card and confirmed that he wanted nothing to do with repertory theatre — something he has avoided since. Kenny Ireland tried to persuade him to join the Lyceum’s ensemble for the new season, but Burn declined.
Much of his recent work has been marked out by a commitment to projects which fit into his recently awakened interest in club culture. including his pal Irvine Welsh’s play Heat/stare and more recently on the Fringe in Damage Productions’ Come On which mixed trained actors with faces from Edinburgh clubland. Burn turned down parts in TAG’s International Festival adaptation Of Lanark and Reader at the Traverse to give time to Come On. which managed to translate the rave experience to theatre with a remarkable degree of success.
However in the past year Burn has been
involved in a series of rather shakier projects. such as NVA‘s over-ambitious Sim-my ll’arw's (he played the apocalyptic angler). which have promised more than they delivered. Kenny Ireland at the Lyceum reckons this apparent
‘desperation to be alternative‘ is in danger of
losing the theatre a gifted actor. Burn. of course. sees it differently. ‘It‘s not about “fuck the establishment". though I do want to fuck the establishment.‘ he says. ‘I‘m just looking for work that excites me.‘
The next project which Burn hopes will excite him is the final instalment of Process [Ten 281’s ambitious and bizarre Joyce project. which will involve digging a hole in Tramway‘s eight-inch- thick concrete floor. Director Ken Davidson originally cast Burn because he looked like James Joyce. ‘It was like a vision.‘ Davidson
TAM DEAN BURN FEATURE
remembers. 'l was talking about this Joyce project and all of a sudden this man appeared who looked as if he could act.’
Since 1993 Davidson and Burn have collaborated on the seven-part Joyce cycle inspired by Finnegan's Wake. which tmost recently required the actor to stumble around a hill above Castlemilk leading a donkey and wearing a Groucho Marx comic glasses-and- nose arrangement. Despite the difficult performance art concept behind Process [Ten 28]. what shines through is Burn's humour and generous spirit. As Davidson says: ‘You can’t leave him in a room for five minutes without him making friends.’
Mr Porter by Process / Ten 28] is at Tramway, Glasgow from Thurs 21—Sat 23 Sept at 8pm.
KEN DAVIDSON
The List 8-2l Sept 199513