The Olympia Theatre’s live broadcast production of Beckett’s Happy Days, hauntingly relevant to an audience still suffering the effects of a pandemic, was brought to screens across the world running live from Saturday 30th January to Monday 1st February 2021. This medium gave a presentness to the play that resonated with the audience, and gave even more significance to Siobhán McSweeney’s performance, as Winnie’s loneliness becomes allegorical for the isolation so many have felt as a result of COVID-19.
Deciding for the play to be broadcast live from the centre of Dublin wasn’t the original plan - in the words of John Johnston, General Manager of The Olympia Theatre, ‘initially...Happy Days was set to be performed in front of a reduced audience...but given the current restrictions we are unable to open our doors to the public.’ However, this style of depicting theatre became instrumental in connecting with an audience dealing with lockdown the world over. By creating actual distance between the isolated absurdist protagonist and a similarly isolated audience facing what Time reports to be ‘a national existential crisis’, we are moved to feel empathy for the symbolic importance of Winnie’s physical, and emotional isolation. Our own loneliness, as we face further months unable to see loved ones, is reflected in Winnie’s despairing ‘if only I could bear to be alone’, and thus unites us with her, perhaps even more so than from the front row.
The status of the broadcast as live is incredibly valuable. While the advantages of recorded theatre have - particularly over the last ten months - proved numerous, it can also feel laborious and distant. Pandemic fatigue has meant that the ability to press pause often robs theatre of a sense of urgency which constructs a relationship between the audience and the stage. In this production of Happy Days, the audience were fully drawn in, and given the familiar ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ feeling that has been missing from recorded plays.
Designed by Jamie Vartan, the set was powerful in triggering our own introspection. Desert sand mounded on the stage in ‘layers accumulating across time’ (Vartan) creates a sense that the passage of time is gradual but definite, as despite the apparent inertia of the play, as Winnie (McSweeney) meanders through a monologue and sees a ‘world without end’ around her, she becomes more and more buried across the two acts. Audience members recognise this sense of time ebbing and flowing in a concertinaed effect as we approach the anniversary of the first lockdown in Ireland. The tidal sand which envelopes Winnie encircles much like the threat of coronavirus, and keeps her firmly immobilised centre stage.
Paul Keoghan’s light design is no exception to the parallels between the surreal nature of the life we live at the moment and the absurdist nature of the play. The intensity of the sunshine which causes Winnie discomfort and anxiety seems to parallel the intensity of the cold snap that has been freezing Ireland over for the last few weeks. This, paired with Winnie’s endless routines conveying intensity and monotony, as she focuses on grooming herself in Act One, adds to the relevance of Beckett’s play, now more than ever, and actively communicates with our own predicaments in 2021.
Director Caitríona McLaughlin has been successful in creating a sense of the importance of theatre, as her production triggers intense introspection in an audience reflecting on a difficult year. However, we are also reminded of our position of privilege as theatre-goers, as we enjoy the ‘a real feeling of what live theatre is capable of, even in the most difficult of circumstances’ (Johnston). Left for the audience is an admiration of what producer Anne Clarke refers to as ‘Winnie’s endurance, and resilience, and sheer defiance against impossible odds’, and a gratitude for our own fortune and ability to, even just for a few hours, escape the sands that try to bury us.
See 'Happy Days' live from Dublin's The Olympia Theatre from Saturday 30th Jan - Monday 1st Feb 2021. Tickets available from their website: http://www.olympia.ie/whats-on/happy-days
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