Very quickly, the intimate audience witnessing theatre practitioner Bairbre Ní Chaoimh and artist Aideen Barry’s collaborative piece realises that anything could happen next. Cunningly staged within the environs of a lovely Georgian house in Temple Bar, clever lighting and sound cues, excellent use of video clips and doors, and a lovely sense of timing help to build a poignant experience of passionate remembrance of a childhood obsession with the moon.
 
And then halfway through the show, another actor becomes our guide and main character

Not that the performance was lacking; indeed, the entire production works to a high standard. The fact is, we already had a Bella McCarthy, and it was not in any way immediately clear that we were being given a new one. Sure, casting Nora Fay as an actual ten-year old Bella is fair enough, but to switch adult Bellas in mid-stream was an unfortunate choice.
 
This has to do with the simultaneous performance aspect of the piece: as one five-member audience moves upwards in the house, it can hear the celebratory sounds of a party below. Another lovely detail, that speaks to the idea that families always leave an imprint of themselves behind… but this element exists at the expense of the emotional involvement of the audience, and to the ultimate expense of the piece itself.

Susan Conley