There's something deeply touching about watching little children, hands clasped to open mouths, wide-eyed, enthralled by a piece of theatre; such was the privilege of the various adults at the opening of How High Is Up? at The Ark last Thursday.
Brendan Murray's play for children aged five to nine deals with death and the cycle of life. Hardly material you might expect children to find so compelling, but How high is up? is such a beautiful piece of work, suffused with poetry, wit, and magic and a wonderful wisdom, that it would captivate any age group.
Set in "a world a bit like ours and a bit not", the story centres around Little Star (played with a neat balance of childish passion and innocence by Emily Nagle) and her quest to stop time in a bid to save her elderly companion, the gardener, Ong Gia (Michael Grennell), from dying.
She is aided on her journey by The Bird Who Has No Wings. Morna Regan plays the bird as a tough, wise-crackin' babe, with a vulnerable heart of gold.
Together, they fly through space enjoying three separate encounters with worldly wise (ish!) magicians, who don't quite solve the problem but do guide Little Star towards an understanding of one of the few genuine facts of life - death.
Finally acknowledging we must all die, she dashes back to the garden, arriving just that bit too late. Ultimately she accepts her new role as the all important gardener.
Above the garden, the moon (Jennifer Barry) and the sun (Frank Coughlan), a neurotic and eccentric couple, breath a sigh of relief. The dance of life goes on.
The music is devised by Nico Brown, the set and costumes beautifully designed by Chisato Yoshimi, and the direction by Martin Drury draws together the parts into a very memorable whole.
Public performances of How high is up? take place today, March 4th and 11th, and Sunday March 12th at 1.30pm and 3.30pm. For further information contact The Ark at (01) 6707788.