Quake: When narrative exposition is led by the Holy Spirit
Janet Moran’s play is set amongst members of a Quaker meeting.
Samuel Beckett Theatre - Dublin Theatre Festival
★★☆☆☆
You can appreciate the logic. Janet Moran’s Quake, produced by Once Off and Mermaid Arts Centre, has the same task as any play of clueing-in an audience about its setting, character backstories, and prior plot events - all without them realising it. Exposition is best when disguised, but what if we were transported to a world where individuals, when they have an important thought or feeling, simply break a silence and speak it?
“We worship in silence, until the Spirit moves us to speak,” says Roisin, explaining to a newcomer at their regular Quaker meeting. In fact, when the small gathering sit quietly, in a semi-circle of chairs with views of an elm tree through a gigantic window, their unspoken thoughts range from banal to serious, from unread emails and left-on immersion heaters, to the group’s dwindling numbers.