Theatre
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‘THROWING TV SETS OUT OF YOUR HOTEL WINDOW IS PART OF THE CREATIVE ACT'
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7 he endo he Rimbaud
Steve Cramer talks to Stewart Laing about Slope, his production of Pamela Carter’s play about the relationship between Rimbaud and Verlaine.
Steve Cramer 'l'he xtor} ol Rimbaud’x relationxhip \\ ith Verlaine hax become a kind ol' legend in the artx. ol‘ten ax a xtarting point l‘or commentar} on the nature of poc‘ll’}. Ho“ ix )otlt' xlot'} dil‘lierent'.’
Stewart Laing lt‘x the relationxhip \te're interexted in rather than the poetr). I think the} xa} about No linex ot‘ the poetr) throughout the “hole thing. Pamela hax \xritten the re\'er.xe ol‘ that kind ol' \torkz it'x debunking the m}th. lt'x reall} not a lanclub pla_\. both ol' thexe men come out ol‘ it prett} unpleaxantl}. In Pamela‘x perxpectixe in particular. .xhe actual!) dixlikex Rimbaud. Verlaine ixn‘t x}‘ltlpttlhc‘lic‘ either. but I think it xhe hax an} x)iiip;tth_\ it'x on hix xide. l'xtiall} he'x xeen ax a l‘ootnote in the xtor) ol Rimbaud. but in thix xtor} it'x more the other \\a_\ around.
SC ()t‘ten \\ e tend to hax e that Poxt-romantic \ ie\\ ol poetr} \xhich xeex the poet ax a kind ol precioux \ ixionar}. \\ ho can behax e badl} becauxe the_\ hax e a .xpecial gilt. It .xoundx ax il‘ -\otl\ e molded thix pitlall. SL People do look toward Rimbaud that \\a_\. .\lu.xician.x like Jim .\lorrixon. Patti Smith. l’ete Dohert} and l)a\id Bowie ha\ e all cited Rimbaud ax a rel‘erence. But I think that'x almoxt ax much about the rock'n'roll lil'ext_\'le ttx the \\ot'k. ll httx to do with thix idea that throwing tele\ixion xetx out ol‘ _\our hotel \xindon i.x part of the cream e act. We're not about that.
SC So ho“ doex )titii‘ .xtor} unliold‘.‘
SL There are three characterx. Rimbaud. Verlaine and Verlaine‘x \xit‘e Mathilde. \x'ho \\ ax .xi\teen _\'C;tt'x old and pregnant when Rimbaud came into their li\ ex. Pamela'x \xritten a low x'tor}; \xhich beginx with the
MTHELIST“
al'l'air. xo Rimbaud arri\ex in thix bourgeoix lamil} houxe in l’arix. and a lot ol‘ chaox lollou x. It cndx \\ ith Verlaine lea\ing hix mile. The xecond act ix xet in l.ondon \there Verlaine and Rimbaud nimed into a flat in (‘amden and |i\ ed like a married couple in one room. The third act ix the relationxhip l'alling apart in Bruxxelx. lt beginx with the moment the} meet and endx the moment the relationxhip endx.
SC (‘hrixtopher llampton'x pla}. Iiim/ lull/Hr ix a ximilar xtor_\; \\ ere )ttll conxcioux ol it when _\ott began )tttll‘ procexx’.’
SL l‘\e a xort ol' hango\ er memor} til it l‘rom reading it a long time ago. l’amela haxn‘t read it. and he axked the actorx not to read it in rexearcliing the piece. 'l’here'x actuall} a Dutch mo\ie ol it with Leonardo |)i ('aprio. made \er} earl} in hix career. but it'x not a point of" rel‘erence tor thix at all.
SC The l'axcinating thing about thix production ix the ua} )ou'x e uxed the biggext Trauma} xpace l'or xuch an intimate drama.
SL We're in the biggext xtage. bill the actual acting area ix one ol' the xmallext xtagex e\er at 'l‘ramxta}. 'l'hirt) people get to watch it at one time. lt'x an idea I got \\ hen l \\ax looking at (irotouxki. He did thix production ol' 'l’lit' ('unxltml l’rmt‘t' in the Mix \there the xet \\ ax a pit and the audience xal around the top ot‘ it and looked dtmn on the xtage like an anatom} theatre. So \xe're building a room \\ ith the l'ourth \\ all complete. a realixticall} xcaled room in a hotlxe. So the audience are looking through the ceiling. ax it \\ ere. \Ve're interexted in that thing about \o} eurixm.
Slope is at Tramway, Glasgow, Sat 15—Sat 29 Jul
Staqevnispers
I There's no faulting the attitude of the NTS to developing youth theatre in Scotland. Barely a week has gone by without some new initiative to create access for the young people of this country to the fulfilling and instructive experience that is theatre. Much of the credit for this must go to the energetic Simon Sharkey. formerly artistic director at Cumbernauld, now youth theatre tsar at the NTS.
The latest initiative involves a company that for all its focus on youth is a fair bit older than the NTS itself. East Glasgow Youth Theatre has associated itself with some admirable projects and considerable talents over the years, and its latest NTS backed outing has an international flavour. Using the ongoing Traverse Class Act initiative as its model, the NTS sent writers Douglas Maxwell (below) and Nicola McCartney to Russia. where they met up with the kids from a state orphanage and began devising work. This was turned into a joint project between the Russian youth company Vesoliy Gorchishnik and the East Glasgow kids. which will be unveiled shortly.
There’ll be music from the redoubtable David Paul Jones, whose work with such companies as Grid Iron and Suspect Culture has attracted much deserved praise, as well as the participation of several Russian theatre practitioners mixed up with the end product. The piece, which formulates itself around the starting point of journeys, is not yet fully devised, so it would be wrong of Whispers to speculate about the content, but everything around this project indicates it will be worth seeing. You can catch it at The Bridge. 1000 Westerhouse Rd, Easterhouse from Thursday 20 July to Saturday 22 July. Phone 0141 276 9696 for tickets. It could be an evening of fascinating culture clashes.