Theatre
PREVIEW ADAPTATION THE MISSING Tramway, Glasgow, Wed 21 Sep–Sat 1 Oct (Graham Fagen’s Missing is at Tramway, Tue 13 Sep–Sun 2 Oct)
‘The passage of time has been really necessary. I needed to get some distance,’ says Andrew O’Hagan. He is referring to the 14 years that have passed since John Tiffany (then literary manager at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, now associate director of the National Theatre of Scotland) first proposed a theatre adaptation of his debut book, the acclaimed non- fiction piece The Missing.
The book, which was first published in 1995, was inspired by the uncovering in 1994 of the appalling crimes of Fred and Rosemary West in Gloucester. A journey from the south-western Scotland of O’Hagan’s youth in the 1970s, through Britain in the 80s, it received many plaudits for the profundity and humanity of its contemplation of the issue of missing people. O’Hagan has now adapted it for the stage. Tiffany
will direct the piece for the National Theatre of Scotland, and, fascinatingly (in collaboration with the Scottish National Portrait Gallery), acclaimed visual
artist Graham Fagen will create an accompanying video installation.
For O’Hagan, who took a ‘backseat’ role during the creation of the NTS’s 2009 staging of his novel Be Near Me (adapted by its lead actor Ian McDiarmid and directed by Tiffany), the process of staging The Missing has been very different. O’Hagan has found the experience of adapting his book to be an enriching one. ‘I’ve worked through every scene very carefully with John Tiffany, and, day-by-day, throughout the seven-week rehearsal period, I’ve been working very closely with the actors, making sure that all the power that I know resides there can be mined . . . It’s a great company effort, and I’m thrilled to be involved.’
For his part, Tiffany feels he has overcome his 14- year-old fear of this deeply affecting material. ‘It’s something about absence and people who aren’t there anymore; it’s got real theatrical fuel. I suppose it was a question of getting the courage to find a theatrical language for that, without needing to “dramatise” it. It will be dramatic, but I don’t feel the need to make it into a well-made play.’ (Mark Brown)
PREVIEW REVIVAL MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS GOT HER HEAD CHOPPED OFF Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, Fri 16 Sep–Sat 15 Oct
For director Tony Cownie and the cast of the Lyceum and Dundee Rep’s co-production of Liz Lochhead’s 1987 classic, the Edinburgh Festival is over. Already they’ve had Lochhead in to give advice on pronunciations and, in mid-August, are kicking rehearsals into high gear. ‘It’s just the first show of the new season for me,’ laughs Cownie. ‘It just means I have to get everything I want to see on the Fringe out of the way early.’ Examining the divisive relationship between Mary Queen of Scots and her cousin, Elizabeth I, the play is about more than just a dysfunctional but powerful family. ‘First and foremost, it’s a brilliant story,’ says Cownie, ‘but there are a lot of lessons that can be taken from it about the problems Scotland faces. Sectarianism seems to continually come up and be buried under the sand without ever really being dealt with. This play shows how that’s been a divisive issue for centuries.’ Cownie’s a long-time Lochhead collaborator, having most recently worked on Educating Agnes, her adaptation of Moliere’s L’Ecole des Femmes, for the Lyceum. ‘She’s not afraid to talk about Scotland,’ he says. ‘I love the way she reminds us of our culture so descriptively, she’s very proud of it and it comes across in her characters.’ (David Pollock)
list.co.uk/theatre
HITLIST THE BEST THEATRE
Men Should Weep Brand new production of Ena Lamont Stewart’s classic play set in a Glasgow tenement in the poverty- stricken 1930s. Reviewed next issue. Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Fri 16 Sep–Sat 8 Oct.
Greek Scottish Opera and Music Theatre Wales come together with the Traverse to create this contemporary retelling of the Oedipus myth, written by Mark- Anthony Turnage from the original play by Steven Berkoff. See preview in Music. Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Thu 1 & Fri 2 Sep.
God Bless Liz Lochhead The autumn season of A Play, a Pie & a Pint opens in style with Martin McCardie’s play, which imagines the original cast members of a touring production of the Scottish Makar’s Tartuffe reuniting for a sequel. Oran Mor, Glasgow, Mon 5–Sat 10 Sep.
Legally Blonde The Musical The West End musical based on the hit Hollywood film starring Reese Witherspoon, about a young woman who proves a dab hand at the legal profession, arrives north of the border. Theatre Royal Glasgow, until Sat 3 Sep; Edinburgh Playhouse, Tue 6–Sat 17 Sep.
Mary, Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off Liz Lochhead’s seminal play about the rise and fall of the iconic monarch returns to the capital in a brand new co-production from the Royal Lyceum and Dundee Rep. See preview, left. Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, Fri 16 Sep–Sat 15 Oct.
Arches Live! The annual festival of experimental theatre rolls around again, with new projects from Nic Green, Kieran Hurley and Thom Scullion. See preview, page 134. Arches, Glasgow, Thu 22 Sep–Sat 1 Oct.
For Edinburgh Festival
theatre see page 49
25 Aug–22 Sep 2011 THE LIST 133