Theatre
urge to play. therehy repressing lantasy a steam valve for the unconscious in his two hoys. :\.s a result. Schreher‘s hrother committed suicide in his 30s. and Schreher himsell'. having attained a responsihle position in (icrmany‘s legal estahlishment. fell victim to paranoid delusions in his middle ages. Alter a long incarceration in an asylum. he produced a hook. .llt'muirx old/y Nervous ll/m'xv. which l’I'ettd. and later philosophical theorists such as l)eleu/e and (iuattari. hailed as the greatest of studies of paranoia. Which would he incidental. hut l‘or Uumugw/ By .lIi/‘uc/uv. at the l’leasance. a physical theatre version of Schreher‘s hook. hy' lials’a Imago which has already won a pile ol‘ pri/es in its native Belgium. The story til at man denied a childhood. it will pack the kind ol punch that will show that we new/ to regress now and then.
But our desire to let ourselves go into the l‘antasy world. so linked with early childhood when it wasn't hottled tip. hut our controlling inlluence. can have consequences. In .llongoosc. a promising little monologue at the :\ssemhly Rooms. an old man hrings tis into the world ol' l‘antasy as he recalls his earlier me. and the character of a talking mongoose. But did the mongoose tell him to kill his father" l’erl‘ormer Richard Brcmncr speaks ol the el‘l‘ect on audiences: ‘liveryone is ahle to accept this thing. It‘s like a little door to our suhconscious. a kind ol' l‘reudian thing. where H you say "talking mongoose“ everyone relaxes. They’re prepared to accept it. I think it‘s to do with psychotherapy. where you're conl‘used hy things in the adult world. and you see things. emotionally through a child's eyes. It‘s a play that demands that an audience has to make a choice. and they choose to enter the lantasy world with him. :\nd mayhe the l'antasy world. which lills in the gaps that people cant explain. is hctter than the pharmaccuticals that doctors ram down people‘s throats when they don't understand what’s wrong with them..
Whether Anthony .\'eilson would agree with this is a tnoot point. .\'cilson. whose 'I'lu' lliuu/mf/ii/ lliir/(l (if/)1's‘xur'l'u plays
at the International l-‘estival. l’eels that l‘or some. the control of
repressed desire hy the use ol' drugs is necessary. It‘s not that. hut our lack ol understanding of l‘olk who i‘el‘use to take the drugs that he‘s concerned with. His central character also launches us hack into the pre—rational world ol' children in the dark. childish lantasy world the play opens up. But Neilson
58 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE
i, A
‘DAMAGED BY MIRACLES SHOWS THAT WE NEED TO REGRESS NOW AND THEN'
Frances Barber, Mackenzie Crook and Christian Slater (above left) visit the madhouse of the Cuckoo’s Nest; neurosis and council estate despair in Phaedre’s Love (right)
maintains that we need pre-rational worlds. and we frequently indulge in them. 'lt's like seeing a friend in a really had relationship which is demonstrably harinl'ul. You can say. “Look. why are you doing this”? It‘s making you ill hecause you’re miserable and lucked up and unhappy." But they might reply. “Yes. but there are these moments that are great and compelling. an extreme joy." We can take drugs ourselves recreationally. and we know they might he had for us. it's another choice. So when we get to this moment in the show when someone asks this character. “Why dth you take your medication?" I want the audience to say. “well. because . . .
So that which is had for us is often compelling hecausc it enacts our unconsciotis. even it. it‘s harml'ul. Mayhe what's really harmlul. though. is the symholic order. which suhstitutes l'or ahsolute emotion. the oneness with the world we l'elt as inlants. the inadequate medium of words. The tip side is that we can exist in the world and communicate. We agree on the meanings ol words. or at least we [/1in we do. so that we can utter sentences at each other. and understand everyone except Aherdonians. But can a word convey dark and complete emotional meanings inside us'.’ The last word goes to Will lino. author of another play on mental dysl'unction 'l'liom l’uin: ‘Because all events and l‘eelings convert into language at some point. and that levels ol'l' emotion. So the word “holocaust” is a three syllahle word. hut there are plenty of other three syllahle words.’ .\'o wonder we need the pre—rational. (iet me hack to that hreast.
Damaged by Miracles, Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6500, 8—29 Aug (not 16), 1.40pm, £8.50-9.50 (£7-8); Macbeth, Scotland’s Theatre Gateway, 317 3939, Aug 9-29 (not 1 1, 18, 25), 8pm, £12 (£10), previews 7—8 Aug, £5; Mongoose, Assembly Rooms, 226 2428, 7-30 Aug, 1 1.503m, £9-10 (£8—9); One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Assembly Rooms, 226 2428, 6-29 Aug (not 16), 1.45pm, £14—15 (£12-13); Thom Pain, Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 7-29 Aug, 3pm; £9—10 (£7.50—£8.50), previews 5-7 Aug, £5; The Wonderful World of Dissocia, Royal Lyceum Theatre, phone number here, 1-4 Sep, 7.30pm, 4 Sept 2.30pm, £7-23.