Le Cool Dublin

Michael McDermot, 28th March 2012

Exuding wit, invention and charm, Farm is a rootsy week one stand-out in the Absolut Fringe. You’ll never have seen sheep dipped the way they’re done here in a simple and imaginative opening. This site specific, warehouse production gently herds and prods the audience into a series of observations and lessons from the land. There’s a real-life horse, a talking cow and hilarious bee harmonies. The pride and condescension of the garden plot nerd is explored and a welly tap-dance morphs into a barn dance hooley. In one of its most introspective and evocative moments, Shane O’Reilly ploughs a furrow with a pitch-fork hinting at the grind, entrapment and loneliness of this seemingly blissful existence. Willfredd Theatre, Spirit of The Fringe winners last year, encapsulate that accolade again.