CORK THEATRE group Corcadorca looks set to bring drama literally to new heights on Leeside over the next fortnight when it stages a new production on top of Ireland’s second tallest building.
Corcadorca’s production of medEia opens tonight at the Vertigo Suite some 17 stories up in Cork’s County Hall and looks set for a successful run with theatre lovers who want to see exciting drama in a dramatic setting – up to 65 metres above Cork city.
MedEia is an abstract interpretation by Dutch playwright Oscar van Woensel of Euripedes’s Greek classic, Medea and tells the story of a woman betrayed by the man she loves and how she perpetrates the ultimate revenge.
The play, which features Gina Moxley, Louis Louvett and Tadhg Murphy, and is directed by Corcadorca artistic director Pat Kiernan, marked a major but exciting logistical challenge for the company which has staged works in some of the unlikeliest of Cork settings.
“From a practical point of view it’s been a challenge to get the set in place. It had to be built, and assembled off site, then broken down into small pieces – pieces that would fit in a lift – and re-assembled in the Vertigo Suite, some 17 stories up.
“Getting 200 people up and down for the two shows each night presents its own problems but, to be honest, we’re used to putting on shows in strange and unusual places,” said Corcadorca company manager Fin Flynn.
The play, which runs until July 4th, is one of a number of productions being staged in Cork over the next fortnight as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival including the premiere tonight of Cork-based actor Jack Healy’s one-man show, Shostakovich.
Healy explained that he was first attracted to Shostakovich by the music but as the years went by, he became very interested in the Russian composer’s life story.
“His opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, was very well received until Stalin went to see it in 1934 and he left in a rage and a few days later a review appeared in Pravda, denouncing him completely and he spent the rest of his life living in constant fear of arrest,” said Healy.
The show, performed by Jack Healy, runs from tonight at the Curtis Auditorium of the Cork School of Music until Saturday, June 20th.