Theatre
Review
NEW WORK
REUNION
Citizens‘ Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 27 Apr, then touring 000
The traumatic and uncertain business of separation, be it of nations, lovers or families, creates a lasting emotional impact upon who we are and how we define ourselves. In 7:84’s new piece, composed of four separate short plays, each dealing with the trauma of separation, and commenting on the politics of the divided and dividing state, the action moves from the airin metaphorical to the bluntly direct.
Interestingly, it is at the polar ends of the scale that the plays are most successful. Haresh Sharma’s Eclipse is a monologue in which a contemporary Asian man explores the division of his family around the division of India. He transforms before us into his errant father and his entrepreneurial grandfather in the course of the piece, as ever present political events alter patterns of family, sexuality and affluence throughout. If this piece is direct in its politics, Linda McLean’s Doch - An - Doris (A Parting Drink) is so elliptical that, but for Kai Fischer’s multimedia design, flashing images of the
political separations of Ireland, India, Croatia and, potentially, Scotland across a video screen, it might be seen as a simple family drama, with some deftly comic touches. Yet it has a warmth and humour, coming from inspired observations of the nuances of family life that makes it tremendously endearing. In it, two grown-up children attempt, as the family awaits the arrival of a divorce lawyer at a sidewalk cafe, to reconcile their irritatingly anal mother and repressive, curmudgeonly father.
Nicola McCartney’s Wound, which sets a violent and disruptive adopted child against two exhausted and desperate parents, with a local paramedic trying to play referee as he tends the latest family injuries, might amount to a neat metaphor about a divided Ireland, but whether the action is more talky and televisual than it needs to be is a moot point. So too, Selma Dimitrijevic’s A Time To Go gets a little stuck in its metaphor, about a son trying to persuade his father to attend his wedding, and finding that dad’s objections are more complex than they seem. It’s a mixed bag from director Lorenzo Mele, but on the whole, worth a watch, with a nervous, but at times compelling performance from Umar Ahmed as three generations of Asian men, and a really witty turn from Billy Riddoch as the grumpy Scottish dad. (Steve Cramer)
NEW WORK FUTUROLOGY
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piece from its own incoherency. (Steve Cramer)
MUSICAL
MAN OF LA MANCHA Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 19 May 0000
There's an impressive gusto to Dale Wasserman‘s version. with words by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. of Cervantes‘ Don Quixote. There is also a certain underlying complexity in its insistent questioning of reality. idealism and madness. where each masquerades as the other.
In it. Cervantes is imprisoned by the inquisition. and in order to save a manuscript his fellow prisoners look set to burn. performs the document for their amusement. Cervantes (Nicholas Pound) transforms into Don Quixote. and his manservant (Stephen Elias) into Sancho Pan/a. From here we see the dark and insalubrious countryside around him become his imagined noble kingdom full of chivalrous codes and conflicts, while an abused serving wench (Pauline Knowles) morphs into his courtly lady.
Martin Duncan's production in front of Francis O'Connor's splendid prison yard set shows a vitality and humour that keeps the pace up from start to end. Pound’s slick and accomplished Cervantes. full of wily old West End tricks, is a particular treat. and Elias. his. surprisingly Welsh. sidekick. shows plenty of guileful wit in his numptyish straightman. Strong support. too comes from George Drennan in a succession of roles. Ultimately, the power comes from a slow build up of emotional empathy for the wise tool at the centre. so skilfully crafted by Duncan that the sense of sadness and exhilaration at the climax sneaks up and pleasantly surprises you. (Steve Cramer)
Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre until Sat 28 Apr, then touring 00
For all the obVious advantages of a long preparation time for a piece of theatre. there may in fact. be drawbacks. Times change. and attitudes with them. So perhaps the reason why Suspect Culture's long-awaited NTS-produced piece doesn‘t work is that they were plainly forced to change horses in midstream. Originally intended as a schmalt/y pastiche about the politics of fear. where all the anxieties promoted by governments and corporations are seen as groundless there was no doubt a problem when the primary fear — global warming —- proved to be an inescapable scientific fact.
Perhaps the uncertainty of tone that rather undermines this satirical cabaret comes from this alteration of circumstance. In the piece. a bumbling holy innocent from the Sandwich Islands (Angela de Castro) arrives at a mighty conference of the great and good of all nations in order to address the issue of her sinking homeland. She finds herself in a bizarre netherworld at a luxury hotel whose manager (Grant Smeaton) proves to be the local mayor. l-le increasingly fails to control a workers; revolution in his corporation-owned industrial town. Meanwhile. the many delegates fiddle while Rome. er. sinks.
The cabaret is at times very pleasing, With a big. sexy, all singing and dancing performance from Maria Victoria De Pace among the highlights. but in between there are various turns of self consciously un- PC humour that simply aren't funny. While Graham E'itough's production thrashes out left and right. occasionally scoring hits against globalisation. there's a general lack of direction and focus which traduces the piece's theatrical dynamic. There are strong supporting performances from Smeaton and Morag Stark. those ever reliable Arches stalwarts. but no one can QUIIO do enough to save the