A bit about the play

The doors are locked, the lights are down, and there is a low thrum of what seems to be poorly remixed dance versions of traditional Irish music. And then Jake and Naomi appear, two Republicans from Dublin who have come to perform an act of absurd terrorism on the British theatre-going public. Fueled by a deep-seated anger at Britain's colonial legacy in Ireland, and racked by the grief of a loss, they set out to express themselves in the language they know best: Straight-up hardcore Republicanism. This is their lexicon and their means of articulation. It also worryingly means they occasionally drift into the territory of eccentric alt-right conspiracy theories. But their heart is in the right place (I think... ?). The play follows Jake and Naomi as their paths and beliefs diverge, and their relationship begins to strain.

Created and directed by Seán Butler, The Spectacular is an absurd experiment in the performance of (Irish)nationalism and an interrogation of how to engage with contentious history when the descendants of colonised and coloniser, are in the room. There’s also craic, a sprinkle of history, and worryingly intense gabber.

Performances will take place from 12-16th of November in Camden People's Theatre. 

How Can you Help us? 

We're raising funds to help with three main aspects of our production:

• Paying our creatives - We're currently working on a DIY basis and have very little funding to work with but we firmly believe in paying people for their work. Our team consists of a two performers, a producer, a sound designer and composer, a lighting designer, as well as a writer/director. The majority of the money from this campaign will go to paying part of our creatives' fees, topping them up to industry standard ITC rates. 
   
• Paying for Public Liability Insurance - To stage any kind of theatre production with the public involved, you need insurance. For one performance, that will cost us between £200-250 

• Paying for Rehearsal Space - We're quite lucky in that we can avail of some free rehearsal space as part of our commission with Camden People Theatre. However, with schedules and the number of rehearsals we need, this can sometimes be hard to come by so we need a reserve fund for when we do need to pay. We've managed to wrangle some very good value space between £8-10 per hour. 

A Bit About Us

Hello! We're LightMovingCompany and we're led by writer & theatremaker Seán Butler. The company changes from project to project but their work always interrogates the structural hierarchies that our society is built on. Political disruption, absurdity, and Craic are the pillars of their work. Texts for performance are created in the room, out of the room, and through community collaboration. Seán studied Theatre Directing under Katie Mitchell in the UK and Germany for which he earned an MA. He has had work at EdFringe, INKFestival, Vaults, Scene & Heard Festival Dublin, The Space Theatre, Golden Goose Theatre, and Dublin Fringe. This is LightMovingCompany’s second show at CPT.

Full scale productions like this aren't cheap and we need all the help we can get and that's why we need you!

We're very aware that times are tough, so anything you can donate is greatly appreciated. If you can't afford to donate, shout about our show on your socials or invite your friends and family to the performances throughout the week of our show.