The Holding Bones
Tuesday 12 November 2024
| Tuesday 12 November
8pm |
Book Now |
A meditation on family, memory, loss and the inevitability of death.
A new original piece from Púca for adults The Holding Bones is a fitting celebration of Samhain, All Soul’s and The Day of the Dead.
At this time of year, they say, the veil between our world and the next is at its thinnest. Once we would have set an extra place at the table, left the door unlocked and lit a candle for each of our loved lost kin at Halloween and remembered our “dearly departed” throughout the month of November.
In this new show, Niamh Lawlor, veteran performer from Púca for nearly 30 years, counts her ancestors on her very bones and brings them back to life on stage. Vital theatrical storytelling invites you to meditate on family, memory and rituals of grieving and how to embrace the bitter sweet turns of the cycle of life.
This will be among the opening performances of a very personal yet universal show that has been crafted over several years, assisted by support from The Arts Council, DLRCOCo and the Civic Theatre where a work in progress was well received by test audiences who said:
‘Compelling…dancing with life and death and the shadows… Massive round of applause’
‘What a beautiful piece…it came from the heart and touched my heart… it hit all the senses’
‘just beautiful...cathartic, profound but also soothing’
‘Outstanding show, brought back so many memories, very emotional, laughed and cried, great’
‘We were captivated by the highly atmospheric mood created by The Holding Bones. The play’s interaction with belief and mythos, reporting dreams and urban tales, builds an ethereal and expressionistic sensibility, with the workshop-like setting allowing the themes of togetherness and being remade to feel present and powerful. The specific characters of the piece – Uncle Cyril, Aunty Barnie, the father – are conjured via thoroughly enjoyable details, the writing evoking both their simple and extraordinary natures, as well as their importance’
Abbey Theatre New Work Associate Rían Smith
