Requiem: A Celebration of Life and Achievement

Requiem: A Celebration of Life and Achievement, was a devised immersive theatrical experience that was part memorial service and part graduation. Set in the Dance Studio of the Samuel Beckett Center at Trinity College Dublin, and stemming from the question “How much of ourselves do we sacrifice in order to gain academic achievement?”, the experience featured the hosts (the performers), welcoming and interacting with the audience participants as they grieved their past selves, their lives before entering academia. The hosts gave emotional "eulogies" before the gathered participants and shared personal anecdotes of the "departed" in intimate moments with some audience members.

Towards the end of the performance, after the fourth eulogy had been given, the increasingly somber atmosphere was broken with a toast that reminded those gathered that even though the hosts had sacrificed a lot to be where they were, they had made it through to the present moment, which prompted a celebratory ritualized dance followed by a “graduation” ceremony.