when an acrobat walked a high-wire between the two church spires in Coventry.
After The Mysteries, Mikel Murfi is keen to focus for a while on his own work as a performer. He has a grand and intriguing plan, which he hopes to bring to next year's Galway Arts Festival.
"I'm working on a piece that will happen entirely underwater; a one-man show in a tank," he says.
After directing a cast of 92, in two cities, Murfi will literally be getting away from it all and going underwater solo.
The Mysteries previews at the Galway Arts Festival on July 11th and runs from July 15th-21st.