Belfast choreographer Oona Doherty’s latest work, “Specky Clark,” which recently premiered in the United States at the Irish Arts Center, delves into the enduring impact of trauma through the story of Edward James Doherty, a boy sent alone from Glasgow to Belfast at age 10. The piece unfolds from the perspective of this traumatized child, exploring themes of loss, memory, and the mingling of the living with the dead.

The narrative opens with the boy’s mother collapsing at the dinner table, a harrowing event that triggers a visceral, repeated scream from Edward. Figures wearing Halloween masks—evocative of a dark, ritualistic atmosphere—carry away her body and prepare the boy for his journey, signaling the beginning of his solitary path. As the story progresses, viewers encounter the boy’s foster guardians, the Clark sisters, who are portrayed as grotesque, puppet-like figures. These adult characters are largely filtered through the boy’s traumatised, childlike lens, enhancing the alienation and fear he experiences.

Set against the backdrop of Halloween, or Samhain—a Gaelic festival at which the boundary between living and dead is believed to thin—the production infuses supernatural elements into its portrayal of grief and displacement. After starting work at an abattoir, where Edward must confront the distressing task of shooting a pig, the boy enters a world where spirits emerge to engage with him. The pig, personified by actor Gerard Headley, notably becomes a companion and a symbol of unexpected humanity within the story.

Doherty, known for her interest in expressing trauma through movement, shifts here to incorporate more verbal storytelling alongside dance. The boy’s narrative is interwoven with mythic and whimsical elements, including references to mischievous twin fairies and folkloric motifs that serve to buffer the harsh realities of loss. Music plays a significant role, with a soundscape featuring drone-heavy, industrial folk by Lankum and compositions by David Holmes that pay tribute to outsiders and dreamers.

While the production offers moments of emotional poignancy and dark humor, critics have noted that the physical enactment of the boy’s internal world lacks depth. Edward is primarily portrayed as a silent victim, with limited movement sequences providing insight into his character. The dance elements, including a climactic Walpurgisnacht segment intended to evoke frenetic energy, instead come across as restrained and uniform, missing an opportunity to fully convey the chaos and intensity of the boy’s experience.

“Specky Clark” draws on Doherty’s family history—the character is based on her great-great-grandfather—infusing the work with personal significance. However, some observers argue that this focus narrows the portrayal to trauma alone, without capturing the broader complexities found in Doherty’s earlier choreography. The piece’s blending of sorrow and fantasy underscores the child’s imagined connection to the spirit world, though the creative execution sometimes feels filtered through a semi-transparent barrier, limiting the raw immediacy characteristic of Doherty’s previous projects.