Aliens theatre review: Quietly emotional
Borders, bureaucracy and belonging are central to this affecting drama
The aliens in this show aren’t from outer space; they’re the neighbours history decided didn’t belong. Centred around the relationship between real-life mother and daughter Marta McIlduff and Alessandra Celesia, the performance follows the duo as they travel from Donegal through Belfast and Calais to Casalattico in Italy, encountering activists and migrants who fill the gaps in their story of cultural displacement. Like the road trip itself, the production resists a smooth, chronological retelling, instead meandering through landscapes internal and external. Their time together reveals how war shaped the identities of Italian families labelled ‘aliens’ while projected photographs and documentary footage allow memory to take shape in real time.
One of its strongest scenes involves their search for the Irish border, highlighting the way the lines shaping people’s lives are often invisible, and how borders and bureaucracy determine who gets to belong. The real-life chemistry gives the piece its heart. The mother-daughter exchanges feel honest and ground the production’s political questions in affection and curiosity. It’s all set against a live score by Italian experimental musician Corgiat, which subtly deepens the storytelling mood without demanding attention. Some of the projected visuals need polish and the structure favours atmosphere over cohesion, but when Aliens trusts its finest material, it lands with quiet emotional force, transforming a forgotten past into something uncomfortably immediate.
Aliens, Zoo Southside, until 30 August, 4.20pm; picture: Piero Oronzo.