Earthfall

At Swim Two Boys

To coincide with the 10th anniversary of the novel by Jamie O’Neill, Earthfall revived their award winning production, At Swim Two Boys (2111/12). The story tells of the developing love between two teenage boys and, as the space slowly fills with water, the boys’ relationship unfolds, they go into the sea to swim .

Staged entirely in water and set against the backdrop of the Easter Rising in Ireland, this tender and beautiful production previously toured (2005) to sell-out audiences in Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland and mainland Europe.

Set in Ireland in 1916, At Swim Two Boys juxtaposes this love affair with political turmoil in Ireland and the slaughter on the Western Front, contrasting with the dream of national liberation and the search for personal freedom.

The production is staged in a slowly filling lake in front of a waterfall, with episodes from the book woven together through a fusion of extreme physicality, original live music and film.

“The darker tug of erotic tension and the fear of self-revelation is also finely observed in the aggressive thrashing heft of the choreography… This is a touchingly nuanced duet, excellently performed” The Guardian, Judith Mackrell

“The titular twosome is embodied by Daniel Connor and Murilo Leite…an emotionally
transparent relationship that in dance terms is filled with tenderness and vigour… They leap and throw each other, slipping and sliding across the liquid stage.” The Times, Donald Hutera

The production sold out across the UK in both Autumn and Spring.