17 February 2012 (Theatre Interview)

Words: Caomhan Keane

Improbable Frequency is a musical fantasia set during the Emergency. A young cryptographer is sent from the UK to Ireland in order to unravel codes that the British Intelligence service think are being sent from Nazi Germany by the IRA via Radio Eireann. This turns out NOT to be the case. The truth is much, much stranger. A Flann O'Brien-esque fantasy on what might have gone on between the poet John Betjeman, physicist Erwin Schrödinger who were both here during the war and Myles na gCopaleen, Flann O'Brien's alter ego, it swept the board at the 2005 Irish Times Theatre Awards winning Best Production, Direction and Costume Design. It's one of two Rough Magic productions being revived at the Gaiety Theatre over the next two months. The other is Neil Simon's Plaza Suite, directed by three graduates of the company's SEEDS programme. The company's Artistic Director Lynne Parker talks to Caomhan Keane about both.

Why is Improbable Frequancy being revived at this time?

One of the things we wanted to do was bring Improbable Frequancy in to the Gaiety as we have established now that we can preform very happily in that venue and this was a show that always appealed to a wider audience. This year Dublin is also the City of Science, a festival that is ongoing throughout the year engaging with the public as part of this big conference being held in June and they were very interested in Improbable Frequency as it has a very funny and entertaining way of introducing people to Science.

In recent years Rough Magic have really explored the role of music in a theatre production.

It's always been a feature in our work. Right from the beginning of Rough Magic, music played a big part in a lot of our shows. Not every show, and we still do a lot of straight drama. But it's something of an investigation. Both Phaedra and Peer Gynt were slightly different to Improbable Frequency because music was part of the strategy of the text where as with IF it is a musical in the more classic sense. It's not Oklahoma but there are actual numbers within it and musical comedy is its form.

What do you think about the state of the Irish musical?

IF was the first musical that had been done in Ireland for a very long time, certainly indigenous musicals. Then there were things like Haypenny Bridge and The Wire Men that were classical musicals and they used largely Irish casts. The pantos have used classic song and dance artists for decades. But when you are looking at more modern forms of the musical, what has happened is that actors are being brought in as singers while that might not be their profession. If you look at somebody like Anita Reeves, she has a fantastic voice. People like her have all those musical skills. They just haven't been called upon that often.

Should Plaza Suite and IF prove successful, are there any other Rough Magic shows you would like to bring to the Gaiety?

One of the things we are doing with the Gaiety is discovering how far we can go with the type of work we do there. From Copenhagen, to Don Carlos there are so many shows that had short and very successful runs in Project and then didn't go any further. With the times that are in it people are going to look at revivals more and more, because there are a lot of shows that you didn't get the full value out of because the runs were so short. It's not a bad time to be looking at successful work, even if it's not commercial work, in the sense of a revival because you know there is an audience there for it.

Plaza Suite has three directors, certainly not the normal way of approach to staging a show. How did it come about?

Plaza Suite is a wonderful and perfectly formed piece of writing. We were looking for something festive and joyous to do in The Pavilion last Summer. You are looking at something that is a rock solid play so I thought it would be very interesting to allow three young directors have a go at this type of work because normally what they would be doing is more experimental stuff in the Project. So it was a good experience for them to work on something where the text was so solid and finely tuned. And to work with very experienced actors and find out about that side of the industry.

How involved were you when you chose the three?

I was very involved in casting. I have relationships with all those actors. I've worked with them all before. I was keen that the casting would be as user friendly as possible. After that they collaborated very effectively in looking at the sets and how the production process would be managed. They agreed that there was a type of discipline to this kind of work. They were extraordinarily generous to each other, bringing a coherent vision to the whole thing.

You start 2012 with two revivals. What original work can we expect in 2012 from Rough Magic?

Almost immediately after the two revivals there is a world premiere of Morna Regan's play The Housekeeper, which is a Rough Magic commission. That will be in Project, in April. We're quite excited about that. It's an extremely strong script, a three hander set in New York which looks at the question of entitlement and inheritance in the grip of a recession. Which is a very contemporary piece.

Any long term plans?

We always have long term plans. We're just never sure if we can do any of them until we get our funding decision. Peer Gynt has been invited to the Ibsen Festival in Oslo but there are many things to be sorted out before we are able to take that up. And we are looking at possibilities for a number of our shows.

Improbable Frequency - Gaiety Theatre - 13 March 2012 - 24 March 2012

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