THEATRE LIST
THEATE
PREVIEW
Mark Fisher’s theatre survey continues with playwright Iain Heggie, designer Kenny Miller discusses Fittingfor Ladies at the Lyceum, and classes for budding and blooming actors and actresses. Plus Springboard at the Trav and a musicless Figaro.
LISTINGS: THEATRE 45 CABARET 50 DANCE 50
Politics in the reps
In the second article about i
rate of pay. after all few people working in theatre can claim to be well off. Rather. he is angry about working practice throughout British theatre. ‘l'm so sick ofthis thing where actors are flogged to death in the week before they go on and they face the public exhausted.‘ he says. ‘I just find it so painful. The public have come to this ludicrously over-priced medium and if they come in one of the first four nights they will usually see a dreadful show. I would like to see three or four new plays properly incorporated into the Rep. using teams of actors. then you can preview it. let the writer do some more work on it. and you put the show on when it‘s ready. If all the Reps in the l 'oth of Britain were working together. then once you‘ve got the play built up to an event. where the audience almost must go. then you can start taking it to all the theatres and it begins to pay for itself. It‘s got to be practical. you‘ve got to find ways of turning plays into events. that’s important. but there is enough talent in the writing.’
As it is. the system tends to lead to compromise. disillusionment and second-rate productions. lleggie is anxious. for example. to rewrite last year's Edinburgh Festival play. ('lydc
playwriting in Scotland. Mark Fisher gets lain Heggie’s line on theatre economics.
press The 'l'raversc 'l’heatrc announced that it had secured two Thames 'l‘elcvision Writers In Residence for this year. One is Stuart l lepburn. the other lain llcggic. Seeing as in last issue's article about playwriting. l leggie had only just made public his decision to ditch theatre in favour of the more lucrative media of television and film. I wondered il‘the Residency hadchanged ‘ _ y his be rsbect ivc. if ‘ fie...
‘Not all that significantly] says l leggie. "l'hc When the seemingly l'lCVimh'C mm“ m f Nouvcuu. which he feels still needs another six RCSMC'W." l5 Willi." l“SI it “Minc- “3 t—‘lVCn ms‘ 1! television liiks‘h PM“? it “i” ht“ 1' Signlfiwm I055 I month‘s work. Modelling it on the structure of a little bit of money which will contribute to the a to British theatre. Standing firmly behind the Jacobean play, lleggie simply ran out oftime to next year. but my decision still stands. The work Scottish Society of l’laywrights' campaign to i f01j(m,.thr0ugh [hC implications(“his wry
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Only hours after last issue of 1/10 [.15/ went to l
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I‘m doing for The 'l'ravcrsc is smaller scale. I was achieve a negotiated agreed minimum dcmilcdpkmning. .1hadmfinduI-ulsc‘ already into a commission fora short opera for . commissioning rate. he is ifanything more radical [unpumry‘ structure. so WC could have a Show. them and the Residency piece will be a in his point of view. “The SSl"s demand is he explains. "l’he complex problems of finding a one-woman show. I'm not doing another ( 'lyrlc ultra-basic.' he says. admitting that writers have ' structure, finding the problems with the structure Noni-mu. The only reason I could go ahead with ’ not always made the case easy for themselves. ‘If i and then recreating it, were scuppered. 'l‘here is the Residency was because I decided a smaller : writing skills are formalised the way that acting i no space in theatre writing in Britain for those scale piece might take less time. And it is a skills are formalised. then you can formalise your ' processes to happen. particualarly if you‘re challenge I fancy.‘ claim more easily. When writers clingon to their learning them as you go along. Writing is asking Still. it‘s a great shame that arguably Scotland's mysteries and the notion that it all comes from actors to do extraordinary things and unless all
most excitingcontemporaryplaywright isbeing ' ‘talent‘. then it's hard to make your claim.‘ the extraordinary things are achieved. then the forced to limit the range of his imagination. l leggie‘s disatisfaclion is not simply with the ; writing can just vanish.’ V NEW PLAY are a small-time drug dealer, his wile people who try to achieve their . . ‘ v "a I. _ and a would-be client and as they ambitions and aims without actually “\\ .\ f ‘ "i. i \s m 0 recover their senses a strong sexual working tor them. ‘l’m interested in ~ ‘ a ‘ . ‘ \5' attraction develops between the latter people trying to get money for nothing. ~ ‘~ ' .. '31 e 3%“ --\ I two. From this somewhat unlikely I know people who have wasted huge - ‘ \K ' ' fl ' ' 7'5 starting point the play attempts to deal amounts of theirtime on drugs and it 5 . ; ~ s ’ V’ '- “i r -> . with drugs, dreams and their hasn’tgot them anywhere.‘ '. ‘ ‘ ' v"? corruption. - Wilson predicts: ‘lt’s the kind of play ' ’ \EQ . . O . . . Cynics would argue that the t which will, because of the highly There s nothing like beginning with a springboard series at the Traverse ' stylised way we’re putting it on, either bang. A maxrm that Robin Wilson, provides a cheap mm for me Theme, fall flat on its lace or will be wonderiul.’ ""039 Pew 9'“ 3‘ "‘9 T'aVe'Se W'" l for which they can pay below standard And as he points out the best way to find open with a car-crash, has taken to. : fees. any mum." in me script which out which, is to go along and see for .183". The CQI'ISIOP IS 0' cpurse, a little wuson described as a complex one yourse". " Ii “fed dramhahc devrce for literally packed Wm, semal energy, may never I “for!” t "'9? mammals "We'll"; have seen the light of day. Internal Injuries, Traverse Theatre, , ~ . - 4 -. ' i i e "0’ W 0 "'3‘ 3999" ‘0 bump ""0 The author‘s inspiration stems from a Edinburgh, 23—27 Jan. 7.30pm. £8 \ ' ‘ . ' ' 93°" 0"‘9’ 0" a desened “"9"”? mad, lascination that he admits to with Card holders 22. T " V L /