TO jump or not to jump?
That is the question facing us in Jump?! which has just completed a second successful run at the Cork Arts Theatre.
Written and performed by Pauline O’Driscoll from Bandon, this one-woman show begins with us meeting the protagonist Monica at 10,000ft, a middle-aged woman on the verge of jumping out of an airplane for a first-time illthought parachute jump. And it is at this stage that Monica begins to question all her life decisions and her reality.
Jump?! takes a mid-air trip through one woman’s life, asking serious questions about menopause, menstruation, and men, about hormones, hope, and home.
Director Karen Minihan’s clever imagery using photographic lighting helps bring the show gliding from scene to scene, whether flashing back to Monica’s unhappy days in the convent boarding school, partying in New York, or despairing in the doctor’s office. And O’Driscoll gets the opportunity to show her diversity, whether it is physical comedy in some hilarious sex scenes or her frustration and helplessness as her marriage falls apart.
Similarly, Monica’s story kept the audience interest throughout, with moments of hilarity sometimes quickly flashing to abject hopelessness.
Jump?! has just finished its second successful run at the Cork Arts Theatre club but O’Driscoll hopes to bring the show on the road both nationally and around the county.
To jump or not to jump? Her performance is well worth catching. Jump at the next chance to see a showing.
