SPACE-SHUTTLE

Mission Two: Titanic Quarter ’, Sarah Browne & Gareth Kennedy
31 August - 16 September 2006


the group initiates a series of events and provocative multi-media activities that use the environment as their theme, spacial explorations with and for the community

'Episode 306 : Dallas, Belfast'

“The future is entertainment, and entertainment becomes the future”

In a collaboration, the two artists turn the interior of the shuttle into a film set.  Together with a group of people selected by open audition, they make a film based on a fictional script of the 1980s TV show Dallas, investigating issues of development, prosperity and choice in the context of Belfast’s ongoing regeneration. The work is envisaged as a marker in time, between Belfast’s industrial past and the proposed vision of the future. Three separate casts enact three distinct but related reenactments of the script.

Why Dallas?

As a TV show in the 1980s, Dallas was an important cultural presence that served to promote a lifestyle of conspicuous consumption, and serve as a balm following the American recession and oil crises of the 70s. It occurred at a time when the US was entering its post industrial phase and the age of Reagonomics. Dallas also evokes a certain nostalgia in the Irish/ UK context, when people used the TV programme as a way to vicariously live the life of JR, Bobby, Sue Ellen et al. From a small fragment of the original, fictional script, the artists aim to promote an improvised dialogue, and new, ‘site-specific’ script.

Why the Titanic Quarter?

The site for the location of the shuttle/ set is key to this process. Situated in a wasteland in the Titanic Quarter, the interior of the space affords views of the Odyssey arena, the Titanic Drawing Rooms, the Northern Ireland Science and Innovation Centre, the hills in the distance and views out to sea. Ferries and cruise liners sail by. As such it’s located on a particular node between past and future, placed on post-industrial land soon to be redeveloped. The architecture that surrounds the site highlights the move from the changing needs of a production- to a service- or knowledge-based economy. The shuttle / set itself is used as an insulated micro-environment in which to meditate on some of the changes that surround it on ‘the outside’, and creates a space where fiction and fact sometimes blend together.

Dallas Belfast, Auditions
On September the 2nd and 3rd.
auditions for cast members were held on site at the Titanic Quarter

About the script:

The fragment being re-enacted doesn’t focus on a particular storyline and in itself is not actually recognizable as Dallas: rather it features a discussion taking place in 1987 between JR, Bobby and Carter McKay. They are arguing about a lucrative deal that could potentially involve ‘a bunch of Arabs owning half the state of Texas’. This dialogue uncannily prefigures the contemporary language of globalisation and forces of global capitalism – a world of multinationals and de-nationalised industry. ‘Commies’ and ‘Arabs’ are also mentioned, in incongruous terms in relation to current geopolitics. The artists are interested in bringing this script to life within the context of a ‘branded’ 21st century Belfast which is vying for foreign investment on a global stage.

Dallas Belfast, Auditions
Screening of the auditions to mark the space shuttle last evening in the Titanic Quarter

See the download menu to the right to see polaroids of the potential JRs who came to audition and also the film set. All auditions were filmed, and this material, together with additional footage taken by Alison Moore with the waiting actors was edited and screened at an event on September 16th, marking the Space Shuttle’s last day in The Titanic Quarter.

Dallas Belfast, Auditions

Project Update:

The project is currently in post production. The final work will be screened in February 2007 to coincide with the completion of the Space Shuttle project.

Cast No 1: Image: Cast 1 photo

Liam O’Carroll Norris as JR Ewing.

Stephen Angus as Carter McKay.

Carly Young as Bobby Ewing.

Cast No 2:  Image: Cast 2 photo

Adrian Cooke as JR.

Jim McGookin as McKay.

Andrew Higgins as Bobby.

Cast No 3: Image: Cast 3 photo

Kelly Anne Flynn as JR.

Olivia O’Kane as McKay.

Carly Young as Bobby.

Thanks to: all the actors who came to audition; Alison Moore for additional footage; Acorn TV & Film; Queen Street Studios; White Mountain Spring Water;  Sonic Arts at Queen’s University; and our crew: Graham Cullaghan, John King, Anderinna Gooch, David Baxter and Brian Greene.

View Dallas Prop Sheet

Timeline:

  • Auditions : 2 September 12pm onsite at the set in the Titanic Quarter (See Map). Here we will be looking for the Belfast JR, and other supporting roles
  • Filming to be completed by September 12th
  • Post production
  • September 16th: Presentation of the film onsite in the Titanic Quarter.

We are interested in working with both actors and non actors for this work. What is important is for participants to be enthusiastic and to have a sense of connection with the city of Belfast.

Contact 07784690833 or dallas_belfast@yahoo.com

 

Titanic Quarter LTD