Theatre
PREVIEW REVIVAL STEEL MAGNOLIAS Dundee Rep, Wed 22 Feb–Sat 10 Mar
‘I would rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special,’ says Dolly Parton as brassy hairdresser Truvy in the 1989 film adaptation of Steel Magnolias. The country singer led a cast of big name Hollywood stars that included Sally Field, Julia Roberts and Shirley MacLaine in the hit film, but fans may be surprised at how spare Robert Harling’s play (on which the movie is based) actually is, being set solely in Truvy’s Louisiana beauty parlour, with each of his gutsy characters sharing their pasts, futures, hopes and dreams. Now, director Jemima Levick believes the funny, sad play
is a perfect fit for the Dundee Rep ensemble. ‘It’s a very simple story that focuses on love, friendship and support, and the warmth and simplicity that holds these women together,’ she says.
Levick was drawn, too, by the idea of working with an all-
female cast, including Barbara Rafferty (River City, Rab C Nesbitt) who takes on the role of Clairee, immortalised on screen by Olympia Dukakis. And while she admits she’s spent the day in rehearsals crying over some of the more tender moments in the script, Levick’s keen for audiences to engage with the humour and period of the script.
‘It’s lovely being able to transport yourself back to a certain era, and the Deep South is a fantastic place to capture. There was something so joyous and fun about Dolly Parton’s bouffant hair, and the madness of the fashions of the time.
‘Even when I was reading the script for the tenth time, I
was laughing – the dry humour of the script is what removes it from unbearable sentimentality.’ Sort of chick lit theatre for a contemporary audience
then?
‘I suppose it can fall into what I call “knickers theatre”,’ concedes Levick with a laugh. ‘But the observations are all there so hopefully there’s something for everyone.’ (Anna Millar)
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PREVIEW SHORT PLAYS DOUBLE NUGGET Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 14–Sat 18 Feb PREVIEW ADAPTATION MELMOTH THE WANDERER Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Wed 22–Sat 25 Feb
With hits like Little Johnny’s Big Gay Wedding and last year’s Smalltown, Random Accomplice have proved themselves to be one of Scotland’s best- loved theatre companies. Now, they’ve revived 2008’s Marymassacre and 2009’s Seven Year Itch in a touring double bill called Double Nugget.
Julie Brown, who co-founded Random
Accomplice in 2002 with Johnny McKnight, says: ‘The two stories sit really nicely together. They’re both duets, they’re both about underlying issues, and both of the endings have a bit of a twist. That’s something we’ve done with several of our shows. We always have comedy at the heart of things, but alongside that we like to play with darker issues.’ These darker issues range from the true story of a
horrific murder told through comedy (Seven Year Itch) and a seemingly light-hearted tale of two psychic-obsessed girls with a terrible secret (Marymassacre). ‘They both still feel really relevant but we’ve completely redesigned them,’ Brown explains. ‘So although at their heart they are very much the same shows, we’re really looking forward to seeing what they’re going to be like in 2012.’ (Yasmin Sulaiman)
110 THE LIST 2 Feb–1 Mar 2012
Northern Irish company Big Telly Productions has a taste for adapting unruly texts such as Spike Milligan’s manic novel Puckoon. Their latest production is an adaptation by Nicola McCartney of Charles Maturin’s 1820 novel Melmoth the Wanderer. An epic, sardonic shaggy dog of a book, it made its author famous and was parodied by Balzac and raved about by Baudelaire.
Melmoth is a sinister Englishman who brings death and despair in his wake, but who can’t seem to die himself. Artistic director Zoe Seaton reckons that the novel, for all its Gothic conventions, has much to tell us: Melmoth ‘is both tempter and tempted – how far will he go to escape the consequences of his actions? How much is he prepared to suffer? How do you stop a cycle of evil?’ (Yes, Simon Cowell, how?) A chorus of ‘half-masks’ tells the story: ‘We were totally engaged by these complete idiots who bring irresistible comedy and utter anarchy to any situation.’ Given our current fascination with vampires, Maturin’s darkly funny tale of damnation and destiny sounds timely; Big Telly, with their focus on the ‘theatrical, visual, entertaining, physical and funny’, seem well placed to stage it. (Alex Johnston)
REVIEW NEW PLAY THE INFAMOUS BROTHERS DAVENPORT Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, until Sat 11 Feb; Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 14–Sat 18 Feb ●●●●●
Some 52 members of the crew on this co- production between Vox Motus and the Lyceum were required to sign secrecy clauses, so it’s no surprise that the show has its fair share of ‘how-did- they-do-that’ moments. In one scene, a table rises from the ground seemingly of its own accord; in another a tambourine floats from the stage and off towards the gods. Writer Peter Arnott and his collaborators have undoubtedly done their research into the phenomenon of the Victorian public séance, but while the production captures the excitement of such stage spectacles the sparseness of the plot makes it rather unsatisfactory as theatre. This is a shame as the celebrated Davenport
brothers’ backstory – including the suicide of their beloved sister who returns in ghostly form to haunt brother Willie (or does she?) – is an intriguing one. Too often, though, the opportunity to explore the real darkness brought on by the loss of loved ones is overlooked in favour of impressive, if increasingly cumbersome, stage trickery. (Allan Radcliffe)