Theatre
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PREVIEW ltl VIVAl EDUCATING RITA Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 11 Feb—Sat 2 Mar
If there’s a consistent thread that runs through the work of Willy Russell, it’s the need for escape, usually from a stagnant class system that oppresses his protagonists. Yet his work is more nuanced, less moralistic than you might expect. From Shirley Valentine’s life changing holiday, to the school excursion in Our Day Out and on to the desperate stratagems of the Johnstone family in Blood Brothers each time a character flees their situation, they are left with a certain longing for the world they abandoned. Perhaps the greatest escape of all is that performed by the protagonist of Educating Rita, but even education doesn’t provide a total break from the past — as Emma Cunniffe attests.
This actress, whose television credits include the lead role in The Lakes, will star opposite Corrie actor Charles Lawson in this memorable theatrical duet. Cunniffe believes that the much acclaimed film of the piece (starring Julie Walters and Michael Caine) might
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well be an advantage to this particular production. ‘Whenever I tell people I’m doing it, they say, “Oh, yes I remember the film”, but I think that’s no bad thing really, in terms of making people want to come. Hopefully we’ll bring our own quality to it. The play is a two hander — I think the other characters in the film open it out. Here you just see Rita and Frank in one room, so I think you get more into their relationship.’
Cunniffe is alert, though, to the fact that the play is not simple escapism any more than Rita’s university career is a simple escape. ‘Rita thinks she’ll find a better landscape a better world than the class she’s trapped in. She imagines a world where people are happier in a more educated, more civilised world. There’s something about the writing at the end of the play, where although she’s learned a lot about herself, we’re not sure where she’s going next. She feels she has more choices, but she’s still got decisions to make about her personal life, and even though knowing more is great, you can read all the books in the world, but there are still things you must face.’ (Steve Cramer)
PREVIEW DOUBI i Blll DESK JOB l NIGHT DUTY
terrible political events.’ (Steve Cramer)
GRV, Edinburgh, Sun 15—Wed 18 Feb
PREVIEW mm M t s pip-this. DEFENDER OF THE FAITH Tron, Glasgow. Tue 10-Sat 28 Feb
the power sharing iteal struck b\ the [MP and Sinn l ein In 3m ' max haxe suggested to the world that the troubles llt Northern liefaim gm» lllliill‘y oxei but the impavt o’ iteiades of \ioleniie has permanently .et‘. its mark on the publii‘ portraitiiis'iims lrish plawxnght Stuart Carolan examines the impai‘t of this histom~ (ltlllllltxl in his Mid-1 debut [letemfer fit the / .iith. whit‘h /\lltl\ Arnold is new bringing to the lion
lhrough its plot. in whii‘h .i lltflllllllll‘dlt tamily is shaken up b\ the search for an .ntoiiner in tiltiti, ()arolan claims he wanted to depart from stereotypiital pi iitiayils 'I didn't want these people to be lust goodies and baddies. ” lroubles tittion" always follows an apparently simplistii: narrative and I wanted to write something different ' (Iarolan, a former radio producer, exudes passion when he talks about the play's exploration of ‘the impact of \.’l()lt.‘ll(li,‘ on the soul' lhis emotional perspective it. juxtaposed Wllll his desire for impartial representation of the perpetrators of Violence. 'ln certain areas of Belfast] he claims. 'one in two men would have been in prison at any one time during the lroubles. You either say there’s something wrong Wllll them as human beings or they're reacting to a political situation beyond their control'
lhis outlook points to the universally relevant message behind the play. ‘l’olitical Violence around the world is always simplified. It you break it down, people are iust human beings .I didn't want the play to have a trite message so that everyone feels good, but the audience should get a sense of the desolation that Violence causes' (Yasmin Sulaiinan)
the guest to find a venue on the same scale as the Arches, bringing exciting experimental small- and medium scale work to l’fllllhlllgll, has now spawned the GRV, which now has a small performance space to complement the eXisting gig and club spaces. Its first theatrical double bill looks an intriguing venture.
Artistic director Andy Corelli of Siege Perilous directs Desk Job. by Paul Bishop (pictured). ‘lt's about 9 to 5 office hierarchies,' he says. ‘lhe manager in the piece does nothing but think about how to get the better of his employm.‘ Corelli's approach involves using six actors to alternate between the two characters, giVing shifting perspectives on age and gender amidst the constant abuse of power.
The second piece, Mark Russell‘s Night Duty is a political satire With a ‘Wise fool' premise, in which the inmates of a psychiatric ward comment on world affairs, assuming some alarmingly familiar roles, including George W Bush. ‘lt‘s one of those pieces where you wonder who are the mad, is it the people inside the ward or outsde.‘ says director Helen Marie O‘Malley. ‘Each character plays two people, so we‘re left wondering where the tranSitions occur. At one point someone says, “If you drop a Single piece of rice no one will hear it, but if you drop a thousand pieces of rice, it might make a difference." There are a lot of things like that where you begin to realise. that we might have become too comfortable amidst some