Review
ADAP’lAl ioN FERGUS LAMONT
Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline, Wed 11 Oct, then touring. O...
The question of what precisely it means to be Scottish, of where and from whom a nation’s sense of itself derives, are bound to be at the forefront of public discourse over the next few months. Gerry Mulgrew’s production for Communicado makes a pretty decent stab at an answer to these questions, though in so wild and unruly a manner as to render any final decision on the issue a complex and finely nuanced one. Soaring between the rowdin chaotic and quietly elegiac, Mulgrew’s adaptation of Robin Jenkins’ classic novel presents a kind of Caledonian Peer Gynt, its protagonist cutting a swathe through every aspect of Scottish life, from working class turn of the last century slums to the rarified world of Scottish aristoland, full of Etonians claiming to represent the soul of Scotland. But if Fergus Lamont is harder on the hypocrisy and avarice of the posh, there’s little sentimentality in its representation of a foul mouthed underclass benighted by sectarian bigotry. Instead, the journey of the eponymous poet and antihero (Sandy Grierson) from a
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boy of dubious parentage who wears a kilt to speak of his Highland origins is obstructed throughout by his own vices and those of a society corrupted by one form or other of grim prejudice, from top to bottom. Perhaps only his childhood sweetheart Mary (Irene Allan) a campaigning socialist of the tenements, and his final partner Kirsty (Lesley Hart), a highland peasant girl, are exempt.
Relentless in its inventive theatricality, the piece veers from tableau to song to stark realism by turns, finding along the way the kind of spirit and feel of Communicado’s earliest glory days. David Vernon‘s accordion music is a constant presence, while George Tarbuck’s lighting captures the constant questing energy of the piece. Ultimately, it feels that there’s a nationalist bent to the play’s evocation of history, from the Highland Clearances to the Red Clyde and on to the Second World War, but there’s nothing simplistic to its message, which is nearly as morally and emotionally enigmatic as Fergus himself. Grierson is splendid at the centre, capturing perfectly the uncertainty an artist caught between the desire for social change and the comforts of bourgeois escapism. So too, Alan and Hart are strong in an eight-strong cast, all of whom rise to the challenge of multiple and often grotesque characters with imagination and vigour. An exhilarating night of theatre. (Steve Cramer)
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ARLECCHINO’S REVENGE
DOUBIE till l
AFTERPLAY 8. THE BEAR Byre Theatre, St Andrews. Wed 11 Apr, then touring 000
The loneliness. repression and feelings of ennui which are part of so many lives was perhaps never better captured than by Chekoy. little wonder. then. that Brian Friel. much of whose work runs along similar lines. should have written an homage to the master. here brought to Scotland by Attic Theatre.
Friel's adaptation of Chekhoy 's The Bear sees a drunken semi-bankrupt mercenary trader iPaul Boylei arrive at the home of a Widow iRuth Gibson, in long suffering mourning for her ayétStttl-l husband. The Visitor demands water. vodka and finally a duel with the y'Jidow over a debt left by her husband. The farcical action escalates. and the piece comes to a pleasing black~comic finale. but in truth. Jenny Lee's production takes a little too long to spring its trap.
The second piece of this double bill, an original work built around an accidental meeting in a cafe between Sonya from Unc/e Vany’a iDeboi'ah Maciai'eni and Andrey from Three Sisters it..dmund Kentei is altogether niore emotionally fulfilling. Although a good deal of time is spent explaining the eyents of the plays the characters are from, the sense of perspectzy'e lect by each yiewpoint becomes iiiti'igtiii‘:;i. Lach character. burdened by po\.'ert‘.. lost loye and early inistudgenients I." lift). engage in deception of bth lheiiiselves and their listener. yet the sense of sad elegiac reflection that hangs over them makes them ‘.'.’£t."lll. flawed and loveable. Good performances here. particularly from Maciaren. make for intense. engaging theatre. iSte\.e Craineii
Tramway, Glasgow, Fri 13 — Sat 14 Apr 000
The arrival o baccaneer'ig Aussie practitioner Clark Crystal has rewiyigoraten Lang;
Ha's. Scotland's ’eadii‘g company for people with leaii‘ii‘g disabilities. will". £1(I"(}{itl‘.t?
returns as a strolling player. and in the not; "
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tne nut/Men. gets n.s nun :, NR and ‘intis
the spectacle. ‘.'.’l‘zi(ilt I.'l".t)l‘.‘?f§ oye' tit? pecple:
ind collaboratiye spirit that many a were ausn cious company cont: learn ’t‘i}.'“_ I.” this ney'x piece. Crystal has brought the Paragoi‘ l--'.'isenibie .nto tne actcn. t.f;i".gl ye modern 'ii;isi(: with folky >yeitones to good effect.
The story. (l(}\.’lf§(}(l with the company. is a "eletgan'. aitu centenii>ora'y one, mounted lll the theatrical spzr‘it ot a colourft:i aslegoiy. In it. a y'xi'ite" :s trapped an a y'rheeled circus cage. (itiietly pioduczng the story of the s~gii ‘icantiy 'ian‘ed M' Murdoch iAlistaii Mac()i.=llocl‘. . a man wt'n global antecens '.'.'i'i;."g i:
t'nistreat l‘.:;
many staff in order to fulftl then: that he produces f‘()llt rig lfn". the cheesiest cheese" adds to the icke. Rut y'xhat goes around comes (i'()t."t(1. and ‘.'.’t‘(}f‘ :‘vlardoci‘.
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rue love.
l’uppetiy. l ir/abethan Mastice anti Jessica \"\."eria;"s lay sh cestunies and ricer. t.)
in stage at once. lhenies condemimg
greed, seitzsh ll‘i(l:‘.'l(lli{t|i:§lll aitu ‘aase I'ritt-rgiicn;es are to the fore. ittit there's plenty of comedy along the way. If the ending gets a lit: c- ;tioutiy. it's welt worth the watch to set: Mcitiozn's nasty comic comeupia'w‘e alone. :Steye Ciaineu