Theatre
Stage Whispers
IWhiepershasalreadywaxed lyricalaboutthetriumpheof meWonderfuIWorldof Dissodaelsewhere,butthe CATSawardspresentedother wcceesegjustasnoteworthy. Agoodseesonforthe Lyceum sawsomejustrewaidsforthis shongcompanyJ'hetechnical complexilyofAnnaKarenina musthavebeenagruelling prospectetlirstsightforlts crew,yettheyehowedan astonieling
proficiency in bringing it off. Technical aspects of theatre are the untrumpeted lynchpin of a good night out. and the crew here worked a largely unrecognised miracle.
I it’s also notable that three of the four best male performances also came from the Lyceum, with the man billed to take over from Christopher Eccleston as Dr Who. David Tennant finally winning the award for his Jimmy porter in Look Back in Anger. The performances of both Tony Cownie in A Madman Sings to the Moon and Liam Brennan in Othello might just as easily have triumphed in this category. so, more please from the Lyceum. And there was, with such goodies as Jon Beales nomination for best music in Laurel and Hardy. though this category was won by Phillip Pinsky for his superb score in Gridiron's Fierce.
ISO. too, from the Cltz, whose ensemble performances in repertory of five different short
oftheLr’ttleBitofRuffseason wasasighttobehold.ltgave theftdleetmeanlngtotheterm ‘ensemble’bybringing halfa dozenfineactorstogetherand aeeingeachstepupagear,
Candida Benson in the Citz A Little Bit of Ruff Season
ADAPTATION JANE EYRE Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Tue 20—Sat
25 Jun
With a story as famous as Jane Eyre there are unlikely to be surprises. As sure as the ship will sink in Titan/c and Anakin Skywalker will cross to the dark side. one can but know that Jane's love for Mr Rochester will prevail in the face of mad women and bigamy.
In its latest outing, Charlotte Bronte's epicalIy-proportioned tale of a hapless orphan girl has been scaled down for the stage. However, Bronte traditionalists will be pleased to hear that the focus of Ian Dickens' production remains very much on the love story between Jane and her tormented employer, Rochester, rather than muddying it with obscure readings or sub-plots. Peter Amory (Mr Rochester) explains that ‘they have had to simplify it in many ways. but you still want to give the audience what they want to see. The story is all there. It is a description of two troubled souls trying to get it together and reach a position where they can fall in love.'
Best known for his stint in TV‘s Emmerda/e, AmOry is apprehensive about taking on the famously austere Rochester. ‘It is a stifling role.‘ he says, ‘but immensely attractive as well. Right at this time I am not quite sure how to do it. But. because it is daunting, it makes it exciting.‘ For a classic night of angst-ridden love. look no further. And for those of you concerned that the moorland gloom won't lift in time for a happy ending: reader, she married him. (Corrie Mills)
Peter Amory
AWARDS CEREMONY
CRITICS AWARDS FOR THEATRE IN SCOTLAND Presented Sun 5 Jun at the Tollbooth, Stirling
As you read this. the excitement from this year's CATS awards will be dying down. At the end of it all. the big winner was The Wonderful World of Dissocia. which picked up five of the ten awards on offer. And perhaps we might indulge in some quiet smugness about the benighted nature of London theatre. which even when a slot became available at the Royal Court, found itself unable to stage the work. Internationally, this must reflect poorly on both the Royal Court. and the conservative nature of London theatre generally.
It is pleasing to reflect that a performance as rich in detail and imagination as that of Christina Entwhisle should have picked up the award for best actor (female). while author Anthony Neilson scored awards for best new play and best director. That, in this category, a unique and adventurous process should be honoured is particularly exciting, since Neilson’s seemineg eccentric directorial technique tends to break taboos. but produces results. So. too. Miriam Buether's design. with its rolling expanse of carpet providing a splendid metaphor for the central character's entrapped interiority. and its later rrnpersonal clinic space providing a shocking contrast. was well worth its rewards in a strong category. That Dissoc/a should have swept into the category of best overall production seemed inevitable. We might call the whole thing a triumph for Scottish theatre. (Steve Jr'amer)
Review
READING MURDER IN THE CATHEDRAL Dundee Rep, Fri 17 Jun
Verse drama has, for about 50 years now, been seen as an unfashionabie form of theatre. Yet those who attest to its unstageability seem unable to account for the continued popularity of Shakespeare, most of whose dialogue is presented in verse. Perhaps what these folks are really afraid of is the fact that the work of such modernist notables as Christopher Fry and TS Eliot takes a definite moral standpoint. In an age of moral relativism, this seems scary stuff indeed.
Now, no-one believes that our moral sense is innate to us - how could it be when, in other cultures, such as that of New Guinea Hillsmen, to deflower one’s daughter is an act that is not only morally acceptable, but expected. In ours as well, it’s perfectly acceptable to level entire cities with bombs, missiles and artillery in places like Iraq in order to preserve and control oil supplies. Yet without a learned sense of morality, and the paradoxes it throws up, we’re without the tools to ask the questions I’ve just implied.
So to Eliot’s great verse drama, presented here by Dundee Rep as a reading, whether as a preamble to a future production is difficult to say. Whatever the answer, his narrative of Thomas Becket’s return from exile to Canterbury Cathedral, and subsequent murder by four knights of King Henry II looks compelling stuff. Those who these days justify the invasion of Iraq on the grounds that even though the WMDs proved to be a deliberate lie, we still got rid of Saddam might want ponder on two crucial lines, uttered by Becket, in this play: ‘The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason.’ Moral issues are complex, but we aren’t human if we hide from them. Go listen to the verse. (Steve Cramer)