sashinka | observation orientated, with a twist of lime | a blog

Last night I saw The Clearing at The Tricycle. Helen Edmunson's play does an incredible job of contemporising (if that's a word) the issues of seventeenth century Ireland. There's a real timelessness to the debate about land and ethnicity, and who feels passionately about something and who just wants to save their skin. It's the first time I've been to the theatre and cried: Aislín McGuckin is a powerful Maddie, and her performance resonates with the anguish of historical displacement of any era. When "they" knocked on the door, I was transported to turn of the century Romania, where my great grandparents were ethnically cleansed in a pogrom.

It is a little bit The Crucible, but it's powerful acting, a contemporary script, and a timeless tale. I know the Guardian reviewed it well (but luckily can't google it, which is good, as they likened it to the "current Palestinian crisis" and I could feel S bristling for the whole of the second half).

Aside from loving the whole space, yeah, man, I ran into an actress friend who's there in August, and my (famous) neighbour who was very friendly. Unfortunately, I still can't remember his name.