Theatre
Identity aplentity
DE'VISl' T) PIFCE SOUL PILOTS Tramway, Glasgow, Thu 12—Sat 14 Feb
We’ve all felt unjustly categorised at some point, whether it’s down to our race, age or gender. It’s frustrating at times, but going along with it is a matter of acceptance. Or rather, being accepted. The contradictions in our need to belong are just some of the ideas that inform director Pamela Carter’s new devised, live, visual art piece.
‘It’s about singularity and being an individual,’ says Carter. ‘Especially in a world where to rebel, well, you go and buy a pair of jeans from Diesel or something. So how can you be different? How do you become an individual?’ With a multi-talented and racially diverse cast of six including performers from Madagascar, France, Germany and the UK, Soul Pilots also addresses the issue of ‘how we take our place in the world’, as Carter puts it. She’s half Chinese, and says she has often encountered the question ‘where are you really from?’ There’s also the frustration of so often having to tick the ‘other’ box on forms, but she insists this piece is only as political as it is personal. ‘lt’s about being in the world. Being in the world full stop, and I think that’s inevitably political. How people organise themselves, how you represent yourself and what you are representing.’
With these concepts comes a certain liberation in both form and content. ‘lt’s traversing the world between the interior and the exterior. The act, the slip-ups, the blunders, the play and the joy are all part of it. It’s a very human piece of work. But it’s not story-telling, we are doing it rather than telling.’ The show, described allusively by Carter as ‘a huge game’, promises to be physical, visual and comic. With an original score by Steve Cracknell and a set by Minty Donald that features a race track - expect some running — this may well be a thought-provoking evening of theatre. (Meg Watson)
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MARKING-S
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Thu 19—Sat 21 Feb
With the ()liristiiias season only iust behind us and the credit card bill still looming in front. family matters are at their most topical. There is nothing like seasonally enforced proXImity to one's nearest and dearest to bring relationship Issues to the forefront. So the premiere of I‘t/lark/ngs is perhaps aptly timed. Writer Dominic Francis' latest piece deals with the turbulent subject of the family: a unit held together by more than ltlSl blood. Director Tamara Harvey explains: “It's about generations. it's about family
I” i Sand in the place where you live
mother and the subsequent discovery of her estranged father's diaries. they begin to delve into the histoiy of a man unknown to both daughter and grandson. ‘Returning to the beach is
A
MODERN CLASSIC
DEATH OF A SALESMAN Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 6 Feb-Sat 6 March
A play like Death of a Salesman needs little introduction. You may not have seen it. read it rented the movie to pass your English coursework. but there is little doubt that you are aware of it. Today. it is over :30 years since Arthur Miller's tale of an aged and unsuccessful salesman first rocked the capitalist boat of post-war America. And yet the plight of Willy Loman. whose Wife and sons bear the brunt of his failed dreams. continues to strike a chord With modern audiences.
A legacy such as this might leave many directors with a case of stage fright. But not director John Dove. ‘You have to dive into it,' he sa is. ‘lt's a huge play and we are Just bringing it out. Whether there's new light or not I have no idea.' So why' should you take the time to see this latest Lyceum resurrection? According to Dove. the
N t: w woi ik SWITCHBACK
Capitalism and broken dreams
answer to that is the play itself: 'lt's movnig. it's very funny. it's quite like a thriller and it is totally relevant. We are still liVIng in the same world. lt's extraordinary that so many of Willy's lines are about issues we still have today.’ And that should be argument enough. (Corrie MIHSI
Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 10—Sat 14 Feb
Theatre. of course. happens in the moment. Each night. a performance of the same show will be different. contingent on all sorts of factors between audiences. actors and technicians. It's both the beauty of the medium and the bane of its very ephemeral life. It's an idea that's veiy' present at the moment for Adrian Osmond. director of such acclaimed pieces in recent years as Lion in the Streets and Possible Worlds. As both director and writer of this production for a new company operating in association with the Tron. Sweetscar. Osmond intends to use this aspect of the theatre to its fullest advantage.
The stoiy'. told in 22 short scenes. of a couple in a relationship under strain. will see a different performance each night. With the scenes remaining the same. but running in different order. ‘You can catch so many great moments in rehearsal. bits an audience doesn't see once the play is rehearsed and rehearsed. and I want to be able to give the audience this freshness.’ Osmond explains. ‘In a way. I hope people come along more than once. because they're getting a different show each night.' Now that's what the theatre is all about. Steve Crameri
Ame rm ION THE TROJAN WOMEN
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 17—Sat 21 Feb
Troy, Troy, again
One of the thugs that "‘akes a classic a cl; ss=c is that its themes keep Tlllgt"‘§l true. So when leading Nigerian play"~.'.'r:gl‘t l-emi Osofisan caii‘e to consider The Tree" Women by Euripides. it spoke to lllll‘ as much about the rahsacking o." the Mic-"i; h city of Owu in 182‘. as it did the defeat of Troy by the Greeks in the ‘2‘..". century BC.
ielationships. it's about the people that we are and how we relate that to our family. And we do that through anger. through tears. through battles with each other and then laughing about it after."
The play follows Fdward and his mother. Annie. as they seek solace from their present. walking across the treacherous sands of Morecamhe bay. With the recent death of Annie's
68 THE LIST r'; 's i UK. 2:55.:
significant because it's where they start out. but it is also this open landscape in which one can get totally lost.’ says l-laivey. ‘I could get truly poncey and relate that to their relationship.‘
But this play is not about being poncey - it does tackle serious issues and yet Francis" skill for comedy promises a play that knows how to laugh at itself. Not too unlike some families. I guess. iCorrie lvlillsi
'As | pondered over the adaptation of Euripides play I". the year o" the lraui \.‘.’ar. the men‘ories it stirred in ll‘O were of all I'd read about the Oy'ru Vt’arf he says.
Wntten as ai‘ aht: war play at the trn‘e of the Peloponnesian war and "lS'. neifor'i‘ed in :2 ‘: 538C. The Tidal" ‘.'/omen (BXHl‘HllOES the cruel (:oiisegiie"(:es cf the Greek victs", ()l‘ llecuba and her datighters. who suf‘er rape. 'l‘ttl'ilOY' and en‘ercezi slayery.
Sadly, history has a nasty habit of repeating :tself' and \.'.‘.".(?l‘. the once great c ty o" Oy'ru fell to two neighboussg kingdon‘s after a seyen year siege. ai' the "‘en ‘.'.ere ii‘assacred and the ‘y'.’()l‘.‘(}.". uniei‘e tirned i"i() sexual {Ni/(33;.
Os< fisah. aatlior of eye" ‘ZKD plays and the "‘a'tagihg d recto" o" the Natici‘a‘ Theatre in lagos. was (Ifilt‘l‘."SS|Olt(‘,il by C"ll)t)tl‘.g Norton Theatre where the ci'o;i..::tic" has
gust opeheu before a seyenoty tour. Mark T sne"