EDINBURGH FRESTIVAL FRINGE – TILL 29 AUGUST 2010

THE SEAGULL by Anton Chekhov in a NEW adaptation by top playwright Jo Clifford

This open air production of the Russian genius's great work has been especially adapted by the celebrated Scottish playwright Jo Clifford. It is as though this masterpiece was written for Alba at Duddingston overlooking the loch. Magical drama

Jo Clifford says:

“I’ve wanted to work with Theatre Alba for years, ever since I started writing plays. At that time I saw their production of “The Shepherd Beguiled” which moved and impressed me profoundly.

That play and that production had a great influence on my work, and it is a real joy for me now all those years later that we finally have the chance to work together.

The Seagull is the perfect project for us to work on. The stunningly beautiful setting of Duddingston loch is absolutely right for the play, as is the whole playing style of the Company in all its emotional truth and power.

Charles Nowolskielski originally asked me to shorten the play. But as I started working on it the play worked its magic on me and before I knew it I found myself re-living the characters’ lives. And then hearing their words. Which I felt compelled to write down.

So I ended up rewriting the play and producing a completely new version of it. It is such a pleasure, and such a delight for me to inhabit Chekhov’s dramatic world. I hope it is the same for the audience too.”

Duddingston  Kirk Manse Gardens (Venue 121) , Old Church Lane, Edinburgh EH15 till 29 August (not 23,24).  7.30 pm.

In an old mansion in the Garden District of New Orleans a family is gathering together for the first time in almost a year. Last Summer Sebastian Venable died in suspicious circumstances and now the only witness to his death has appeared and will destroy everything in her wake.

"Suddenly Last Summer" is considered by many to be one of Tennessee Williams darkest and most surreal plays. Although the play's first production was in 1958 it didn't receive its Broadway debut until 1995.

It is perhaps best known as the inspiration for the Academy Award nominated 1959 film starring Elizabeth Taylor, Katherine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift.

Whilst the play deals with subjects such as insanity and repressed sexuality it also contains the lyricism that is frequently found in Williams writing. And this production by Theatre Alba in the gardens of Duddingston Kirk Manse should certainly prove to be one of the most atmospheric and memorable productions of this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Let's just hope we get some of that balmy New Orleans weather to go with it!

“Suddenly Last Summer”

by Tennessee Williams

10-14 and 17-21August

16:00 (1hr 20mins)
 

In the Marquee at

Duddingston Kirk Manse Gardens (Venue 121)

Photos by Alan Guthrie

"An Island Between Heaven & Earth" ***

Storytelling Centre, Netherbow 22 May

Written by Alistair Rutherford and directed by Jim McSharry, this is the story of the fulfilment of one man, Scots minister George MacLeod’s dream of re building Iona Abbey.  With a large ensemble of 11 actors, of diverse types and varying experience, this is an excellent example of a community theatre production, and it is to McSharry’s credit that everyone is cast and directed to show themselves at their best.  It is also a true piece of storytelling, which although full of lots of facts and figures, and sometimes quite wordy, is well written and always ably delivered and easy to absorb.  There are also cleverly incorporated, fascinating excerpts from original newspapers, letters and newsreel broadcasts, which add to the overall genuine flavour and period feel of the piece. There were a few teething problems with slight technical hitches throughout both acts, but the cast coped with these easily and I am sure they will be ironed out before the next shows. 

At the heart of the story is the idealistic, visionary George MacLeod (Adam Tomkins), a pacifist man of the church and a ‘gambler’ for God, determined to ‘untaint’ arms manufacturers’ tainted money to realise his dream, and Tomkins drives the piece forward with an outstanding, authentic performance, ably holding our attention at all times.    MacLeod uses a mixture of unemployed shipyard workers and trainee ministers for his task, and there are some very interesting clashes between ideological beliefs and social classes, with both sides learning unexpected things from each other.  The double act of Bobby MacKay (Philip Kingscott) and Archie Scott (Edward Ellis) provides some really endearing and humorous moments and Michael Mills’ portrayal of the humble but well-informed (if not educated) labourer Alistair Dunlop is at times both touching and informative.

The women’s parts are very much supporting roles and largely confined to housekeepers and/or storytellers (indicative perhaps of the times themselves) but all three (Lorraine McCann, Lisa Moffat and Janey Grant) do so with charm, warmth and, particularly in McCann’s case, well timed comedic moments. Scott Kenneway and Ian Fallon are convincing as Milorad Petrovitch and James MacQueen, respectively, and David A Roberts gives a solid performance as Bill Amos, while John Stewart ably portrays the gruffly hostile Andrew Munro.

This is a well directed and performed, easy to watch little piece which, when MacLeod realises both this dream and other personal and professional achievements, leaves you with a real feel good factor. I am sure all this will come across well when the show transfers to South Leith Church Halls between 11 and 13 June as part of this year’s Leith Festival.

It seems only fitting that the Lyceum should finish its season with Chekhov’s final play. After all 2010 is the 150th anniversary of Chekhov’s birth and Edinburgh’s Traverse theatre recently staged Three Sisters, the third of the playwright’s four great plays, so it seems like good planning for the Lyceum to complete the series with The Cherry Orchard. That said this production is no mere intellectual exercise. Byrne’s bold Scottish adaptation, coupled with Tony Cownie’s 1979 vision for the play, make it different from the hallowed versions of Chekhov we’re used to seeing. Different in a good way, that is.

In terms of the plot, the production remains close to the original: a land-owning widow (Mrs Ramsay-Mackay) and her family are swamped by debt and face the loss of their ancestral home with its beloved cherry orchard, until a local businessman (Malcolm McCracken) proposes a commercial venture that will allow them to save face. So far, so Chekhov, only the action is transported from Russia to the Highlands. This is an inspired parallel given both locations share a sense of romantic idealism, perfectly captured in Michael Taylor’s set, complete with its full-length faux Raeburn portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie.

The family’s idealism is also a rich source of comedy in Chekhov as he sends up the aristocrats, most obviously the widow’s brother, who can even wax lyrical about  the nobility of a bookcase that  has ‘served the family’.  While this comedy translates well into the Scottish version, with the brother, Guy Ramsay, as the archetypal toff, Byrne really comes into his own with his mastery of local dialect, especially in curses and put downs, for example, the servant Fintry on a broken coffee pot: ‘bloody hoor of a thing!’. Meanwhile Grant O’Rourke is hilarious as the accident prone Sorley Shanks.     

That said the play does not shy away from the harsh politics at the heart of Chekhov’s ‘comedy’, when post-Revolutionary Russia saw the rise of the middles classes in direct opposition to the gentry. Instead it transports us to a time of equally significant social change in Scotland’s recent history. Setting the action at the start of Thatcher’s reign, a time still fresh in Scottish memory, when ambition was rewarded and notions of community and local industry thwarted, Cownie ensures we are shown both sides of the story.

On the one hand we admire the ambitious McCracken, who has been successful, despite the odds. We also empathise with his frustration towards the Ramsay-Mackays, who refuse to even acknowledge their financial downfall, let alone listen to his solution. It has even been suggested McCracken’s character is a self-portrait of Chekhov, himself a victim of his father’s squandering and subsequently a self-made man.

On the other hand, the play also accommodates a more sympathetic view of the Ramsay-Mackays. Even McCracken does not place himself in direct opposition to them. This psychological complexity is expertly gauged by the actor Andy Clark, especially in the scene where McCracken tries to comfort Mrs Mackay, almost admitting  his own solution is harsh, however practical. Perhaps this again reveals Chekhov in McCracken, showing the playwright’s own ambivalence towards the declining aristocrats, especially given he was dying as he wrote the play. Indeed however eccentric and amusing the idle rich are shown to be, we are also made to face how devastating the loss of their home is to their sense of identity. They don’t know who they are anymore and we feel for them, not least due to Maureen Beattie’s exquisitely sensitive portrayal of Mrs Mackay.

In fact the entire cast is very impressive. Predominantly RSAMD trained, each actor makes an impact through Chekhov’s typically anti-star structure in which there are no lesser roles. Indeed it is the production itself that sparkles, reviving the classic play with contemporary relevance and humour, making Chekhov’s concern that his writing was too specific to have relevance outside Russia impossible to believe.

Felicity Thomson

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, adapted by John Byrne, directed by Tony Cownie

The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh

16th April- 8th May 2010  

Clashes between siblings fascinate us, perhaps because we see in them the human urge to compete and succeed. 'The Price' centres round two brothers, one more successful than the other, just like 'The Man Who Had All The Luck', the Arthur Miller play John Dove directed at the Lyceum this time last year, and it makes for spell-binding theatre, every moment bristling with tension.

When their father dies, estranged brothers Victor and Walter are forced together to price the family furniture. Despite pressure from his wife to haggle with the dealer, Victor accepts the old man's first offer, perhaps taking pity on him, as he did with his own father. But just before the money changes hands, the wealthier brother, Walter, arrives unexpectedly, bargains for a better price and even offers Victor a job. The only problem is that Walter's bargaining skills and generosity not only show Victor up in front of his wife, they also add insult to the injury of perceived greivances from the past.

Indeed there is no getting away from old scores that need to be settled and the sense of being trapped by family history is reflected in the claustrophobic set. Antiques are precariously stacked in an intricate and fascinating design, while a long-silent harp and empty chair serve as ghostly reminders of the brothers' dead parents.

Just as the antiques are piled high like over-lapping memories so Miller cleverly layers up our understanding of their family history. The brothers exchange fragments of their past but, as soon as we believe one version of events, another slant on them threatens to undermine our first take. This sense of competing points of view is something Victor himself experiences as his long-held convictions that Walter is to be demonised and their father idolised are suddenly called into question.

The notion of clearing away the layers of denial to get to reality is alluded to in a particularly entertaining speech  by the old furniture dealer, Solomon. He explains that people don't like to buy antique furniture because its durability doesn't allow the owner the subsequent distraction of shopping for replacements. Instead the permanence of antique furniture forces people to face facts, as the brothers realise all too well.

While Solomon has some of the most profound lines in the play he also provides a great deal of light relief and James Hayes' performance is a real treat for the audience.

Taking things lightly is also a theme of the play, as one of Victor's problems is taking life too seriously and not being able to trust anyone. Just like David Beeves in 'The Man Who Had All The Luck' so Victor has trouble taking the good fortune being offered to him at face value.

When it comes to comparing 'The Price' with last year's Miller play directed by Dove, 'The Man Who Had All The Luck' was a thought-provoking piece of theatre, impressively performed, but 'The Price' surpasses it in terms of audience engagement, perhaps because it focuses instead on the less successful brother  and we find ourselves very involved in Victor's struggle, willing him to take Walter's offer and succeed despite his past. We feel as infuriated with Victor as his wife does, to witness Walter believing in his younger brother but having difficulty convincing Victor of his own self-worth. The question is, will Victor have the confidence to let go of the past and take up Walter's offer? Will he have the courage to value himself highly enough?

Indeed despite 'The Price' being about two brothers, one more successful than the other, Walter believes their bond goes deeper than their sibling rivalry and the play instead invites us to reflect on the value we are prepared to put on ourselves. Powerful, poignant stuff. 

Felicity Thomson

'The Price'  by Arthur Miller, directed by John Dove
The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
15th  January- 13th February 2010

Surely if you've seen one pantomime you've seen them all? Like the Christmas present you've already identified before it's been unwrapped, you may well assume you already know panto and its well-worn conventions, and that it's not for you. If that's the case you're in for a surprise with Jemima Levick's Peter Pan. Yes it entertains children with its own childlike sense of wonder but, unlike other pantos it also sends up the old conventions, giving the production a unique sparkle.

The characters are not your standard pantomime line-up. The typically whimsical Peter Pan has added depth as an adolescent really struggling to come to terms with his feelings for Wendy. Similarly Hook is not your average villain, instead he seems to self-consciously 'play the baddie'. The conflict between good and evil drives the plot so we might expect a more sinister Hook, even if the role is played tongue in cheek. Nevertheless the doubling up of Stuart Bowman as both Hook and Mr. Darling makes for a clever and unsettling comparison: is the father who mischievously spikes Nana's milk really so different from the pirate who maliciously poisons Peter? The doubling up of Tiger Lilly and Liza the nurse is equally unusual and Francesca Dymond switches between the roles with ease. Similarly casting a male Tinkerbell provides a refreshing alternative to the traditional panto dame. While the interpretation of Nana as a sweep reluctantly dressed up as a dog seems a little contrived, it nevertheless reinforces the overall theme of the play as a make-believe story put on by the children.

Interpreting the play as the children's fantasy is a clever twist that makes the story more believeable for adults as we then see it through the eyes of a child. The idea of play-acting is also brilliantly explored in the way the production is staged. Francis O' Connor's fascinating set centres round the children's giant bed which is magically trasnformed into the play's many locations, as if the children have never left the nursery and are instead pretending to be on an adventure. The stage itself also changes form, with the actors' suggestions: one moment they mime swimming, as if they're at sea, and the next they mime skating on ice. Even the kite that carries Wendy to safety cleverly doubles as the crocodile, continuing that sense of creative potential that children see in things.

Indeed while the production is unusually throught-provoking, with its unconventional characters and ironic approach to the fantasy, it still appeals to the younger viewers' sense of wonder. Not only does the vibrant, ever-changing set leave the audience eager to see where we are going to be taken next, but the illusions are equally compelling. The flying and combat scenes are convincing and skilfully executed and throughout there are touches of magic, like the sequence in which all the boys miraculously fit into Wendy's tiny house!

To sum up, Levick's Peter Pan is all about playing, whether with the conventions of pantomime or in the sense of play-acting or just childlike playing for its own sake. Instead of being formulaic this panto is, on the contrary, a celebration of free-thinking that would make Peter Pan proud. Indeed although I've been a panto Scrooge in the past, now the next time someone suggests that 'If you've seen one panto you've seen them all', I'll be the first to say 'Oh no you haven't!'.

Felicity Thomson

Peter Pan, The Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
27th November 2009- 3rd Janaury 2010

Graham de Banzie's first play, "The Hat" tells a tale of love, loneliness and stylish headgear.

On a park bench, a successful young businesswoman named Iris (played by Pauline Knowles) tries desperately to deal with her subordinates' incompetence and stop her businesses from crashing to the ground without her constant supervision. While Iris is wrangling with telephone calls and wearing a rather smashing hat, an older lady, Rose (played by Vari Sylvester), nervously sits down on the bench with her book. When the two apparent strangers discover they have much more in common, the seemingly chance encounter takes a more sinister turn as the origins of the hat are revealed.

Both Pauline Knowles and Vari Sylvester deliver generally strong performances as Iris and Rose. As the play progresses, however, it becomes increasingly clear what the twist will entail, detracting slightly from its desired impact. Despite the audience anticipating the play's next move in advance, it remains an engaging piece of theatre.

Despite the actors' best efforts, however, the star of the show is undoubtedly the hat.

Listings:
Augustine's, George IV Bridge. 
August  8-16, 18-23. 4:25pm (50 minutes).
£7.00 (£6.00) (£5.50 SU).

As Robert Burns he was the talk of the 1965 Edinburgh Festival. Now, 11 world tours and several lifetimes later, John Cairney, the most famous exponent of Scotland’s Bard, is back.

Since 1959 when he lost the part of Gabriel Oates to Alan Bates in the film Far From the Madding Crowd, Cairney’s name has become synonymous with Burns, not only as an actor but as an academic. So it is fitting that in this year of The Homecoming, which marks the 250^th anniversary of Burns’ birth, Cairney too has come home to his native Scotland after 17 years in New Zealand.

And what a comeback! He returned unannounced, and his venue accommodates just 60 people, but it is perfect for this intimate show, an hour-long dip into his world famous solo play, while seamlessly weaving into it his own life with Burns.

He has his audience eating out of his hand from the moment they walk in. And then the show begins and for the next hour he delivers pathos, humour and insight with remarkable energy and timing. He may be coming up to his 80^th birthday, but you’d never guess it as he leaps onto a chair to ‘ride’ the grey mare in a powerful rendering of Tam O’Shanter or cries as the young Burns mourning his father’s death. This is a prime example of experience ruling over youth. The skills this velvet-voiced actor has accumulated over more than 50 years on stage and screen certainly come to the fore.

Review by Clare Brotherwood

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