It has the power to last for a thousand years, but is often only used once. It is cheap to produce but expensive to dispose of. It has revolutionised the world of medicine and science, making it impossible to live without. Polyethylene Terephthalate, High-Density Polyethylene, Low-Density Polyethylene and Polyvinyl Chloride.
What is it? Why do we use it? Where does it go?
Mould Into Shape is a new sound-based performance which will premiere in the Dublin Fringe Festival this September. The listener is invited to hop on board a travelling soundscape of Dublin’s coast to unearth our national relationship to the material of plastic.
Mould Into Shape has been devised over a two month period working with abstract sounds, conversations and collected interviews. Our aim is to create a tapestry of opinion, melting together the thoughts of nature specialists, politicians, civil servants, plastic researchers, children, cosmetic surgeons, waste disposers, commuters, etc. to create a poignant and honest insight into how the material has gradually become an integral part of modern life over the last sixty years.
The genesis of the project came about as a result of conversations between myself and my collaborator Shanna May Breen in 2018, while taking part in the Next Stage Programme as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival in partnership with Theatre Forum. At this time, we were seeing a large volume of international productions and engaging in conversations with colleagues around what our values were as global citizens – how we interpreted the world, and what art could do to engage with the climate crisis.
We became really interested in the material of plastic, and the sheer scale of consumption going on in the world at the moment, particularly closer to home here in Ireland.
We had the idea to create a meditation on action, to weave together multiple opinions rather than to yell our own. Shanna and I thought a lot about the idea of a pilgrimage, and how people go on seismic journeys all the time for religious or spiritual reasons, and began to imagine what it would be like to take a pilgrimage through sound, in honour of a material that has a complex and layered history, and which now occupies so much space in our life.
Myself and Shanna May Breen are not from Dublin. I am from a small town called Lanesborough (just on the River Shannon) in Co. Longford, while Shanna hails from Birr in Co. Offaly. As two rural artists occupying space in the urban landscape of Dublin, we thought a lot about what it would be like bringing the audience outside of the city to a site that is directly affected by the material.
As part of Mould Into Shape, we want to take people on a shared experience of individual listening. Expect some heartfelt truths, an actual journey, possibly some rain and most importantly a topic that can’t be neglected for much longer.
Mould Into Shape
by Luke Casserly and Shanna May Breen
Presented as part of Dublin Fringe Festival, 2019
Meeting point @ Science Gallery, Dublin
21 September 12:15, 15:00, 18:30
22 September 11:00, 14:45, 18:25
Duration: 135 mins, with part of the performance taking place outdoors.
Tickets €16/14 (concession)
More information on booking: https://www.fringefest.com/festival/whats-on/mould-into-shape
Team Details:
Created by: Luke Casserly and Shanna May Breen
Produced by: Richie O’Sullivan
A co-commission by Dublin Fringe Festival and Science Gallery, Dublin. Supported by Pan Pan Platform at Dublin Fringe Festival in partnership with AOB Arts Management. Initially developed as part of the Next Stage Programme as part of Dublin Theatre Festival 2018.
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