rfl .-\( i 'l'hcatrc ( ~ompany). directed by \lan [Addiar cl (about to hecume'l‘AU I hcatrc ( ‘ompany's Artistic Director . and tic-signal lt_\ .\'cil Murray The Bundle 'l‘hurs 4- Sat 6 Aug. 7.45pm. £3 all. The tinal play in thc thrcc being In CSL‘IIIL'tl h} Scottish Youth Theatre. I Ll\\£tTLl Bond's Ihc' Bum/Ivisdircctcdht l: 'hn llasxx CH and thSlngCd h) Roddt \lacKcn/ic. I THEATRE ROYAL l lopc Strcct. 33] 1234. III A ( )iltcc \lon~Sat lilam-hpm. (".Mlpm on pcil c\g\l. Bar. Bullct. 5 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat Mon s .Aug. 7.30pm. ‘l'ucs l) Sat I3 .-\tig. 5 ck Spiri.£2.5ll-Li~15ll. Iii ings hack chiltlliootl mcmottcx [or this tiicatic ct itic ol singing ‘.-\n} I)rcam Will i)o' ctc. Ill iltc local school production. \ot as lIlll Ricc and .-\tlLll'L‘\\ l loitl-“clwltcr \H‘llltl hau‘ it. I‘m \ttrc «ac ol tlic L'.tlllL'\l mcga-huck spinning. ~ilcck'\\llll(Ullill‘tildiltlllShCI\\CCllIllk‘UHl. . tclhng tlic llihlc talc ol Joscplt and his :..tlotishrotlicis,
I THIRD EYE CENTRE 35llSauchichall i Sitcct. 333 "521 ('atc opcn l lam-2.3“pm luc l II anal tlutingcwning g‘citoimanccs Mammon in 5 x Sat u Aug. .‘snpm. L35“ i.~_.‘. 5U). l’icniicic ol a \lltl“ on IIS \xa} to t'ic l-tlinliurgh l'cstixal lax-loci Rohcrt ] l lcucllxristarsasthccihorg.crcatctlh) a :.-iii.ilc \cicntistantl llil\\lllllll1l) yiograinmctl 'I list \Iotlc (NI'.
Radio Sing Sing llllil'S ll Sat 15 Aug. ‘tlpzn. t3 5l|tt35l|l I'hcahsorhing. toicl) chorcogiaphctl tluo. Man Act. also .‘ttcr a \ncak pic-x IL‘“ ol thcir MC“ shim .:oiiigoii to thc I'tlinhutgh l’cstnal. [his
1 in otlttction IS tlncctcd It} Stcx c Shill.
\» l1t)\L‘ mm ing / rm' l‘l/HI olxls/ie's
; .:]‘]‘L‘.llL‘kl at tlic ( ilasgo“ M;t_\lc\t. and f t;|ls thc strangc story ot txxo mcn and \\ hat inc-x tliscoxci III l’apua \c“ (iuincairi 2‘85. \\ lit-n thm start to cxplotc tltc ISlitllkl
Everything But Archie Sun T :\tlgtl\l.
.‘ ‘tlpin. Ll 5llttll l'nitcd ArllSh (Scotland ) Il‘. tlic latcst ol thc ( ilasgov» l’|.i)\\iiglit\' \\ork\liop\_ gixing
Hill kshopptrtl pct tormanccs ol ncxs plays. it lllt‘\\C(l lyx a tlISc’USSIHII. ‘I‘hixonc ish) ilaxitl Btomt.
I TRON THEATRE (i3 I‘rongatc. 552 4267 S. ISw-x ( )tticc I uc Sat Noon-Spin; Sun l_‘..ill-llpm ("Iiisc-tISIIiritlaiys.
James Bond - Licensed to Look Ill 'l‘ucs
.‘. Sun " Aug Spin Linicmhcrs; £4 Ilt‘ll-lllclill‘L‘lS. A quick prcvicn lor (rlasgtm autlicnccs oi a show going to thc I-tlinhurgh I-cstix'al. in which lamcx Bond cncountcrsthcI‘ightics llll7hashccomc a chainsmoking anti-hcro. kccn on giving ll all up and mm ing lll \\ ith a radical tcminist. ()Itlical contcdian l’ctc
.\lc( ‘arthy plays thc man with the drooping gun in an acclaimed production In (‘litt'hangcr
You Can‘t GO Wrong lit 5 ck Sat hAugmt. Scc ( 'almrct.
Underthe Moon lttcs‘) Sun 13 August. Spin. L3 liiL'lTil‘L‘H. U non-mcmhcrs. Not quitc l/u' .lIu/iuliliurutu. hut in a \lllillitl' \cm in Hunt lL‘SPL‘L‘IS l’an l’r‘ojcct . a
3 multi-racial company tlctlicatctl to
': cxploringnon-\xcstcrnculturcs.pcrlorm \ cats tourpla} cyclc lollomngthc c\ploits ol thc ( ‘cltic hcro (‘uchulain
I EDINBURGH
I ASSEMBLY ROOMS 54 (icorgc Str‘cct. \o thcatic [‘crloimanccs until lidinhurgh l csti\al,
I BEOLAM THEATRE l orcst Road. :35 WSW}. \ion Sat lllam latc. (‘alca
.\’o thcatrc pct loi nianccs until Iztlinhurgh l'cstnal.
I BRUNTON THEATRE \ltissclhurgh. (m5 i"ll
\‘o thcatic pcrloi inanccs until thc lztlinlturgli l-cstnal.
I CHURCHHlLL THEATRE Slornirigsitlc Road
No thcatic pcrlormanccs until thc l‘tlinhurgh l'cstival.
14'l'hc list 5-- I I August I988
l l
MARY ROSE
Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh.
J. M. Barrie's Mary Rose is a play about ghosts but it is the text that creaks and the audience that groans. Barrie's characters speak a dialogue cluttered lor today‘s audiences with unintentional double entendre. Despite this the story has an emblematic simplicity.
A mysterious Hebridean island has the power to spirit people away. Its victim in the play is a young girl, who lirst lalls prey to the island as a child (only reappearing — apparently no worse lor wear- some days later). As a grown woman, now married, she returns to the island and again is drawn into its never-never-world.
Barrie's success in the play is to dramatise a leeling akin to that occasionally felt by most at us when we become conscious oi our breathing and a strange sense at panic sets in. In Mary Rose, we become,conscious ol the passage at time in alvay we sometimes dismiss in the cliche ‘that seems so long ago it was another world‘. Dwelt on long enough the line that connects us lrom birth to grave seems to melt away. In Mary Rose, the girl becomes trapped in her childhood as those around her— including her child—grow old.
In leel the play is not unlike the lilm treatment of a similar event, Peter Weir‘s Picnic At Hanging Rock, although where Weir used enigmatic silences, Barrie‘s play is crammed with intrusive spoken explanation. The Lyceum cast, however, make the most at the author‘s strength in creating genial caricatures, in particularJamie Newall as the enthusiastic Navy suitor ol Mary Rose and Rose McBain and Martyn James as her parents.
Hugh Hodgart‘s production very nearly comes oil, treating the play tor the most part as a period piece with a nostalgic value at its own which can only add to its theme. The crucial mistake seems to be in making the character at Mary Rose hersell a slightly sinister figure with unnaturally white skin and screaming red hair. (Nigel Billen)
THE RAIN GATHERING
Traverse, Edinbugh It's no secret that Jeremy Raison‘s The Rain Gathering is drawn from events in
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class theatre director is drawn to a set designer. Gradually, a relationship develops between them despite the tact that she is already engaged.
It's a skiliul play with a tight theatrical structure (although I suspect the BBC are spot on with their decision to produce itlor radio), and Ben Daniels and Geraldine Fitzgerald convincingly playthe couple. Raison cleverly uses the intimate space at the Traverse' downstairs theatre, by making us believe it‘s the edge at an ocean. What could become a horribly cloying experience (Raison doesn‘t shy away from putting belore an audience what then become the embarrassing intimacies at human beings in love) is put into a wider perspective. The play looks back on the events from the moment at a diilerent emotional turmoil, the luneral olthe man‘s grandlather, and where the two. now lormer, lovers recall and relive the relationship as they walk on the beach which is a rocky as the path of their allair.
The Rain Gathering reminds me of some American movies where un-British emotional crises are played
hisownlite.0nstage,anuppermiddle , outagainstabackdropoltheAtlantic
I KING‘S THEATRE 21.cxctiStr'cct.22‘) 1301. Box ()I‘l'icc Mort Sat Illam Spin. Bar. Il)].
Starlight Spectacular t 'nnl Sat u Aug
Mon Fri 7.3Upm; Sat 5 6; Spot.
{45” L" 5“ ("oncs £2.5(lott(irantl ('Irclc Stallsantl Ll oli l'ppcrbirclc
'l‘ucs lhurs; All scats hall-pricc Mondays at Thick Saturdays at 5pm l’artics ol 3“ or moic lll’é rcduction. Ihc King‘s' cinharkson its \ummcr \itllL'l} \lltl“ . with a tlittcrcnt \pccial gucst caclt \\ cck 'Ihc tinal “cult of thc shim has thc inimitahlc com c}cr-hclt imprcsario. Brucc l-ors) th. I MANOELA THEATRE (iatcua) lixchangc. 3 «l .»\hhcyinount. (mi 0982. talc and bar lacihtics during pct‘lormattccs,
.\'o tlicatrc pcriot'maticu until Iztlinhurgh l‘cstiyal.
I NETHERBOW ARTS CENTRE 43 l Iigh Strcct. 5569579. Box ()liicc
lilam 4 .illpm I ‘lpinpcrlcxgs ('aic |l)]
' lfrl
No thcatrc pcrioi manccs until lztlinhurgh l‘cstn'al
g I ROYAL LYCEUM ( it intl|a_\ Sticcl . 3.“)
: 9N)" Bo\(lllicc.\lon Sat Illam hpm
lilam Sprnonpcrt c\g\ liar Rcst ('alc ]I)]. [Ii]. ( l'hcatrcSaxcr (‘onccssionfartls
cost {I . last all in” . gi\ c L] oil thc lull
pricc cach How you conic lor _\ou antla lricntl a\atlaltlc to ( )AI’S. l 'll-llls. Stutlcnts. Disahlctl and Y I Ssclicmc) illckcts lor [Accutn productions arc also tl\Llll£tl‘lL' at thc l'Ickct ('cnttc. \\ a\ ct |c\ liritlgc; lti'aitchcsol Ai .\la_\ « unit-I .mu tltc ()UL‘CII‘S l lttll. (‘lcrk Slicct
Mary Rose l 'ntil Sat (i Aug. 7 45pm
£25“ £7. lhcatrcSaxcr lltlltlL‘l'S Ll oll Sat math-\ugfi 15pm(alltickctsU)..l SI Barric's hcguiling. ITI}SIIL‘£tl play about thc girl u ho \ anislictl on a Scottish islantl Scc Rm icu.
l
Mary Rose. Lyceum, Edinburgh.
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and its rolling breakers. But in such lilms (Robert Redlord‘s Ordinary People lor example) there is usually some rather obvious moment at crisis in which psycho-analysis (amateuror prolessional) becomes a kind oi metaphorical bridge, allowing the audience to become involved in the relationship. In The Rain Gathering, although arguably there is a crisis in an abortion, the audience remains excluded.
The strength of this approach is in not oilering glib answers to emotional problems and undoubtedly the play resonates with incidents from one‘s own and one‘s lriends personal lives. The weakness is that the play becomes about what increasingly appears to be a series at events still unresolved in the author‘s mind. inevitably, therelore it seems a one sided account at a relationship.
To disguise so thinly real events (as we are led to believe these are) is nothing new. To present such raw emotion on stage is dangerous, sell-indulgent. potentially painful to others as well as the author, but a brave theatrical experiment. (Nigel Billen)
I THEATRE WORKSHOP 34 I lamilton
I’lacc. .‘3h5-135. Ilo\()llicc.\1on Sat
‘) Want 5 .i‘lpm Bar ('alc. |l)]. [Ii].
.\'o thcatic pct lormanccs until thc l~tlinlturgh l‘L‘SllHtl,
I TRAVERSE THEATRE l l.‘ \Vcst Bo“. (itassmat kcl. Ill) 3h.“ link ( )tlicc
l tic Sat lilani Spin Sun o lllpm Bar. RL‘Sl l Ickclx also a\ ttllalilc lltltll lllL' l'ickct ( lL'lIlIL'. .3: Mat lxct Strcct. The Rain Gathering t not \Vctl lnAug 7.45pm And thcn throughout Ittlinhurgh l'cstiyalat \arying IIIIIL'S L4 5ll(£2.5(l). I’Iicmictc oi a play It} .lctcni) Raison. Scc ch icxx
A Man With Connections ‘1 lturs 4 7 Aug ".Sllprn .-\ntl thcn throughout lztlinhurgh l'cstn‘al at \aryrng lIlllL‘S H 5ll(13.5ll) Britiin prcrnicrc ot a play In thc Russian play“ right. :\lL‘\itll(lCl‘ ( ichnan. otlcringa tarc “llltltnk into Russian lilc through thc
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