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THEATRE new shows
CANADIAN DRAMA
Albertine, In Five Times
Tron Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 14 Feb, then touring.
it's your first day in a home for the elderly, and you're rocking rn your chair, trying to ignore the smell of disinfectant. After a while, you realise you're su'rrrunded — by four younger versions cf yourself. ls dementia setting in already?
B‘li the five Albertines in Michel
Listen to yourself, Albertine: Una McLean advises Deirdre Davis, while Katherine Connolly looks on
PHYSICAL THEATRE
The Hansel Gretel Machine
lrlusselburgh: Brunton Theatre, Tue 17 & Wed l8 Feb. Edinburgh: Theatre Workshop, Mon 2 Mar. Stirling: MacRobert Arts Centre, Tue 3 Mai;
Thzs winter, David Glass embarks on the biggest tOurney ol l;|S career Leading physical theatre artist Caiass's latest project is an irriaginatiye socially- conscious Whopper. Designed to draw attention to the plight of children arourid the world, the LOST Chi/d Trilogy will unfold over three years, The straw,er and third [filiduc‘ticgtis Will be partly tit‘yifsec'l (2" global tours, in oft thin/aria: :7 v-ivizh cirilr'lre'i, theatre i-t-‘ts (zi‘t'l all \‘UC’iQPTS
T. e ‘T-rst part, Milifled The Harier
(WIN A" return", 2'4, r‘airrz‘étttly binning duh. rir-o t, a string of Asian and
l"."i""."trlll dates Glass describes t l yrs-hal {all'l ‘~,:~'.-:Te‘-ial T'Olll'VOlTllcli'T of GUN-'7‘ fairytale “.8 about .‘r‘ir' aria”.- :1' ‘ t , cl‘ultlreri and the way ‘iir-y tic-3i It, l‘ut see'i twin a
-"~-:i's rersner m "-,' he e‘dtiarr‘s
Glass fit-st rihes “its s1ir,=;ertts as, 'Cl'uldie't Who have been k:lled O! c‘lisarzrir-ared or are yrst ignored Thcy re the :rir‘st vulnerable people, arr;l they have the most i_)»<tra-i,‘irdii‘:ary stories to tell We need to hear their MONO)
’l was also interested in the ‘lost" idea as a un.rersal theme,’ he adds. ‘We have all lost the child inside us in some way or other '
Schooled in mime and dance, the
84 THE LIST 6-49 Feb 1998
Tremblay‘s poetic play offer one another more comfort than torment. A gUiIt-ridden figure - who appears in several of the Montreal-based writer's plays and novels -- Albertine is based on his aunt, whose son became mentally ill; and whose daughter took an overdose
'lt’s kind of about, do you ever accept yourself?’ says John Binnie, who is directing the play for his company Clyde Unity Theatre ’l always think of looking at photographs of myself as a kid, knowrng I was gay, but feeling incredibly lSOlBIEd. As an adult who has accepted himself, I Wish I could have spoken to that boy and sard, "look. it’s going to be fine, cli-ri't worry; you're not alive ’ And that's what this play is about '
Translated from QuebecOis by Martin Bowman and Bill Findlay - Scots translators of five Tremblay plays including The Gurd Sisters and House Among The Stars - the show features an all-female cast. Deirdre Davrs, Eileen McCallum, Una McLean, Alison Peebles and Hope Ross play Albertine, With Katherine Connolly as her sister Madeleine
’The play looks at things like what it is to be a good mother and a bad mother; what it is to be a good Sister, what it is to be a good Wife and what happens to you when you bring children into the world,’ says Binnie. 'We have really fascinating talks about those issues. I feel really priVileged to be in on those conversations, wrth these incredibly experienced women (Andrew Burnet)
gangling, bespectacled Glass, now 40, began making solo shows two decades ago. in 1990, he formed the Davrd Glass Ensemble, which has staged source material including cartoon character Popeye, Meryyn Peake’s Gormerighast books, and Fellini's film La Dolce Vita
In The Hansel Gretel Machine, Glass's take on fairytale fear features backwards talk (but no dialogue), masks, a crazy ballet of spoons, bowls and chairs, and Hansel's imprisonment in X-rays.
’The whole thing is like a dream play,’ Glass reflects. 'The last part, in the witch's house, is a nightmare But quite often nightmares are actually good dreams in disgurse, l thrnk.’
(Donald Hutera)
Disguising good dreams as nightmares: David Glass Ensemble
MUSICAL“ _
The Street
Glasgow The Arches, Tue ‘iO---Sat 21 Feb (not Sun l5 Feb).
The concept of a musical aboiit prostitution sets critical alarm bells ringing, but High Road actor Alan McHugh has been careful to shy away from tackiness 0r insenSitiVity in his script for The Street.
'There is a way of dealing wrth strong social issues in a musical form wrthout it being all-singing, all dancmg,’ he claims. 'There’s girls out there being killed just now if trivialiseci .ii glarriourised what they do we'rl :rucified and otiite rightly"
The Street is the sIOry of Kelly, a seventeen-year-oid single mum in dire financial straits who goes on the garrie
lff‘
A walk on the wild side: Gailie Morrison, Debbie Young and Alicia Devine in The Street
as a last resort She is contrasted With an older prmtitiite \‘."‘it) Is trying to get off
the streets.
’The play doesn't offer any solutrons,’ says lylcllugh
‘Rirt i want people to see
these girls as human beings in a hell of a prerlirariierit, not just slags down at Anderston or Blythswood Sguare ’ (Peter Ross)
MUUTMEmA Euphofia
Glasgow: Tramway, Thu 12--Sat ta Feb.
Finding out what makes someone tick has become a fine art From Oprah's couch to market research, people are continually encouraged to bare all Playing as part of Trarnway's Hit 3 Run season, Theatre PUR’s Euphoria puts the process rather than the person under the Tlllt roscope
'We have always been interested in how people get to know each otltc-r,‘ says lisa Baraitser, a founder irierriher of the London-based company. 'ln Society, there are lots of codified ways of doing this
Borrowuig the structure of lngrnar
‘, 5.0,, /
: " flu-c4"
Getting to know you: Theatre PUR in Euphoria
Bergman‘s film The Rite, a group of four “‘0” expose tit-iii ,r s t.» nine levels of personality probing, rrieasuriiig and testing One is li'lll‘er‘fi'y".':“d trir il g'il) Another stands in a witness box Two more simply have a ({l.’l‘s’t’"T‘.‘illi in
\‘Jag O" 8‘1y';.0i‘3, episodic way of rnovrnr; through time [ii/thorn) 1‘) hill or
(Pr-“ll Vklelblll
nutrition“ Scream (stay seated) Glasgow: Tramway, Fri 6 8r Sat 7 Feb.
With a show called Screarri (stay seated), Mair Factory could be mistaken for a schlock horror cutfit Prior to Screa'rt‘s run at l‘raniways Hit & Run season, dancer-rnanager-ciewser Sharon Smith wants to clear up any misconmgft'nns
’I had cine of those halfasleep. half- awake Cir‘f‘zllll‘, when l serearrted Do yOu know the s: r: 7 The title is also a little ioke about the relationship between audiences and performers Audientes are so passwe '
The Limdc‘n-based C")ll(‘f,l.l‘.’e of dancers, musrCians and writers uses offstage areas and ydeo to challenge theatre corwentiorts, while tackling Ir fin de sr'eci’e "lGlIHt of ineanirto and
direction. Surrounded by infinite possibility, people
white noise of chOice.
l,‘T()Vl(l(‘d an the :irierrit-cted.’
Nice dream: Max Factory in Scream
(an end up deafened by the
’The performance is full of failed attempts to be super-hurrrari,‘ says Smith. ‘We continually pull the rug from under the audience's feet We want to entertain and push our indiViduality to the maximum ’ (Paul Welsh)