Siren MUSIC the
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College Tribune | January 20th 2009
SOCIAL ENDEAVOUR OF THE FORTNIGHT
THEATRE
Buddah-Bag Dublin Located just behind the Jervis St. Shopping Centre, the Buddha-Bag shop is the perfect hide-out to go if you’re financially challenged, bored and happen to be on that side of the city. It’s a funky and comfy quarter which sells the infamous Buddha bags. For anyone unaware of the term, Buddha bags are like bean bags only far more comfortable and unfortunately about five times the price. They range from one to eleven square metres of floor space and can anywhere between 100 to 950 Euros. If you happen to be in possession of extra cash, a Buddha bag is definitely worth the buy. Each one comes vacuum packed so when you take it home you have to let it sit for a while and watch it slowly grow, you also must massage your bag and flip it over every so often to achieve maximum comfort. Fortunately, for poor students like us, you don’t have to make a purchase to spend some time in this store. The staff are friendly and happy to let you sit around and chill in the extreme comfort zone for a while. The floor is littered with Buddha bags ranging in size and freshly massaged by the staff, just waiting for you to sit on them. However, a warning must be issued: once you experience the Buddha bag, you may be compelled to buy one.
KATIE GODWIN
A question of innocence Caitrina Cody blushed her way through a unique and unsettling performance of La Dispute at the Peacock Theatre First off, you should know that La Dispute is probably not a play that you should go to with your boyfriend’s parents, or your own parents, or for that matter anyone who is a bit of a prude. While an entertaining and skilful production, the short play has a few awkward moments for the audience, like when you’re at home watching television with your mother and suddenly the nice people in the film start going at it like rabbits. Based on a play by 18th century playwright Pierre de Marivaux, the description sounds promising - four orphans are reared in isolation and then released into a manmade Garden of Eden in order to find out who is more faithful in love, man or woman. It opens with a discussion between two aristocrats, played by Karen Ardiff and Bosco Hogan who are debating the foibles of men and women and which gender is more
treacherous to the other. It emerges that there is a way for this dilemma to be solved for once and for all, and the aristocrats retire to find out what happens when four naïve innocents are suddenly introduced to each other and allowed to express themselves sexually. And boy, do they express themselves. When boy (Barry Ward) meets girl (Kate Nic Chonaonaigh) for the first time, they are understandably excited and because they are innocents, they are not ashamed to show it. There is much running around and shrieking, clasping of hands, expressions of ardour and the odd hint of masturbation and oral sex thrown in for good measures. As the boy devotes himself, body and soul, to his female counterpart, she is overjoyed to find herself placed upon a pedestal and worshipped. So overjoyed that when she is introduced to another female orphan, sparks fly, as the
evil snakes of jealousy and pride begin to worm their way into the garden of paradise. The play is amusing and the young actors are brilliantly expressive but despite the drama’s intriguing premise, it remains relatively simplistic. It doesn’t so much as answer any questions as simply portray the questions in an amusing and controversial light and audiences will probably not go home particularly enlightened about the vagaries of men and women. However, that said, the play is a lot of fun and well worth seeing, as long as you discreetly pretend to ignore the obscene bits, by looking straight ahead of you and trying not to blush.
» La Dispute is showing everyday until the 7th of February at the Peacock Theatre, tickets are €15 for students.
BOOKS
Haphazardly humourous As You Do is the latest installment of Richard Hammond’s series of books. Some of you may know the author as the little guy from Top Gear, or the old presenter of Brainiac. This book however shows us what happens behind the scenes and delves into Richards’s life. Documenting his life following a 300mph accident which almost killed him, Hammond’s job description isn’t your average nine-to-five. Unlike his colleague Jeremy Clarkson, Hammond isn’t as loud mouth about his ideas. His comedy carries more finesse and makes for a unique way of telling his story.
Parts of which include his race to the North Pole, racing across the spine of Africa and meeting the legend Evel Kenievel before he died. As You Do is truly fantastic, offering an interesting read without being too opinionative. The book is based around one busy year full of stunts, vast journeys and the amusing situations that Hammond takes part in. His infinite amount of optimism, even when things are on the brink of fail-
AS YOU DO RICHARD HAMMOND
ure make for an amusing theme throughout. This book is therefore perfect for tackling the mid-semester blues, with its sporadic topics offering bizarre but always nice, light reading. The collection of random thoughts is told as we follow a man who is driven by the idea of being the hero through his different journeys around the world. If you want a book that will enlighten you and change your life, maybe give it a miss. However, the author does his job, by making you laugh and is always sincere in depicting an honest portrayal of the great time he has while doing it. MAX HARDING
The Beat goes on Written in the 1950’s, Bob Dylan claimed this autobiography ‘changed his life along with everyone else who has read it.’ So what is it about this novel that has labelled it the book that shaped a generation? The generation in question is the Beat Generation, a generation inspired by jazz, poetry and drugs. This is exactly what occupies Kerouac’s mind throughout his travels; sex, music, alcohol and the search for more. Written over a period of three weeks, Kerouac takes a spontaneous trip across 1950’s America armed with as little as fifty dollars and writing materials. The events in the book are inspired by those of real people, in particular Kerouac and his friend Neal Cassidy, who takes the name of Dean in the story with Kerouac taking the name Sal Paradise. As you immerse yourself in the book you come across what is a series of mini revelations as you accompany Sal, a young man with the ambition to find a greater truth
ON THE ROAD JACK KEROUAC
to life. We witness him falling in love, losing all sense of self and meeting people who all share one common philosophy; they have searched for something wider than materialism in their life. While reading this book during the rainy January days, On the Road will make the reader want to seize the day and live life, with its beat philosophy being held throughout, alongside the dream and romance of the road. On the Road is ultimately an explosion of precise creativity which still has not lost it appeal in this pro American age. HELEN O’SULLIVAN