f V THEATRE
3?“. ~
When a third-year history class at Braidhurst High School in Motherwell was looking for a topic for a project on British industry. a glance out of the classroom window was all that was required. The schools sits in the midst of the industrial landscape of Lanarkshire. only minutes from the Ravenscraig steelworks and within sight of the now closed Clydesdale tube works. As the weeks went by. the project grew into Closure .7 — The Story Of The '(Traig. a comic singing and dancing show. written by the pupils from their own experiences of how unemployment has devastated the area. ‘Everyone is affected in some way.‘ explains Norman Bissell. director of the show and the history teacher who
FESTIVAL 8""‘/1(l""I
Steeling the show
i set the ball rolling. ‘not only with
fathers or uncles who work in the plant. but in some cases mothers who work in the canteen. Some have been affected directly by it already. others are seeing it more indirectly, but because they all live in the area, eveyone is aware ofwhat’s happening.‘
The people of Motherwell have always been vocal in their criticism of British Steel‘s policy towards its Scottish plants. and the company‘s chairman Sir Robert Scholey has become Lanarkshire‘s particular bogeyman. The community’s pride in its own history and its ability to face economic hardship with humour is reflected in the play. which is based loosely on Dickens‘ A Christmas Carol, with the ghosts Of
Outer limits
William Mastrisimone’s psychological drama about rape, Extremities is best known in its film incarnation starring Farrah Fawcett. The script, however was first written as a stage play and produced over a decade ago. Part of Strathclyde’s Regional Community Education Service, Glasgow’s Actors Lab brings this horrific thriller to the Fringe on 26 August before transferring to Glasgow Arts Centre.
Extremities is a play which doesn’t compromise. Ayoung woman is attacked in her own home by a rapist whom she manages to overpower before imprisonlng and exacting her revenge. This includes spraying him in the eyes with insecticide, scalding him with boiling water, mutilating him with i ammonia and bleach and incarcerating i him in the fireplace. The violence she inflicts upon the man is far more ' extreme than the physical assault she was subjected to before preventing l actual penetration. in fact, it was the would-be rapist‘s verbal attack which
' 4‘s » ‘o 2‘ ‘ kg?“ ' ‘k‘ ‘ if was terrifying and degrading. And yet,
in a court of law, despite the violation of a woman's home, body, and respect, she remains powerless without a scarred body.
Extremities raises the sort of uncomfortable questions we seek to avoid. What acts of brutality is a human being capable of committing when pushed to the limit? When does violence justify further violence? Where is the boundary drawn between sell-defence and gratuitous sadism? Furthermore, should a woman resort to
. the same tactics as her ‘male’
aggessor, thereby perpetrating this anti-social behavioural pattern? The play, however, is ultimately a story of psychological, rather than physical, intimidation and manipulation. When the woman's
7 fantasy. The protagonist enacts the
W H I T L I s . Alan Morrison iindsiive l good reasons for avoiding dinner. Ravenscraig past, present and future coming down to persuade Sir Ebenezer Scholey not to shut his steelworks. The idea plays on suggestions that Motherwell would be like a ghost town if Ravenscraig closed. due to the knock-on effect on local shops and associated businesses. The part of Sir Ebenezer is played by fourteen-year-old Lindsay Taylor, who only had newspaper and TV reports to base her character on. ‘It‘s weird playing the baddie.‘ she confesses. ‘At first. I felt the odd one out because all my pals were playing the steelworkers. It was difficult; not just getting things like a Yorkshire , I. accent right, but working out what 3??” ._ j i I L . . _ . w . :23:::.:::.'::.al‘;:;;llasses.. . . . ‘ ° Terry Beck Troupe play Lindsay admits that. at one pornt. Wm, apples and when the class heard that a couple of umbrellas. plate mills were closing down at choreographed to music Ravenscraig, they wondered if it was by John Lilley. lead worth going ahead_ But Support guitarist of The Hooters. from Wildeat’s Dave Anderson, who W‘m‘” “f? :S""”“"""" gave tips at rehearsals, and Elaine C. fztffj‘fi‘fi‘rd' Smith, a former Braidhurst High (Fringe) [$26k pupil herself, gave them the boost . Troupe. “Wm, they needed. Thanks to sponsorship workshop (Vamzoj 336 by Motherwell District Council, the 5425,unti131.~tug. pupils are set to become stars at the 9.30pm. £5 (£3.50). Edinburgh Festival. although they I The slim lm'cutii'c I will come back down to earth with a theme and 1‘ “WW 3 , - , . metaphor for i crash when the bell rings for classes ‘ ‘ ' , . \ , ‘ , at 9am the following morning. (Alan “intim‘wm‘r-‘J'ffi‘ “in” l , blind people letlye the r Mornson) asylum and become lost in l Closure? -The Story Of The Craig a forest. i (Fringe) Braidhurst High Theatre, The Blind (Fringe) Across The Mersey, Infirmary Street 77'0"”? 200. ROW!" m» 2w 51:35.21:765:11:57it‘ll, .> (not Thurs 29), 9.20pm. £4 (£2). 3] Aug ("0! “mm. You speak to a flatmates return to find the immobile 9451"” 13""),(‘V . . ~ rapist. newwmmeu 33:31:51,12233:335..s sympathy by employing intimate membg, of the Socialist ‘ 5 Throw a punch information which heightens their wurkcrtS par“, or go backthree vulner Mark Steel (Hinge) Can there be an optimistic conclusion (ii/tied Hal/mm (Venue ; to this endless circle oi violence in 38) 226 2151. min/31AM. ; which morality is ambiguous and 9pm.” “4’ ' 2 survival oiten belongs to the fittest? By subjecting the rapist to his own means, as a spirith secondhand the woman is able to provoke a Clothes Shop owner. cathartic confession which, coming 1,, terms with presumably, will lead to a personal middle age. in the latest scrutiny of his actions and their effects. compelling monologue by
W. (iordon Smith. Going For A Love Song (Fringe) ( 'aa‘iumre
The palpable realisation of l
responsibility does not necessarily
lead to a change of ingrained Fabbm Stockbrth
responses. i Home (Veniu’29) 552 But Extremltles is essentially a I 6829. “nu-,3, Aug mm
j Suns), 8pm, [5.
I Carlucco and the Queen
‘oi Hearts George Rosie
‘deconstruets the Bonnie
- Prince (‘harlie myth in this
torrid tale of domestic and
l political strife. brought to
life by Fifth Estate. ( 'urlut‘m and (he Queen of
uneasy dreams of revenge harboured in every rape victim and those associated with her. It releases the pent-up frustration borne of unsafe streets and the knowledge that even in the comparative safety of our own homes, we are vulnerable. (Roberta Mock) t , . - - ,,, Extremities ( Fringe) Glasgow Arts .’ iii-{Lilli £333,121? ill/mm.) Centre. Harry Younger Hall (Venue 13), '30; 556 9579, tum/31 A tit» 26-31 Aug, 8pm, £3 (nurSuns). 8pm. [6 (14).
TIME CHECK?
The List 23 —‘2_9 August 199145