'Safe House' review — Kate Gilmore is a marvel in this immersive, hypnotic show
Read our review of Safe House off Broadway, a new multimedia show by award-winning Irish playwright Enda Walsh running at St. Ann's Warehouse through March 2.
What do memories look like if they are not in our minds? See for yourself with Safe House, directed by Tony Award-winning Irish playwright, screenwriter, and director Enda Walsh. The one-woman show centers on Grace (Kate Gilmore), who invites us into her world of memories throughout her childhood in Ireland. Notably, the memories look like pictures in a stranger's photo album — they are fascinating and impossible to understand. Very little dialogue or context is given to understand Grace’s world; instead, we meet Grace through the things around her — toys, refrigerators, beer cans, tumble-dryers, and birthday cakes — all courtesy of Dublin-based costume/set designer, Katie Davenport.
The beautiful vignettes on the stage are made mobile with a series of trap doors, hidden windows, and surprises from beginning to end of the 90-minute performance. It is a victory to note that the constant introduction of ‘new-ness’ feels authentic and aligned with the introspective and deeply intense nature of the piece.
Gilmore is a marvel. The physical manoeuvring and on-alert nature of the role lights a fire in her eyes as she moves across every inch of the stage, calling on set pieces and rummaging up mics from hidden spots. She is a vessel for the musicality of the piece, anchoring the abstraction.
Safe House made its world debut last year at The Dublin Theatre Festival before advancing to America, where it is now enjoying a short run at St Ann’s Warehouse, from February 15 to March 2.
Safe House summary
After a world premiere at The Dublin Theatre Festival last year, Safe House is receiving its Off-Broadway debut at St Ann's Warehouse. Complex production elements, haunting lyrics, and a visceral score by Anna Mullarkey form the bones of the experimental piece, which blends movement, song, and spectacle into a truly unique memory-play.
Safe House takes audiences inside the mind of Grace, a young woman who battles with her circumstances — and herself. The collage-like nature of her memories are stitched together by Grace, who sings haunting melodies of what she is feeling and how the external reality of her upbringing is affecting her life. Performed almost entirely in song, this production blends music, memory, and feeling into a tapestry of meaning. Safe House is a 90-minute show with no intermission.
What to expect at Safe House
Attending Safe House is an immersive, hypnotic experience filled with haunting song, spell-binding spectacle, and an undercurrent of feeling. From the moment you enter the theatre, there’s a charged stillness in the air. The stage design features a cluttered floor space of things that mimic a household with phones, fridges, and toys, as well as things that add texture and play to the story. The lighting shifts dramatically throughout, sometimes enveloping the stage in a sudden shift and, at other times, dimming entirely so that the filmed image can play in isolation at the back of the stage. At my show, someone next to me seemed to cup their ears and wince at the intensity of the score, which swells to a point of release, usually when a dramatic stage element is shifted or a lighting cue directs the emotion of the piece somewhere else.
What audiences are saying about Safe House
As of publication, Safe House received a 90% audience approval rating on the site Show-Score, compiled from 1 review.
- "Ambitious, challenging, unique, dynamic. This was quite a performance.” Show-Score user EB
Read more audience reviews of Safe House on Show-Score.
Who should see Safe House
- If you’re a fan of experimental and abstract theatre, you should see Safe House.
- For those new to theatre, Safe House is an accessible yet profoundly moving introduction to how music and storytelling can merge in unexpected ways.
- You should definitely book tickets to see Safe House if you like stories about or relating to Ireland. Most of the artists associated with this project including Walsh (director) and Gilmore (Grace) are Irish, adding a nuanced cultural texture to the heart of the story.
Learn more about Safe House off Broadway
Safe House is a deliberately abstract performance, providing fascinating stage pictures and haunting melodies which together paint a picture of a woman’s life in Ireland.
Photo credit: Safe House off Broadway. (Photos by Teddy Wolff)
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