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OUTLANDISH October welcomes Outlandish Theatre’s
incredible new work to Dublin Theatre Festival. ‘Global Desires’ is a non-narrative and surreal new performance, wherein the ensemble look at desire as the theme of the piece, contrasting a desire for the amelioration of humanity, versus the desires we have as individuals, though the locus of Polina Cosgrave, a poet and performer desiring to bring about world peace through poetry. WORDS Adhamh O’Caoimh The group, founded on Open Theatre practice, provides a cooperative, participatory platform which invites participants from all disciplines, abilities and backgrounds to take part, and to develop new, exciting and unconventional theatrical work. With the announcement of this important new work garnering the well deserved recognition of being added to the already incredible Dublin Theatre Festival, we thought it a fine opportunity to speak to the people behind it. Neo Florence Gilson, a poet, performer and storyteller, who plays a ‘Watchman’ in the piece, along with Outlandish Theatre founders Maud Hendricks and Bernie O’Reilly, were good enough to forgive my tardiness for our interview, and spoke with me about ‘Global Desires’, Gorky, altruism and Art equals Health. This page, top: Neo, photo: Simon Roche Opposite page, top: Maud Hendricks and Bernie O’Reilly, photos: Killian Broderick Opposite page, bottom: A previous production of Global Desires, photo: Jose Miguel Jiménez Perhaps you’d like to tell us about what you do, and how you all came together for Global Desires? Maud Hendricks: We’ve worked with Neo for the past six or seven years, on different projects. Outlandish is a co-creative and participatory theatre platform, with the intention of making new work with people who ordinarily may not take part in the theatre industry. We make work in ways that might be different from a standard theatre process. We have an Open Theatre Practice, which means that quite literally, it’s open to anyone who’s interested in making new performance work. We do that every Wednesday night in the Coombe Hospital, where we have a residency. Can you explain that process a little? 42 Maud: Our way of making work is quite alternative in terms of its timeline, uses a methodology of co-creation, and is interdisciplinary. Our process takes over a year, up to two years. It means that we have a longer development period and offer alternative ways of connecting to performers. For example, working with Neo at a distance, we make it possible by travelling to her and making film work, or by connecting through Zoom, email, and other ways of communicating and making. This way we can offer opportunities to people, who might otherwise be disenfranchised from any platform in terms of theatre, to take part. And by platform you mean… Maud: Platform, because it creates the idea of inviting perspectives that might otherwise not be integrated into the development of new work, and a platform for the experimentation of those methodologies. We can test how we might create work that’s of a high standard, but that also allows for flexibility toward participation. Are there any other companies doing this kind of work? Maud: The people that we look up to the most are probably Back to Back Theatre in Geelong, Australia. They work with an ensemble of actors for two years to make incredible theatre art. We align with their ideology of advocacy for acknowledgment of all identities in their company and society, Can you tell me about the unconventional structure for ‘Global Desires’? Maud: We’re very much juxtaposing a desire for world peace against the individual every