Theatre is the heart and soul of making it in the film and music industry. Everyone starts from somewhere – that’s a fact. There’s a one-in-a-million chance you’re born into the industry. Another one-in-a-million chance you’re lucky enough to get your start early as a child actor. Then there are the outliers – ordinary people who audition for talent showcases like X-Factor or Britain’s Got Talent. These are all small pathways to making it in show business. But most of everyone starts off small, trapped in the four paper walls of their Performing Arts classroom. Here’s where Tuesday comes in.
The National Theatre’s Connections Festival is such an important event. It seeks to highlight the talents and capabilities of young and budding actors. It also encourages teamwork and community amongst the youth, beckoning them to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Connections also brings exposure to hidden gem playwrights looking for their next big break. But more importantly, it gives a space and a chance for students to freely explore their creative talents outside the mundane confines of the classroom.
One of the schools involved in this year’s festival is Saint Patrick’s College Ballymena. Partnered with the Lyric Theatre in Belfast; they seek to capitalize on the relevance of multiverses and parallel versions of the self in this creative rendition of Alison Carr’s Tuesday. It’s a daring challenge that also leaves plenty of room for out-of-the-box thinking and imaginations to run wild. It all begins one boring Tuesday, when something shifts in the school atmosphere. All of a sudden, people start dropping from the sky. New individuals, old classmates, dead siblings—all the works. This performance is heralded by director Sarah Irvine and producer Nicola McNamee.
Rather than focusing on the spectacular phenomenon of multiverses, Tuesday explores character dynamics and the question of identity. The debate of who you are and whether or not you’re a good person is a point McNamee seeks to highlight. It’s less about the spectacle of all these different worlds colliding. Tuesday is more so about what the differences say about an individual. The couple that exhibits this theme the most is Cam and Mac. Their growth and development throughout the play really emphasizes the small exchange of: “I don’t really like who I am,” and “I don’t think we’re really meant to, not yet”.
One of the things I really appreciate in Tuesday are the subtleties. The differences in school ties, the small little details added to the script to highlight personality traits, and how in-sync the actors are. I do believe there are some things that might further enhance the experience. Like personalizing the uniforms a little bit more to reflect each character’s personality – from unkempt to the neat, slim ties to fat ties to no ties, thick make-up to no make-up at all, or how someone chooses to wear their hair.
Production wise, I love the curtain being a placeholder for the rip. The color-changing lights add dimension to the whole multiverse clashing. However, these lights maintaining throughout the entirety of the play – from even before the rip to after everything is resolved – makes it feel like there’s no difference between the three states of before, during and after. Still, simplicity is often better than over-extravagance. And there’s none more simple than a plain black backdrop which works extremely well in keeping the focus on the characters and their story.
Overall, Tuesday is fun and contemplative. It’s no Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse or Everything, Everywhere All at Once. But the idea, the core of it, and the themes all remain the same. About time and space rips, worlds colliding, and correcting the wrongs that can damage the very fabric of the universe. Of who you are and who you want to be, and what could’ve been had circumstances been different for you and someone else.
That’s our thoughts on Tuesday by Alison Carr, performed at Saint Patrick’s College Ballymena. Did you go and see it for yourself? Or are you hoping to see it live at the National Theatre this summer? Tell us what else are you looking forward to watching at the Connections Festival on our Instagram or Twitter! Don’t forget to stop by and checkout our previous article, Olympian And Commonwealth Games Gold Medalist Sarah Pavan On The Transition From Indoor Volleyball To Beach Volleyball.
