Dream dimensions in LemonSoap’s new production

Elena McCrory talks to Ultan Pringle and Julia Appleby about It Is Good We Are Dreaming at the New Theatre

Sibling relationships, mothers talking through walls, Irish mythology, and Just Dance on the Wii are just snippets of what to expect in the new Lemon Soap production, It Is Good We Are Dreaming. Playwright Ultan Pringle and Director Julia Appleby talk about their whimsical play that will marry both family intimacy and indifference on stage. 

Showing in the New Theatre in Temple Bar, tickets are €20 for students, excluding the discount code! The performance examines a conversation between estranged brother and sister, harmoniously consolidating nostalgia for the past and the present day. They discuss what has been happening around them in a vivid portrayal of youth attempting to understand the world we live in. Fionn and Fiadh, both with Irish/Gaelic inspired names, set the stage as they reminisce their childhoods, their love lives, the man “made of rock” that their mother fell in love with, and the ambiguous end of the world. 

“As this voice echoes tales of our most well-known Irish myths – one might begin to wonder what is real and what is not as the play poses questions of physical presence through its characters, their thoughts, and their speech. “

Fionnula Murphy plays the voice of the mother spoken through the physical walls featured in the play, but never appearing in person. An interesting concept which, much like the exploration of the end of the world, introduces the idea of otherworldly dimensions. As this voice echoes tales of our most well-known Irish myths – one might begin to wonder what is real and what is not as the play poses questions of physical presence through its characters, their thoughts, and their speech. 

Running from May 31 to June 11, this performance, while extremely modern, will touch on what many young people have been and continue to struggle with in today’s Dublin. Fiadh and Fionn, almost 10 years apart in age, sift through the universal fears of ageing, growing up, starting families, and their own intertwining worries. Intersecting these are new issues: the impossible conditions of living in Dublin, the fear of violent current affairs taking place in the world, and how to live with these fears without one’s mental health imploding. 

Joining Pringle and Appleby are Owen Clarke, Eimear Hussey, HK Ní Shioradáin, Lora Harton, Lisa Nally, Allie Whelan, Laoise Murray, and Luke Dalton. The positive working relationship within the team is reiterated by the pair, and surely resulting in something truly beautiful on stage. Perhaps the worldly consciousness of this production is down to the team that is LemonSoap productions, a group of young artists who recently graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, and their focus on stories of depth, imagination and character. Supported by DU Players, Pringle and Appleby discuss the society’s presence in their student lives as monumental. 

The playful nature of the production poster caught my attention, featuring a limp toy that Abbleby explains is inspired by the Nutcracker, dangling loosely from its handheld strings. Puppeteering, I am told, is not a concept that they brought directly into the performance, but perhaps the childlike innocence of toys is indulged in it. After all, the play addresses serious societal problems like climate change, reminding us that while the environment is a deeply embedded problem far from reconciliation, we live alongside it, oblivious to its very real and looming agenda.

“Inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poem of similar name, It Is Good We Are Dreaming is sure to combine the ever-present worries of a young generation with a wonderful liveliness inspired by our country’s most famous stories.”

Inspired by Emily Dickinson’s poem of similar name, It Is Good We Are Dreaming is sure to combine the ever-present worries of a young generation with a wonderful liveliness inspired by our country’s most famous stories. In her poem, Dickinson favours the world of dreams over the painful reality of the waking world, and while we will see something similar in the production, the LeomonSoap team reveals perspectives on how to actually live in it. 

Elena McCrory

Elena Mc Crory is current Arts and Culture Editor alongside Oona Kauppi and a Senior Sophister in History of Art and Architecture. Elena previously served as Deputy Arts and Culture Editor before being appointed Editor.