Rob Grant of Stomptown Brass writes for Culture about their acclaimed project Requiem for the Truth, which returns to Dublin for a pair of eagerly anticipated performances this weekend.
Requiem for the Truth is a weird, daring, and unique concept-show.
The concept? To host a funeral for our dear and fallen friend, the Truth.
How do you do that, you ask?
Easy. You get one of Ireland’s most interesting street-funk brass bands - Stomptown Brass – and you put them in a room with Ireland’s most exciting young theatre company – Collapsing Horse. You lock the door for 24 hours and supply only bread and water at 6-hour intervals until they have devised a show that is both thought-provoking and entertaining.
What we ended up with is a dark, loud, thoughtful, funny and funky musical-theatre experience that is unlike anything you will ever see in a church in Ireland or elsewhere.
It is half mass, half street party, and full of chaotic energy.
The show draws on the colourful exuberance of the Haitian-Voodoo-inspired New Orleans Jazz funeral and combines it with the mournful, solemn ceremony of Roman Catholicism. A match made in heaven.
In both of these traditions there is space to mourn and grieve our loss through ceremony and ritual. And by coming together in a physical space we can comfort each other and share in our sadness, our memories.
But there is also a sense in which death is not the end, but instead, it is a point of transition from one form to another. From the earthly to the spiritual. The funeral ceremony then becomes not just about mourning, but also about celebrating the transition to the next stage of existence.
For this, we go outside: bringing the party from inside the church to the streets of Dublin.
In exploring the death of truth, we turn to the philosophical musings of the great philosophers, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Friedrich Nietzsche.
"What is truth, but a lie agreed upon" – OK, sure, Nietzsche, whatever man.
The show is both life-affirming and other-worldly. It’s an extravagant street-party, with a dark twist.
Each night we welcome a guest to deliver the eulogy. We are excited to welcome Una Mullally (journalist/broadcaster with The Irish Times) and Sean Flanagan (from Foil, Arms & Hog).
So far we have had a wonderful array of talented and fascinating appearances, including: Stephen James Smith (poet), Sonya Kelly (writer), The Viper (comedian), Jack Gleeson (Game of Thrones), Cormac Mohally (Lords of Strut) and many others.
It has already run for 4 sold out nights in Dublin’s Fringe Festival 2017, and has recently toured in NO Fest in Norway (given 5 starts by the Bergen Times), Imagine Festival, and another 2-night sell out at the Cork Jazz Festival!
Requiem For The Truth is at The Pepper Canister, Dublin on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th November - find out more (and get tickets) here.
