Scott’s clever use of video on stage

Mullingar Arts Centre production of Valley of the Squinting Windows, the Gaiety, Dublin

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More than 100 years after the public burning, denunciation and redaction of Brinsley MacNamara’s scandalous novel ‘The Valley of the Squinting Windows’, its stage adaptation played to sell-out audiences when it premièred in Mullingar earlier this month, and, last week, in the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin.

Michael Scott’s clever adaptation has brought the book into the 21st century with the use of video, making the play a hybrid of stage and film. A large video wall with live relays from a roving camera and three fixed cameras brought a new dimension to the production.

It allowed the audience to see up close the facial expressions and body movements of the actors and, with each actor miced, they could hear the dialogue clearly.

The old maxim of the actor having to face the audience at all times was redundant, which made for more natural, realistic performances.

It was a risky departure as there was the potential to confuse the audience, but once they settled into the idea of having a roving camera on stage almost all the time, they began to appreciate the performance from the two vantage points. By embarking on this form of theatre, combining stage and film, Scott may have introduced a new beginning to the stage.

Another unique feature of the performance was the stepdown stage and members of the cast constantly watching from the wings – people watching people watching people watching people, an apt evocation of the original novel.

This busy production with its large cast gives a new generation of actors valuable experience of sharing the Gaiety stage with seasoned adult actors. A musical underscore by the 18th century composer John Field rounds off the production.

The show is almost three hours long, but the action moves swiftly, particularly in the second half as the story reaches its crescendo, with the help of the many layers of the multi-faceted production always pushing the pace with dramatic effect.

After the opening night in the Gaiety (Tuesday of last week), Michael Scott announced that dates for further shows in 2024 will be revealed in the not too distant future.