Why is it a monster? How does being a bigot affect you? What does it turn you into? Point to the monster on this page.
That’s the eerie and enticing description of Arínolá Theatre Company’s latest production, MONERE, of which a rehearsed reading will be taking place on Saturday 1 March in the Smock Alley Theatre as part of this year’s Scene + Heard Festival.
I sat down with Director Usher Titus to discuss the theatre group’s newest show, the inspiration behind it, and what it’s been like being involved with this year’s festival (and also what it’s like to direct a show written by your sister).
Usher, her sister Praise, and Tishé Fatunbi make up the core of Arínolá Theatre, forming the group whilst all studying in UCD and involved in Dramsoc. Usher is currently in her final year studying Classics, English and History, while Praise and Tishé have since graduated from Architecture and Psychology respectively.
The group have since performed ‘We Dance’ in Smock Alley in October 2023, and most recently ‘Ololufe’ as part of Dublin Fringe Festival. Their growth over the past few years has been significant, and in the words of Usher, “It's gone from being three girlies chatting on Facebook Messenger, throwing ideas at each other, to this thing where we're actually putting out work and like people are coming to us and saying, ‘hey we want to do this thing with you, is this possible?’”
MONERE follows a therapist, played by Tishé Fatunbi and her four clients, multi-rolled by Faith Olasogba, and how “even though they’re wildly different, they all have their own perspectives towards life and how they view things, and they’re all interwoven.”
‘Gemma’ is a 50-year-old White, upper-middle-class lady, ‘Gabriel’ is a 30s/40s man, ‘Hope’ is 19-years-old and is a Black, transgender girl starting college, while ‘May’ is in her 20s. “Faith is a Irish Nigerian actor, she is not fitting into any of these characters quite nicely, she has elements from each of them except for maybe Gemma and Gabriel [...] I think that's what makes it work, because she can pull elements from each of them even though her physical description doesn't match each of them.”
an analysis of each of these characters and their own interpretation of who they are, versus how they want themselves to be perceived, with their own bigotry, biases, misconceptions and realities
Usher describes the unique challenge, which she sees as an opportunity, in directing multi-rolling for a rehearsed reading, “When switching between characters you can't use a lot of physical acting. It's a rehearsed reading, so it's very much in the way you speak, the speed, the cadence, the volume, the tone, all of these things will influence the way people are perceiving you. And Faith does a great job, so it's not hard at all.”
The script follows a therapist's interactions with her clients to the backdrop of Dublin after the November 2023 riots. “They are all connected in terms of what’s actually happened,” Usher says, the script looking at the therapist’s “analysis of each of these characters and their own interpretation of who they are, versus how they want themselves to be perceived, with their own bigotry, biases, misconceptions and realities.” Referencing ‘the monster on this page’, MONERE explores how “I might look at someone and think that’s a monster, and someone else could look at someone completely different and have their own reasons for why that person is the way they are [...] How does me saying something change when it comes from a voice that you wouldn't necessarily expect to say it.”
MONERE is a project which writer Praise Titus has been working on since the riots in Dublin in November 2023, coinciding with the Arínolá's magazine, My City Too, which is a collection of art, poems and short stories about people’s experiences of the riots or with bigotry, which Usher hopes will be published soon.
For MONERE, “You start with the three of us again. It’s always one of those texts into the group chat like ‘I’m going to do this’, and we’re like ‘Okay, we have five other things that we’re doing right now, but let’s absolutely go for it!’”
Writing an application is the next step, “sprinkling that CV with every beautiful word you know, trying to paint yourself to be fantastic” and in the successful outcome, “That’s when the real work starts.”
It is evident from speaking with Usher that there is a Dramsoc Community in this year’s Scene + Heard festival, with three other shows featuring past or present members of the society, “We are very lucky that we have had such a solid foundation of people from doing Dramsoc [...] We have so many talented people working with us; Josh McNutt is composing, we have Izzy Hamilton who’s stage managing, Claire who’s the auditor of Dramsoc is our lighting designer. So many amazing people.”
Finally, I asked Usher what it has been like directing a script written by her sister, and what the relationship is like between the three girls, Tishé being the self-proclaimed third Titus sister, “If we don’t think something works we are so fast to say it. That is what makes what we do work, because we are able to pull each other by the back of the neck and be like ‘no this isn't working’ purely because we want to get the best piece of work forward.”
Usher summarises MONERE, “It makes you stop and think. Could I fall subject to this? Can I be a victim of this? How strong are your morals? It’s deep.”
A rehearsed reading of MONERE is taking place on Saturday 1 March at 1pm in The Boys School, Smock Alley Theatre. Tickets €10. Content Warning: Discussion on death, mental illness, racism, transphobia, misogyny.