RTE, Sunday Independent, The Stage and more heap praise on GIAF16 premiere Arlington [a love story]
Arlington: a strange and tender love story
Enda Walsh's new play Arlington [a love story], which premiered at GIAF16 in a co-production between Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival, has received rave reviews from critics. The play stars award-winning actor Charlie Murphy (who nabbed two awards for her portrayal in gritty drama Love/Hate), award-winning actor and writer Hugh O’Conor, and Oona Doherty, whose mesmerising dance performance, a new element from Walsh, is choreographed by Emma Martin.
Both the deeply moving acting and the stunning production values were admired, with The Stage praising the story as a “tremendous exploration of the transcending of circumstance” along with Oona Doherty’s dance piece as ‘visceral ... beautifully stylised study of compassion and conditioning in the modern world.”
'Dance, art and poetry explode in Enda Walsh’s brave new world.'
RTE Arena also commended Doherty’s performance, hailing her as “absolutely mesmerizing – extraordinary physical dance performance.”
'Dance, art and poetry explode in Enda Walsh’s brave new world', theatre critic Michael Billington writes in The Guardian. 'It's '...a new form of comprehensive, category-defying theatre.’
The Sunday Independent praised the set design, which was especially created for Leisureland by Jamie Vartan, (he previously worked on theatre design for Ballyturk and Misterman). It’s “an unsettling parody of bureaucratic waiting spaces”, while the lighting and music score “make the creative backing for a seriously impressive and intelligent piece of theatre.”
Arlington [a love story] continues to run until 24 July.
