Herald Archangel
Based on the novel by Jim Crace
Adapted and Directed by Ben Harrison
4th – 23rd July 2005, The Old City Morgue, Cork
9th – 28th August 2005, Debenhams department store, Princes Street, Edinburgh
A co-production between Grid Iron and Cork 2005, commissioned as part of Corcadorca’s Relocation, the main theatrical event of Cork 2005 European Capital of Culture. Premiered in Cork before transferring to Edinburgh Festival Fringe as part of the Traverse Theatre programme.
AWARDS
“Someone has taken off-and lost-the label on the can. We should all have a can like this. Let it rust. Let the rims turn rough and brown. Lift it up and shake it if you want. Shake its sweetness or its bitterness. Agitate the juicy heaviness within. The gravy heaviness. The brine, the soup, the oil, the sauce. The heaviness. The choice is wounding it with knives, or never touching it again.”
Jim Crace, The Devil’s Larder
Grid Iron were commissioned by Cork 2005 European Capital of Culture to create a brand new production as part of the city’s year long cultural celebration.
They were part of Relocation, one of the largest, most ambitious and most high-profile projects of the Cork 2005 programme. Relocation was the brainchild of Cork based theatre company Corcadorca and involved four of Europe’s most prolific site-specific companies, Teatr Buiro Podrozy (Poland), Jo Bithume (France), Corcadorca (Ireland) and Grid Iron (Scotland). The Devil’s Larder brought Relocation to a close before transferring to Edinburgh for the Festival Fringe.
The Devil’s Larder saw Grid Iron returning to one of their favourite subjects, the impact of food on human society. A promenade production, it wove a sinuous and treacherous path from narrative episode to story-telling, from installation to song, with live music performed by David Paul Jones and award-winning harpist, Catriona McKay. Grid Iron examined how food can act as a catalyst for unleashing our fears, desires and taboos.
Jim Crace’s teasingly dark novella was the basis for a journey into a culinary underworld; an uncanny, uncomfortable examination of the envy, love, revenge, hypocrisy, loss and lust which seethe beneath the false calm of the menu, the shopping list and the recipe.
The Devil’s Larder brought together a fantastic creative team that included many of Grid Iron’s regular collaborators plus a number of Cork based practitioners and a Production Assistant on placement from Beirut in Lebanon. In the spirit of the umbrella project, Grid Iron ‘relocated’ to Cork for the entire rehearsal period of The Devil’s Larder, feeling it was important to fully make the show in the city whose cultural celebration it was part of and to enable us to include local artists in its creation. The company had a fantastic time in Cork and fully exploited the cultural (and social) benefits of the city. We made a great many good friends and retain strong professional links.
The Devil’s Larder. Feed your desires and abandon your restraint in a dark journey into the culinary underbelly.
Cast
Sarah Belcher
Ciarán Bermingham
Andrew Clark
Hilary O’Shaughnessy
Music written
and performed live by:
David Paul Jones & Catriona McKay
Production Team
Based on the novel by:
Jim Crace
Adapted & directed by:
Ben Harrison
Producer:
Judith Doherty
Assistant Director/Dramaturg:
Zoë Svendsen
Music written & performed by:
David Paul Jones & Catriona McKay
Music produced by:
David Paul Jones, Catriona McKay & Stevie Jones
Set Designer:
Cliff Dolliver
Set built by:
Cliff Dolliver, Davy Dummigan & Serge Vanden Berghe
Costume Designer:
Joan Hickson
Lighting Designer:
Paul Claydon
Production Manager:
Fiona Fraser
Technical Manager:
Paul Claydon
DSM:
Laura Edwards
ASM:
Amanda Ferriter
Sound Engineer:
Stevie Jones
Production Assistant:
Kholoud Nasser
Acting General Manager:
Deborah Crewe
Print Design:
Emma Quinn
Office Dog:
Hector
View Our Programme
To read more information about the show, including the Director’s Note and team biographies, have a look through our production programme.
Download our programme pdf here
Supporters
The production was kindly supported by the following…
Kholoud Nasser’s participation was made possible with the support of the Roberto Cimmetta Fund for artistic mobility in the Mediterranean.
Past Productions
The productions are listed in chronological order with the most recent first.