Building Up Momentum: Hot Press looks ahead to the 14th International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival

“How do you find love?” muses Liza Michael of Dublin-based Momentum Acting Studio, speaking in a strong French accent. “What is it about love that makes us go through so much effort and struggle? Is it worth it, and are we ready to go the whole way through?”
She is not finished...

“Is there an end to love?” she adds. “Is it something endless that we can search for eternally? Can we go beyond our limitation, can love make us go beyond what society would condemn?”

These are just some of the questions posed in Momentum’s triple bill The Possible, Strange Fruit, The Morning After (respectively concerning a wedding, an affair and a one-night stand), which will be staged during the 14th International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival.

The Possible and Strange Fruit are short plays by Detroit-born playwright and film director Neil LaBute; The Morning After, meanwhile, is a scene from American stand-up Louis CK’s short-lived web series Horace & Pete. Momentum Acting Studios was formed three years ago by Liza and Irish actor Robbie Byrne.

“I’m French and Robbie is Irish,” explains Liza. “He left the country because he wanted to find a teacher who would help him further with his acting, and along the way we bumped into an approach called the Meisner technique.

“Robbie thought it would be a good idea to bring it back to Dublin, because there was no one using that technique, and treats acting like a craft. It’s not about talent, it’s about work, and doing some tasks, and getting some skills – it’s something that can be learned. So you don’t rely on talent, you rely on something that you can do.”

LaBute is always a hoot, but the Louis CK scene is an unusual choice. Indeed, this will be the first time it has ever been presented on a stage.

“We’ve been fans of Louis CK for a long time,” she explains. “He started that web series that he completely funded himself – he directed, wrote and starred in it, and also called his buddies in to work on it. You know the TV series Cheers? It’s that, but it’s the counter-balance of Cheers. Alan Alda is in it, and other great actors.

“I think after the tenth episode, he had to stop, because it cost him too much money. He was the only one funding it, so it wasn’t possible to continue.”

It took quite a lot of effort for Momentum to get permission to stage the Horace & Pete scene theatrically. “It wasn’t easy to track Louis CK down,” she sighs. “We went through a lot of people, but eventually we managed to get in contact with his manager. It was the period of the Oscars, so everyone was super-busy. Then the lawyers got involved. I imagine that they had to make sure that there was no problem, but eventually we received an email letting us know that Louis CK was okay with us doing it.”

Directed by Liza and Robbie, the three plays feature a cast of six – Cherley Kane, Laura Thompson, Sophie Campbell, Barry McBrien, Padraic McGinley and Wayne Davis. The actors’ ages range from 32 to 63.

All of them are using the Meisner technique. “When we set this up, we wanted to have a place where actors can keep on nurturing their abilities,” says Liza, “just like a footballer would not be picked if he was not training on a regular basis. It’s the same thing. Actors, we’re not working all the time, that’s the economy of our profession, but we need to have our skills ready.

“Going into production was the next logical step. Because we wanted to say to actors, ‘Yeah, keep training, don’t wait for people to call you, train so you’re always ready’. You work on your own projects, you develop your own projects. So some people started doing that, and we were like, ‘Okay, let’s go into production now’.”

The three plays have a combined run-time of 70 minutes, and will be staged in The Players Theatre in Trinity College from May 1 to May 6. “I would say the link between the three of them is that type of humour that’s based in reality and common sense,” observes Liza. “There’s something very grounded in Louis C.K.’s humour, it’s very witty, but it’s making light of uncomfortable situations that we can all relate to.

“For me, LaBute is also in that vein. He’s not afraid to go into situations that we immediately identify with emotionally, but that we would love to get away from sometimes. He’s in your face, he puts us in a situation where you’re like, ‘Oh, my God!’ and we’re obliged to laugh at our own limitations. It’s a way to open debates and questions. Because for us, theatre is really about human beings and the struggle of being human.”

The production runs nightly at 7.30pm in The Players Theatre, TCD, from May 1-6, with Monday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. For further details visit gaytheatre.ie