Theatre
Stage Whispers
IWhispers was bowled over by the news of Hamid Pinter’s recent achievement of a Nobel Prize for Literature. No sooner had he finished writing his piece about Pinter as the best living writer in the world, than the old boy is so honoured. I know what you’re thinking: the judges were, er, nobelled. There is much for British drama to celebrate in the honour bestowed on Pinter, not least the fact that a writer of such profound and complete political vision can be honoured, in the often anaemically apolitical theatre of the UK. Maybe our practitioners could follow the old Pausemeister’s example to achieve yet more. IAnother dramatist of quality and longstanding in the UK community will be honoured shortly. Tom McGrath. whose My Old Man continues to tour as you read this, will be celebrating his 65th birthday at the Traverse on Saturday 22 October, and you’re invited. David Greig, one of our finest writers of the new generation, will be interviewing McGrath about his life and art on stage at the Traverse. in a programme that includes readings of several of his finest plays, including Dream Train, The Hard Man and Animal. It runs from 2—5pm.
IAnother mighty figure of the theatre, whose recent death was a genuine personal loss for Whispers, was the great Scottish writer, poet and translator Bill Findlay. His last translation, The Straits, will be read at the Traverse at 7.30pm on Wednesday 2 November. His rare and distinguished voice is well worth the listen, and his writing partner, Martin Bowman, with whom he produced so many of his Quebecois translations of Tremblay, will be flying in from Canada for the event. To Whispers, it seems an unmissable night of theatre.
Tom McGrath
82 THE LIST I20 Oct—3 Nov 2005)
lHtAl RE SYMPOSIUM STRANGE BEHAVIOUR Byre Theatre, St Andrews, Sat 26 Oct
For ten years now. Suspect Culture. originally co-lounded at Bristol University by three young graduates. has presented challenging and Vigor0usly exploratory theatre work. mainly to a receptive Scottish theatre audience. lhe triumvirate. composer
Nick Powell. director Graham l-atough
and writer DaVid (.‘ireig. are all still involved With the company. although each also has an independent career
these days. and they have. since then.
pulled into their home base some ol Scotland's finest theatre talents on a succession of big and small scale projects.
lhus tar. very like any theatre company's history. Yet there's; difference. in that their work tecnzs. more than most other British
companies. With ideas. Whatever one
thinks of the success or lack of it ol each ol their projects. one invariably walks away from them wrth a need to discuss the aesthetic and its broader social themes. More than thought provoking. they're talk provoking l-or
this reason. they have always seemed the ideal company lor the presentation
of theatre symposiums. where ideas are discussed. tested. read. workshopped and so forth. It's some
years on since this company began its
annual Strange Behavrour event. and
each so far has proved valuable to both practitioners and the public lhis year 's
event. at the Byre. whicn WI“ address the intriguing starting point of theatre and geography. looks no exception
Recommended to all those With a free
day who are interested in ideas wrth their entertainment. (Steve Cramer)
MODLHN ciAssic CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF
Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 21—Sat 19 Nov
As an autumnal chill descends upon the city. the l yt‘eum lheatrt; r. set t) thrust back into the stilling heat ol the Deep Sauth the lllyllllt‘é’il South of days gone try where Violence and sexuality hang languorousl; in the harried air. In (,l‘.(? c" l-«rinessrve Williarns' most tamous plays. a bitterly unhappy lainin celebrati- a tnrtnday ‘.'.’.Il‘. an inheritance struggle. On Big Daddy's luxurious Mississippi pltiilitilulli, the rial, wall, of human emotions is in stark contrast With the grandeur ol the setting.
Returning to the Lyceum lollowrng the success ol 1 ooA Back in Anger earlier this year. director Richard Baron lirrnly believes in the mass appeal ol Williaiirs' plays ‘I think that they are really high duality soap operas.‘ he says 'l ike an exceptionally good episode of Dal/as. lhey are sexy. there's volenr'e. bad language. arguments. Jokes and all kinds ol colourlul characters. lhey are everything a pit-rye oi H‘i‘titlt‘
should and could be."
On the f)()th anniversary ol (lat on a Hot [in (loot. liaior‘. has unearthed an or..;iiiar and rarely perlorined version of one ol Williams most tainous plays. Unlike the sitiirit that Williams was bullied into revvirting lor Broathay this little known versior: ltzjt'tltti happy endings tor a more raw and uncoinpiorirising vision of lamilral relationships.
Review
ill VlV/\l PINTER DOUBLE BILL COO.
Arches, Glasgow, run ended
There’s something in human psychology that will forever make us prone to projection, insecurity and excessive bouts of unchecked subjectivity. Our refusal to accept or fully understand our circumstances and our entrapment in language are at the heart of Harold Pinter's work more than that of any other living writer. In this Arches company double bill two one act plays of the last quarter century quite characteristically explore this territory.
In A Kind of Alaska we meet Deborah (Jill Riddiford) a woman who has suffered from sleeping sickness for decades, emerging from what amounts to a sleep that started in her teens and has ended in her middle ages. The narrative takes place in the brief period in which her doctor (Stephen Clyde) and her sister (Morag Stark) convince her of the many years that have passed. it is a gently nuanced piece, featuring an astonishing performance from Riddiford as the bewildered teenager in an ageing body. It’s a good production, but this actress will stay with you beyond all else you see in it - a rare turn where not a second, not a dropped vowel, nor the slightest movement is wasted on stage.
Mind you, she's up against some stiff opposition in Moonlight with director Andy Arnold’s performance as the curmudgeoniy and embittered Andy. This dying old man, matched with an aged and disaffected wife (Morag Stark) rails at ancient infidelities and children he has, in one way or another, lost on his way through life. His is a world of rationality and order, but there is, as it were, a madness in his method, and it is the prerational that he will never come to terms with. This piece strongly recalls The Homecoming in its monstrous gestures of filial impropriety from two sons (Ben Hitchins and Joe Arkley) more interested in power games with increasingly absurd networks of colleagues names than their ailing parent, as well as the general outrageous humour of the characters’ verbal hostility. In front of Sarah Pauley’s clever split level set, this is perhaps the strongest night of theatre in the autumn season so far. (Steve Cramer)
Think of it as the director's cut of a classic play. ((joriie lvlillsi