Theatre
REVIEW NEW PLAY NOBODY WILL EVER FORGIVE US Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, until Sat 29 Nov ●●●●●
It’s hard to shake off the feeling that this final production in the National Theatre of Scotland’s series of Traverse Debuts is set in a bygone era. The story of a young man returning home from the seminary, disillusioned with Catholicism and disbelieving in God, much to the chagrin of his devout working-class mother, has the feel of something from the more orthodox 1950s. The presence of a hard-drinking father – whose love of Robert Burns, Frank Sinatra and socialist ideology is scant compensation for his reign of domestic violence – only reinforces the atmosphere of the mid-20th century when patriarchy and liberal ideology clashed. Yet, Nobody Will Ever Forgive Us by Black Watch and The Thick of It actor Paul Higgins is set in modern-day Wishaw where people get jobs in Comet, take anti- depressants for their nerves and spend their leisure time in snooker halls. Perhaps this is why John Wark’s failed priest Patrick is reading a book called Escaping History. His is a family that, for all its intelligence and
educational opportunities, has become weighed down by the inheritance of religion, class politics and gender expectations to such an extent that it can only turn in on itself. It is not only history they want to escape. They want to flee the memory of a sister’s death, the crazy spiral of financial debt brought on by gambling and a family dynamic dependent on an unspoken policy of mutually assured destruction. Sadly, there is little chance of ridding themselves of any of it.
With such a desperate scenario, it’s a relief that Higgins’ play is, for the most part, a comedy. John Tiffany’s carefully paced and excellently acted production draws out all the gallows humour of the first-time writer’s combative dialogue. The weakness is a second half that is more of a coda than a genuine progression. With a coffin centre stage, the playwright seems to suggest death is the only way to liberate yourself from this dysfunctional family. It is a death that lacks the cathartic power of tragedy, however, offering only the demoralising emotion of despair and leaving the audience grimly entertained but also powerless. (Mark Fisher)
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REVIEW NEW PLAY HEER RANJHA (RETOLD) Tramway, Glasgow, until Sat 29 Nov ●●●●●
Two kids from opposite sides of the tracks. She’s a glamorous socialite, daughter of the owner of a successful chain of Scottish restaurants and a Sikh of Punjabi origin. He’s a suicidal job-seeker who’s never left the country and, although also from a Punjabi family, a practising Muslim. Love strikes when he is dredged from the Clyde and taken aboard her yacht. The roots of Shan Khan’s play for
Glasgow’s Ankur Productions actually lie in a 17th century Punjabi epic poem by Waris Shah. Updating Heer Ranjha to 21st century Glasgow allows designer Kai Fischer to create a chic monochrome space which director Daljinder Singh populates with a parade of Bollywood-style parties interspersed with murky back-room machinations. She uses her large professional and community cast with precision and imagination. If only there was such imagination in
Khan’s script. Nothing wrong in itself with the transposition of the ancient epic to the kitchens of Glasgow, but the playwright has also replaced the story’s high-minded grandeur with soap-opera banality.
As Ranjha, Taqui Nazeer endures a couple of confrontations with his workmates, but shows no qualities that would make him steal Heer’s heart, let alone ours. She, meanwhile, as played by Nalini Chetty, has a few more vigorous confrontations with her controlling parents, but nothing enough to elevate the scale of their romance to the majestic. (Mark Fisher)
REVIEW MUSICAL WEST SIDE STORY Theatre Royal, Glasgow, until Sat 29 Nov ●●●●●
It’s a popular misconception that West Side Story started life as a film. In fact, the 1961 celluloid version followed four years after the Broadway show – giving them a little time to move things around and get it completely right. Fifty years later, this stage production is proving that original isn’t always best. The powerful en masse dance routines still pack a punch (unlike the fight
scenes, ironically) most notably when the feisty Jets come together and during the hot and steamy dance hall scene. But positioning the comic ‘Gee Officer Krupke’ song – arguably the highlight of the night acting-wise – after gang leaders Riff and Bernardo have been killed seems incongruous, as does the ludicrous ‘Dream Scene’, mercifully cut from the film.
Inappropriate casting, however, is the show’s main problem. Daniel Koek feels wrong as the romantic lead, Tony, leading to a lack of chemistry with Sofia Escobar’s Maria that ultimately impacts on the entire show. Few of the singers have the ‘belt ‘em out’ ability the songs demand, especially when backed by an over-zealous brass section. And not everyone hangs on to their New York/Puerto Rican accent with the same tenacity.
With such incredible material to work with – Leonard Bernstein’s music, Stephen
Sondheim’s lyrics and Jerome Robbins’ choreography – this show should thrill, excite and move you to the point of exhaustion. Instead it merely provides two hours of okay entertainment and an overwhelming desire to seek out the DVD. (Kelly Apter)
82 THE LIST 27 Nov–11 Dec 2008