Written by 1:06 pm bash: latterday plays, Devious News

A Gaggle Of Saints

Amy Dunne plays Sue in A Gaggle Of Saints. Here she talks about the challenges of a duologue and her love of LaBute.

I had always hoped Devious would to a Neil LaBute play. I read The Shape of Things about seven years ago and so began my love for this playwright. I made it a mission to read as much of his work as possible.  I think Bash is a brave and bold choice for Devious.  We really haven’t done anything like this before so I’m looking forward to seeing how regular theatre goers and Devious fans respond to this production.  It may not be everyone’s cup of tea but I think it’s important we keep growing as a company by challenging ourselves with different material.

We had six weeks to prepare for this production and now it opens in 6 days. Time has flown by incredibly fast  so I’m a bundle of nerves this week but I know things will all fall into place. Initially, I thought myself and Ken would sail through the duologue. But I have come to learn that duologues are quite tough. I recently performed a monologue for a radio play and I always knew I could backtrack if I skipped some lines or lost my way, I only had to take responsibility for myself. I suppose the challenging thing about duologues is that you have to know the other person’s lines as well as your own so that you can deliver your lines on cue.  And God forbid, but If I skip a few lines, or miss a cue during the performance it will effect Ken so there is pressure to be on top on your game for the entire piece. We can’t afford to switch off for a second.  So, myself and Ken are working hard at the moment, trying to drum those lines into our heads like there’s no tomorrow.

I think there are many layers to the characters of John and Sue. They appear one way, but subtle hints suggest all is not what it seems.  There are tense moments in the piece and I’m looking forward to telling the audience our story.  It’s been great working with Ken. The last time we were paired together was for Judith and Brian in Monty Python’s Life of Brian almost 12 years ago. So It will be nice to play a couple on stage again. Except this time, there will definitely be no singing. But perhaps, some whistling…

Amy Dunne performs A Gaggle Of Saints with Ken McGuire in bash: latterday plays by Neil LaBute from October 17th – 22nd in Cleere’s Theatre, Kilkenny. Buy tickets online here.

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