Hope Hunt and the Ascension into Lazarus
Oona Doherty

A battered old car drives up with a glare of headlights and thumping music coming from inside its metal body. Someone who carries multiple identities inside them climbs out to tell their story. It is the story of a search for hope.

The choreographer and dancer Oona Doherty, who is represented with three pieces in the festival as this year’s Spotlight Artist, takes the audience in Hope Hunt and the Acension into Lazarus along with her into the world of the working class. The performer morphs from one character to the next. She uses movement, language and sound to quote blurred projections of masculinity, morality and nostalgia. Here Hope Hunt treads a fine balance between comedy and tragedy, while at the same time revealing our fundamental need for love irrespective of class or background. 

In her solo piece, Oona Doherty creates a complex portrait of class and gender, in which violence and tenderness, sadness and joy, despair and utopia are interwoven on a variety of levels. 

Photo: Luca Truffarelli, Chad Alexander, Remi Angeli, Mona Blanchet, Toma Dachs