Nude dancers explore delight and futility of human existence

 Nudity and explicit scenes feature in The Work The Work, a modern Irish dance show being staged this weekend at Druid Theatre as part of the Galway Dance Days festival and conference.

The Work The Work, which is performed by artists Emma Fitzgerald and Áine Stapleton, debates the interplay of identity, gender, power and capitalism within contemporary Irish and western culture. It was named as Time Out New York Critics’ Pick when it was performed in the Big Apple in 2010, having been commissioned by the Queens based theatre, The Chocolate Factory.

In The Work The Work the performers’ delight in the details of human existence struggles with their conviction of its futility.

That is demonstrated by a disembodied Question and Answer session that can be heard in one scene featuring Stapleton. “Why is your life so boring?” “Because I make it that way.” “But you could change it if you wanted to...” “I’m sure I could but it would be a lot of effort.”

Language and film are used equally in their work, with snippets of text messages and family photos giving an intimate biographical touch – a bit like peeking at someone’s personal journal.

A defining characteristic is that in all their works so far, they appear naked. That method of working takes the audience on an unusual journey because when they are confronted by two young naked females, they have to face their own attitudes, prejudices and concerns. In the process they become more than spectators.

Fitzgerald’s and Stapleton’s dance performances have been praised by The New York Times and Time Out in New York. The New York Times described this piece as “strange and strong . . . intense, humorous and enigmatic”.

For The Sunday Times it was “cutting-edge theatre”, while that newspaper’s Culture magazine listed Áine Stapleton among Ireland’s 30 most influential artists under 30 in 2011.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.