World Premiere of Oh! By Mikel Murfi at Galway Atlantaquaria
The words ‘World Premiere’ and ‘Galway International Arts Festival’ may have been seen together lots of times before but add in ‘Galway Atlantaquaria’ and ‘Underwater Show’ to the mix and I think it’s a first for me and google!
This crazy idea, first floated by Micheal Murphy (stage name Mikel Murfi) began 25 years ago, with Micheal’s desire to create an underwater show, however it wasn’t until 18 months ago that that dream started to become a reality.
When he first approached the team at the aquarium we were a bit skeptical to say the least. While the concept of an underwater show sounded incredible, the practicalities of having someone in the tank with the animals were another thing altogether. Staff questions included, what about our animals, their welfare, our visitors, it’s the summer, are you serious!
Mikel proposed staging the show in the Ocean tank, the largest tank in the aquarium, which is home to four main species of animal. These include the shoaling Sea Bass and Gilthead Bream, the Curious and Cheeky Wreckfish and the chilled out Bullhuss. The tank, which contains over 100,000 liters of saltwater, ranges in temperature of between 10 and 16 degree Celsius throughout the year.
Matt Hawkins, the aquarium manager, was only open to discussing the idea with the aquarium team, if the animals and their welfare came first. These discussions lead to Mikel having to carrying out 12 months of planning and practice dives, multiple safety checks for himself and the animals, test that the materials used during the show wouldn’t cause harm and a schedule that allowed for break days, for the fish to rest.
Matt noted, It was an incredible experience working with Mikel and the team at Loco and Reckless Productions and Glór on this show, and not something I thought I would be involved in through my role as aquarium manager. Their willingness to treat the animals with respect and consideration is what made it all possible, and I would also like to thank all the aquarium staff for their support and our visitors. We hope all those who attended the show enjoyed it, and it helped them get a new perspective of life underwater.
Of course, while this was a ‘one man show’ it involved over 20 people all working collaboratively to make an art piece that is unique and intriguing, plus the aquarium team who monitored the animals welfare every night.
Directed by Kellie Hughes, with lighting designed by Sinead Wallace, the show was brought to life with an array of colours inside and outside the tank. Join Kellie as she talks to Alan Morrissey on Clare FM about how the show developed and progressed
Working with Kelly, Mikel created a structure and narrative for the show, not easy when you’re going from something usually performed on land, to something underwater. Together this created a dynamic environment, however it would not have had the wow factor if not for the beautiful music and sounds composed by Declan Gibbons.
The custume design, produced by Amanda Donovan also added to the other worldly effect, with one audience member remarking, the clothes didn’t even look wet. And behind the scenes, a huge group of crew helped with sound, lighting, health and safey and set instalation, plus volunteers who helped with tickets and getting the audience seated.
Behind the scenes Matt worked with the team throughout, and aquarium staff helped monitor the animal’s welfare before, during and after each show. Several staff members carried out this task, to make sure that a broad range of perspectives were included. They included Megan Hawkins, Maria Vittoria Marra, Noirin Burke, Roisin Dorney, Jovita Mockute, Tara Noonan and Colleen Hawkins.
The team watched for signs of stress and anxiety, with records kept for every show. The results were very positive and showed that for most of the time the animals just swam happily around Mikel, leaving him his space in the centre of the tank to perform. The Wreckfish were the only ones to get close, being curious of Mickel, especially when he was very still and of the pipes and hoses.
So what was the end result of all this hard work?
Well the show is definitely unique, and the mixture of movements underwater, while surrounded by the fish , to the backdrop of the music and lighting creates a very interesting atmosphere.
Mikel makes all the movements seem so natural, and makes the animals part of the show, as they should be. A mixture of fast paced scenes and intermixed with slower more gentle pieces and the bubbles created by Micheal’s regulator, that he uses for breathing create beautiful movements in the water.
The show also created a number of wonderful reviews online, with articles appearing in the
While the show is only 45 minutes long, this is a long time for Mikel to be the water, the uniqueness of the show creates a memory that may stay with the audience for a lot longer. If you’d like to capture the essence of the show, listen to the full score by Declan Gibbons on Spotify.
You can download the full programme from Oh! here