WAKE
- Peter Ruddick
- Apr 18
- 2 min read
Jennifer Jennings, Phillip McMahon, Niall Sweeney and Carys D Coburn, Alma Kelliher
THISISPOPBABY
Aviva Studios, Manchester
April 17-21, 2025; 1hr 35min
Some shows need to be experienced to be truly understood.
The publicity material for WAKE describes the theatrical offering as a "variety phenomenon", which "remixes traditions" in a night of "aerial artistry, tap, cabaret, slam poetry, pole dancing and more".
On one hand, of course, this is totally accurate. On the other, it doesn't fully encapsulate the thoughtful, joyous, life-affirming riot that is THISISPOPBABY’s creation.
After two sold-out runs in Dublin, the acclaimed Irish theatre company has brought WAKE to Manchester’s Aviva Studios for a handful of shows over the Easter weekend. Something so spectacular should really be on for much longer.
Factory International's North Warehouse is once again transformed: a circus ring-style performance space, and a tiered stage behind, are stunningly lit and flanked with seating on three sides. As the audience gathers, smoke fills the auditorium and a talented Irish folk quartet helps build the atmosphere with a traditional, and familiar, rhythm.
But the familiarity doesn't last. When a mournful fiddle lament transitions into a raucous routine from a triskelion-clad breakdancer from the Dominican Republic (Cristian Dirocie), it is clear that this is going to a pretty unique event.
It falls to poet FELISPEAKS to welcome everyone to the WAKE. A wake, she says, for "everything that’s never coming back"; a place to feel sad, but also to be prepared to feel something else. It’s a stunning monologue that perfectly sets the tone for the 90 minutes or so of cabaret that follows.
As with grief, the mood shifts instantly from anguish to euphoria. At each transition the style also switches. There’s Irish dancing in Lycra; gorgeous acapella singing; extraordinary acrobatics; beatboxing; pole work; a stumbling and drunken mourner turned stripper, plus a gate-crashing English cousin in a shell suit who gets the audience on their feet for his DJ-ing debut. The result of it all is a mania that is utterly infectious.
Some performances are particularly standout: Emer Dineen’s performance of the Cranberries' classic Ode To My Family, as the ensemble effortlessly moves into complex shapes in an interpretive dance routine, will live long in the memory.
American Irish dancer Michael Roberson is simply outstanding. Not many people could rock gold briefs underneath a hurling kit. His routine with Philip Connaughton is bonkers but genius - tapping away, heads in giant balloons.
As the night draws to a close, FELISPEAKS performs another hauntingly perfect poem. Pain is fast and grief is slow, she explains. So be sad, but loosen your grip, she suggests. Anyone who has experienced loss will find the words pitch-perfect.
WAKE is an indescribable night of epic performance but, more than that, it should be available on prescription for anyone who is grieving.
More info and tickets here
