Cathal O’ Gara catches up with Lisa Carroll as she prepares for the opening night of Laura Wade’s ‘Breathing Corpses.’
“Amy’s found another body in a hotel bedroom There’s a funny smell coming from one of Jim’s storage units. And Kate’s losing it after spending all day with the police. There’s no going back after what they’ve seen. Breathing Corpses was first performed at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs in February 2005.”
As a production, cialis Breathing Corpses was an easy choice for Lisa, who is due credit for directing such an innovative and dark play for UCDDramsoc. “This play stayed with me for days after I first read it. It’s unbelievably well written, poetic, terrifying and deeply moving. I read this play and knew that I needed to see it realised on the stage, and in doing so have been constantly surprised and awed by Wade’s deeply psychological and subtle drama.”
Laura Wade’s 2006 play projects what at first seems like disparate and unconnected tales that all
feature, at some point (non-spoiler alert), a corpse – but as the drama unfolds we realise that we are watching events that are deeply and tragically connected. Each dramatic vignette is delivered achronologically in terms of the play’s timeline. This disparity of locations hasn’t been a challenge for Carroll. “With the scenes so disparate as they are in terms of locations, this is a really exciting opportunity to use our imaginations and try something different. As such we have tried to create a more abstract and metaphorical set that contributes to the meaning of the play while using the fantastic new theatre space in the Student Centre to its full theatrical potential.”
“Breathing Corpses is an incredibly exciting piece for actors to tackle – a real ensemble piece. The dialogue is dry, witty, there is nothing extraneous, the performances are muted and pared back; this audience participate in this play as much as the actors do in trying to understand what has happened to them and why making it a wholly collaborative experience,” Carroll added.
Breathing Corpses will be Carroll’s final show in UCD, after a successful production of Terminus last semester. “This is my final fling in directing for dramsoc after four years with the society, a place which has been instrumental in my development as a theatre practitioner as well as thoroughly enjoyable to be a part of. I really look forward to creating a piece of work that stays with people, makes them see differently, lets them imagine and, most importantly, offers an evening of great entertainment.”
