Few
L—Glasgow's Tron Theatre this month. But
THEATRE
Peter Arnott in New York. (‘hris llannan at the Iron. Glasgow. plus .Iim Davidson . and a new season for the Royal l.}'eeum Company.
LISTINGS: THEATRE 56 CABARET 60 DANCE 61 NATIONAL REVIEW OF LIVE ART 61
VDRAMA '
Broadway Arnott Rose
Barely has his political thriller Ski/ration tinished at (-ilasgow‘s
'l ron and already Peter Arnott has a New ‘t't trk opening of his 198!) play ll fit/e Rose to eontend with.
l le re he reports haek from the first week of rehearsals and diseovers that Ameriean aetors are a very partieular hreed.
\‘vlten I saw the xenue. l he I lome l5or
Contempt irar_\ ;\t‘ts and l'heatre. it eame home to me x» Its \met ieans seem st) at home at the ldtnl~urzzh l'estisal. Not for a lloweringot eulture. more for high rent and squalor. haek
l't' tins and ho ho\ otliee. 'l‘his is
oll~otl--l’;io;tdw a; . w hat the_\ eall here a showease piotluetion t a prolit share l. \Vhat money there is has heen ti tund lw the management eonsultant Illl\l‘?tlltl of the aettess playing the lead. Shannon Rs e. w ho liked the play w hen she saw it at the lestn. al. .\ family exereise. then. with the aetors e IlL‘k'hlllL' in their tlittt'tes to see When they‘re ITL‘L‘ from their tla_\ tohs. \l} guilty dreamsolflloe llttpp and l‘t'ig‘ltl liglth eltoketl haek Ik‘ltitttl the soetal smiles of Ha} I )ne of rehearsal some thingsdon't ehange,
I had in} doultts. Iii/tire Rose is a pieee olsolt Breeht . quite a l5uropean pieee. and if I was reading the litsi signs right. I‘d prohalil} he hest eoneentrating t in the Staten Island lerrt' and gaw king at the pt‘iee tags in the w intlow of Saks I-‘ilth .\\enue. l tnth rehearsals were arranged
for an empt} apartment on the lower last Side,
(leould still retoiee in the geography it‘s eorn_\ hut true that sou ean‘t avoid reading this town through a skem of song l_\'ries and movies. .-\s it tttrned out. we were three streets down from where Rohert l)e \iro went aeross the i‘tttlltt‘tps toshoot l-anueei in ({otffttt/it'rll, l was thrilled.) ()l eourse the} were dynamite onee the}. got
onto the floor . .>\nd I learned something ahout
the [inn ies. asopposed to looking through them.
'l'here is a eertaints ahout the importanee ol heing an aetor in these people. that was my real eulture shoek. It's \'et‘_\' simple. .\meriean aetors are hungrs 'I'he_\' ItelieVe that talent and sueeess
Scenefromthe Traverse productionoiWhite iiose in’1986.
\Ktll nteet title tltts on -I-‘.ttti tlilil iii't‘litl‘.‘u;t\ . Lttttl
that a theatre. or a tut w iv. is ill aetot‘s plain: an aetor'shome. I ikestreetkitls. the“. t‘mllale It presenee that is hoth traete in its il.tl'» . and titassi\‘el_\ impressh e.
ReallV flood aetors work for [It ohm: «tit/w lime. -\nd don‘t find thtt odtl t it llltlilsi. it would neVer and should never h tppe it ltete .‘ li*- need money as well .ts ltt‘we. lint .tett tr~ here. leottltl see. look at their tlelt,‘ttsl‘»etless as .1 pp tilt, f't. wlnle in Seotland. hloodf. *lllllltle tl 'l‘tl ilttllx‘l he a plumber” posturing is a means « It
pittie‘wti tnttl I ItLHVs' dell“ \\'.iIIlIU\I IKI
learn altout what made all theatre llt'l~._ tltet w ere
etiquette and stll'\ i\ .ll
completely open and trusting .thotti the et instant need to keep learning. and tltyvtl t It‘ll» It" a plumherinthe-daytime
I think it‘s going to he good, White Rose /\ (II / In H. mm /- Irrx tun/ l/n'tttr‘t'.
l’)‘( ‘}I>‘[{‘})[1r)('f‘L[’r\v
\t’tt lt’Ih. {VII/f. .“t r )t‘m/wr,
.V'N‘EW PLAY Mourning story
When the Roman dictator Sulla died n 788C. public opinion was divided. The Senate recommended a state funeral. but the professional mourners, who had suffered under his oppressive regime, refused to shed any tears on his behalf. The result was a bloody riot.
Against this dangerous background, Chris Hannan has set his latest play, The Baby. to be premiered at
the story was established before the setting. ‘ltwas a mood I wanted to express,‘ says Hannan, ‘and once you start writingthat‘s notsomething you can do directly. My position is that you go with the characters andthe story. and let pe0p|e reflect afterwards on whatthetheme mightbe. There‘s no wayit‘s an allegory.‘
While he acknowledges 'a sense of what‘s happening in Scotland. of grief as a political force'. Hannan is wary of “expressing what everybody knowsto be the case‘. As in his earlier play Elizabeth Gordon Ouinn (recently revived by Winged Horse Theatre Company), politics are subsidiaryto personalities. ‘I wanted to bring the private aspect more to the front,‘ he
Playwright Chris annn.
says. ‘A woman confuses her public and private grief, and goes too far— l'm tryingto givethatexperience a full expression and not hang people over
the head with Art.‘
The play 3 volatile setting and the relativelylarge space atthe Tron have offered Hannan an unaccustomed freedom. 'I wanted to write something for open staging a la Elizabethan drama.‘ he explains. 'with fluid scene-changes. and the actors bringingthe scene withthem. The problem with settingthingsinilte past is thatthey can seem abstract. butthe language is more rooted inthe way we speak, and I hope with the visual scale and the pace of events people will respond to that.‘ (Andrew Burnet)
The Babyopens attheTronTheatre. Glasgowforhalf—price previews on Sat 13 and Sun 14. then runs until Sun 4 Nov. All performances at7.30pm.
lhel is? if. .5 f teto'oei I‘NHSI