THEATRE REVIEW
t "59“" Heaven knows, I’m miserable now
Die by Suicide, Michael Mayhew’s personal contemplation of his tamin history of ‘seli murder’, opens the
1' r ,1 performance programme in the CCA’s fife Bad Times season, which highlights
1-. themes of human pain and alienation. ‘ Mayhew’s father and paternal . _ ‘ grandfather both took their own lives, it", ’- . -
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l as did a cousin. This piece, developed 1
i in residence at Glasgow’s CCA, will l
‘ encompass not only the deeply
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legacy: pi stance
. f intimate exploration of the artist, but .. . . E i also the stories or such public l l-iftv vears from the end i t . . . g of [EC'WOFM Wm, H : suicides as SyIVia Plath and Kurt FIICiSm i8 0“ "10 mam“ é ’ cubam' The Keeper of the Keys: A night at the lock-up
l . . The Bad Times live art menu ends on i i’ i 4 March with American performance . M h “d d ‘ sh d m - = artist lion Athey’s Four Scenes in a i av w an mo" mm am ea ms“ Harsh lire. Athey, described as ‘a testicular cancer, through maior former Pentecostal child-preacher and surgery and recovery. Humour ' _ ‘ 't ex-iunkie’, is a member of the Modern promises to be a major ingredient ot 2““ F“"“‘“-“-‘ “0°de 0“ compute"
; Primitive Movement in the USA where the performance as Izod sees laughter gf‘m“ Where ‘1 SW'“ “"‘5‘ “m “M ‘1 kingdom. though not before
again. It is vital that such an issue is addressed at every level. Theatrewise we‘ve already seen David Greig‘s dense. text-based [fit/ripe. Now comes a more dynamic approach from New York's
voiccThum whose l he regularly inspires the likes of as the best therapy. Hidden J by . ,
writer/director Shauna .- Jessie Helms and triends to see red. Forced Entertainment also uses d‘ic‘I‘bOchmg ‘1 dragon 0" “Velvet
Kanter juxtaposes archive ’ Adorned in tattoos and piercings, humour to tackle western "‘P‘c’h‘ do We” ‘9 "mum outdoors “ml
material with actors‘ own ; Atheyis mp is finding a kind of preoccupauons 0' "agmentafion and widen their liorieonta‘l hold for a public
expericuccs- . . salvation in masochism and ‘body alienation. p””°”“‘"f‘cc 0‘ MG S '3‘?“ SChf’O'S The piece came out of manipulationv. The Show went down Trendy fin de siécle deieciion or a play. Set in the bleak confines of Castle
Kanter‘s discovery that l Grimstane, where the tenants are just
. . well at london’s ICA last year i serious examination oi elements of h'rlath‘r had smug l’d . . . ’ ‘ . - r' s ‘ v y '~ 7 ‘ “12cc Chime” out (fifim although the ‘llve piercing’ and ' social breakdown? Check out Bad ‘h‘i W‘Of‘g f1“ 0’ “if”? 9"“ “mm Germany and paid the," : resulting blood are not for the faint Times, Glasgow frowns better. (Mark ‘h’ “I” 5”“ Young MC” D‘rgc 0” ‘1 through medical SChooL hearted. | Brown) ! quest through secret passageways and ‘The more i researched. In The Teratoma Show, David Izod l Bad Times, CCA, Glasgow, until 7 93“")Ck'9“ “ll? ‘0 “"d “We” 0‘ "‘3 the more i discovered takes a look at his own fight against 1 March. “‘1‘” “""Ch 0”” “ Symbm'“ mm" people with stories ‘lt‘s a world where youth is a crime,‘ exactl like mine.‘ she sat as writer Vivien Adam. ‘There was a
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culling ofcliildren 30 years previously because of a prophecy. Like a computer game it's on different levels. though much is left to the audience's imagination.‘
Was writing a children‘s play a different experience for Adam. noted for the very grown-up grotesqueries of previous work? ‘lt was quite a tn'cky age range. because eleven is light years away from fourteen. and at one stage
says. ‘There was this whole network of people who‘d rescued kids. who never wrote about it or
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mentioned it to anyone. That was the way the
underground i‘unctioned.‘ i For three weeks each year it feels as A Combination of text. i though Edinburgh is the comedy “"6 music and mics , E capital of the world - you can’t spit wort“ Leg‘f‘IV forge“ “"35 ! two yards in the street but you hit Eittiiiiciiiiloii‘:gtiztciiijmm at 1 some wacky Cambridge graduate or ° ‘ : sparky American stand-up. Yet outwith ‘
gigzgglrglgiilizg-fifgfirc ! the Festival the ha-has and the hee- : we thought the humour might be too school before travelling l hees can get a tad low on the ground ' sophisticated' At read-throughs to Berlin. especially in the Seasonally : "‘ 7 . .Ph“ K though. tears were abated as the young Kanter‘s emphasis on the - Attectively oisorderled) early months I Who me‘ Yes “'1‘ a, test audience showed more suss than voice is inspired by . 5 or the year, ; Koren is also keen to take advantage expected. Kristin Linklater. - Therefore Edinburgh’s own little 1 of Scotland’s student fraternity, whom The whole exercise. is designed to “"93” m. the lam 8C0“ ‘ comedy fairy Karen Koren has come to she recognises as always being game exploit that suss. Already school pupils ' the rescue, A stalwart of the Scottish for a jolly iape or two. ‘I think that have been approached to write short training {0; mm a, New comedy scene, the idelatigable Koren i they’re starved of real comedy,’ she scripts of their own and workshops will York University where [he has decided to boldly tread where ' explains, ‘but they know good comedy i run throughout the tour. culminating iii ‘Linkimcr Techniquc' is Fools paradise ten and taken the : when they hear it!’ = a weekend conference which will see in big demand. ‘Her plunge with the Gilded Balloon Circuit l Certainly that ironing-board surfer young people working with training allows actors to 1995, l extraordinaire and Best Live Stand-Up professional writers and hopefully have an emotional life no." Febmary to March, Koren will 3 winner, Phil Kay together with those result ill some kind of performance. “Ongildc [he IiiChmcal be touring such diverse acts as Phil ! Kung-Fu snot-righting Umbilical Btlt what can a piece of theatre offer 0m Kay, Alan Davies, Hattie Hayridge and I Brothers should kickstart proceedings an eleven-year—old that a megadrive vmccwbrk “HEM people Jeremy Hardy around the hills and splendidly. With TV credits and Perrier can‘t? ‘When i was playing these [0 change not just in the f glens ot Bonnie Scotland nominations aplenty behind most of games I was horrified. says Adam. play, but also as human : When so many have tried, tried and z the acts it shouldn’t be too hard to ‘Some even have buttons where you beings. it also has the ; raned again in attempts to setup a { prise those students away from their can choose how much blood there is. quality of cutting through serious comedy circuit, why then does ' d0lll' b8d$it$ TOT a night at With the play I wanted there to be an language burners _ , , Koren believe ended oanoon can unadulterated mirth and malarky. (Ann emotional journey where the S succeed? ‘Because this is a very Donald) consequences of violent actions are draw you in That.S {bye 3 strong bill for a first circuit,’ she i The Gilded Balloon Comedy Circuit realised as the truth behind Griiiistane effect pm arm; (Neil ‘ says, ‘and because we’ve gone to kicks oil in Paisley on Wednesday 8 is revealed. The idea that killing is at Cooper) ; venues with support behind them i Feb and plays Glasgow, Dundee, game is frightening.‘ (Neil Cooper) Legacy, Vnit‘e'l‘licalrc, g SUCh as the Royal Concert Hall. And Aberdeen and Edinburgh on The K eeper (if the Keys. TA (1‘ Theatre Queen Margaret College. ; thirdly . . . ,’ she adds laughing, ‘ior l consecutive nights. See listings for Co. RSAMD. Glasgmr, 'I‘Iiurs 2—l-‘n‘ 3 L ’4 "W’- l the sheer love of it!’ details. Feb, and (in (our:
54 The List 27 Jan-9 Feb l9‘)5