Aliens
Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin 8
★★★☆☆
Aliens, a new piece of documentary theatre from Curious Industries, begins with a curious problem. Two brothers, descendants of Italian immigrants to Northern Ireland and heirs to the Morelli Ice Cream dynasty, have different accents. One speaks like an Italian, the other with a distinctly northern brogue. How can two people who share so much become so alien to one another?
To answer this question and explore the effects of migration and inheritance on personal identity, Alessandra Celesia and Marta McIlduff (also mother and daughter offstage) set out on a poignant and highly dysfunctional road trip, tracing the history of Italian immigrants in Northern Ireland while interrogating their own experience as transplants.
The journey takes the pair from Co Donegal, where they linger near the grave of an Italian named Ernest and wonder how he lost the “O” from the end of his name (stolen by an adjacent O’Doherty plot, they suspect), to a village luring back former residents from Belfast’s Little Italy. A stop in Calais shows that displacement can mean the loss of more than just a vowel.
The play takes the form of documentary footage, reconstructed interviews and fraught filial conversations, woven together by director Emily Mitton.
The Revenger’s Tragedy, at Dublin Fringe, puts a drill music spin on a 17th-century thriller
Itch, at Dublin Fringe, is an honest, eye-opening account of the stress that accompanies a lifelong condition
Train Man, at Dublin Fringe, is a funny, endearing show – even if its star is still being upstaged
Diary of a Dublin Drag Diva, at Dublin Fringe: Is Davina Devine unguarded at last?
Aliens is about what we bring with us and what we would rather leave behind. But it’s mostly about a mother and daughter trying to make a play and come to terms with their relationship in the process. McIlduff says she would need counselling if they were to collaborate again, and the piece often feels like an extended therapy session.
Ideas abound in Aliens, as do theatrical devices (multilingual surtitles, fragmentary audiovisuals, live incidental music, even aerobic dancing). Although the two often compete rather than complement, this is an ambitious, memorable piece that treats familiar themes in new, even alien ways.
Continues at Smock Alley Theatre, as part of Dublin Fringe Festival, until Wednesday, September 10th
