Theatre
Review
CLASSIC A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM Botanical Gardens, Glasgow, until Sat 14 Jul coo
Just as Freud’s Oedipal theories altered the modern perception of Hamlet, his dream theories exert a powerful influence on this Shakespearean classic. Freud professed that dreams were a manifestation of forbidden thoughts and unconscious desires. Director Gordon Barr highlights this in his latest version by casting each actor in multiple parts, reflecting the multiple facets of human desire and overlapping the three worlds of the play, all in one dream.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream needs little introduction, having long been a regular of rep companies and site- specific fans alike. This version explores the familiar world of the lovers, mechanicals and fairies, through Puck’s (Ewan Donald) eyes, as they undertake their magical caper through the woods where enemies fall in (and out) of love, an actor transforms into an ass and the fairy kingdom clashes over an Indian changeling boy. It’s all played out in the splendid surroundings of the Botanical Gardens on a summer’s night, but bear in mind this is a Glasgow summer’s night, so wrap up warm and take a flask of tea, soup or Buckfast.
Faced with its second outing in five years at Bard in
76 THE LIST 5—19 Jul 2007
the Botanics, you can’t help but wonder why revert to a site-specific staple, unless of course Barr truly has something new to say. He does explore this done-to- death classic in a new light, mainly through the eyes of Puck who draws us into his world where, for once, he holds the power to manipulate his players. This subversion of power is what makes this dream different. By double or triple casting the other actors Puck becomes the only constant. Even the normally all- powerful king of the fairies, Oberon (John Macaulay), becomes almost animalistic and sub-human, propelled by base desires, another mere pawn in Puck’s cunning game.
The other characters remain fairly conventional, if well performed, interpretations of Shakespeare’s text, apart from Egeus, Theseus and Hippolyta, who are represented both by Puck and disembodied voices over loudspeakers, maybe a rather convenient solution to the logistics of a minimal cast. Sarah Paulley’s seemingly predictable set becomes clearer as the play progresses; she’s created three distinct pieces using different materials; a metal ladder, a soft hammock and a climbing net, perhaps reflecting Barr’s exploration of the three interlinking worlds. It’s an energetic, entertaining production but for those already familiar with this play in performance let your conscious and subconscious battle it out between cost and cold versus new concept. (Greer Ogston)
YOUTH THEATRE
Macrobert, Stirling, Wed 4—Sat 7 Jul
from its inception.
like qualify youth work. (Steve Cramer)
EXCHANGE YOUTH THEATRE FESTIVAL
STRIPTEASE ART NIGHTSHADE
Tramway, Glasgow, run ended .00.
In these days of ubiquitous sexploitation advertising and cinematic ‘torture porn'. striptease can seem like an almost quaint activity. Such. indeed. is the thesis of one of the striptease artists in Nightshade. the latest show to be brought to Scotland by the inventive Belgian theatre company. Victoria.
Popping the balloons which cover her body. the proudly fuller-figure stripper suggests. ironically. that her routine must seem outdated. In the old days. she says. repressed husbands would come to watch her performances. before scuttling home to their wives. Nowadays. of course. she comments knowingly. we're all much too liberated to be repressed.
Her humorous deconstruction of postmodern ideas of sexuality is one of the strongest pieces in a diverse collection of theatrical vignettes. By turns beautiful. erotic. disturbing and perplexing. the acts go beyond the subject of striptease. raising wider questions about representations of sexuality within our culture.
Particularly affecting is the piece in which a slightly built young woman - who. at first appears to be a girl — is seemingly forced to perform. Frightened. then terrified. she is only able to strip after crawling. like Alice in Wonderland. into a hole. her face hidden.
Elsewhere. an archetypically erotic performer in stockings and red high heels uses the (vertically and horizontally) moving partitions of this technically accomplished production to play. humorously and seductively, with notions of concealment and control.
lnevitably, some pieces are more thought provoking and visually arresting than others. but. yet again. Victoria have succeeded in taking theatre onto unfamiliar but unexpectedly rich terrain.
(Mark Brown)
It is perhaps the mark of a certain sickness in our society that we pay our policemen more than Our teachers. for the priority given to education is certainly the barometer of a culture's health. 80 it tells us something about the NTS that it has made great strides in its education program
This year the Youth Theatre Festival at Stirling promises to be one of the widest ranging events of its kind for some years. With over 100 schools participating. as well as other youth organisations. the few days of the festival will be divided across various themes. On Wednesday and Thursday. three shows by companies from Ayrshire. Dundee and Balwearie incorporating childrens' experience of war wrll be staged. This topicality is offset by the more eternal theme of change and metamorphosis in a piece by Cumbernauld Youth Theatre entitled Butterfly. which speaks of alterations. either in circumstances or in our bodies. which might mean something to the youths participating or in the audience. With three more shows along similar lines. and the participation of such professional companies as Visible Fictions. this looks