Theatre
Béyondte news
'IT'S NOT A SENSATIONALIST SCRIPT, IT JUST TELLS WHAT HAPPENED'
. Kate Dickie, fresh from acclaimed film Red Road, and director Pol Heyvaert talk ‘ to Steve Cramer about a story of child murder without the media sensation
henever a murder occurs. particularly that
ol‘ a child. there‘s often an understandable
outcry of grief. sometimes fuelled by sensational media coverage. We can name these unfortunate children as if we ourselves knew them. As part of the news coverage. it‘s easy enough to uncover all manner of information. even down to the heartrending and sometimes grisly manner in which the children died. yet among all this flood of material. do we pause. beyond a simple howl for revenge on murderers or overworked social workers to examine the causes of these horrors‘.’
That seems to be the point of Ari/st. the new NTS project in collaboration with Belgian company Victoria. This play. originally produced in Belgium in response to the true case of a couple who checked into a hotel and a week later were discovered to have murdered their children. seeks to go beyond the sensation and lind a story with broader implications for our culture. ‘It was very exceptional. the whole court procedure was filmed. and l was allowed to see
the tape through official channels.‘ explains director
Pol Heyvaert of a Duncan McLean script. which translates much of the original trial transcript. ‘With things like that. it‘s the talk of the week. but after that week it‘s gone. You get plenty ol‘ details. but you‘re left with the feeling “what really happened?" You‘re
given so many details that you‘re kind of
overwhelmed. it‘s like you‘ve been beaten up — you need to know why.‘
But beyond all the sensationalism. it‘s not as if the solutions are simple. Heyvaert speaks of both a state and individual culpability in such events. ‘lt wasn‘t just the state that prosecuted but also the owner of the
78 THE LIST 15—29 Mar 2007
hotel. because of the effect it had on her life. She felt that there was something wrong. but she didn‘t do anything at the time. So she fell into a huge depression afterwards. because she felt she‘d failed as a member of society. I can understand that very well. I feel a bit the same. because everybody sees people like this every day. I hope Arr/st is critical of society. but it‘s also critical of the private person.‘
Kate Dickie stresses the social position of the characters as being crucial to understanding the piece. for the perpetrators of the crime were. although somewhat marginalised. and suffering from histories of abuse. functioning members of society. 'The reports on them were that they were ordinary people. they weren‘t psychos you‘d run a mile from. People aren‘t that interested in folk like this until something terrible happens. Social work is stretched. so folk are trying to do the job of ten. and things like this go under the radar until it‘s too late.‘
Dickie comments that the ‘less is more‘ philosophy of film acting that she‘s just been practising is not as different in this theatre piece as you‘d expect. ‘lt‘s not a sensationalist script. it just tells what happened. You don‘t have to do a lot with it. because the weight is all there. I think it would detract from it if you tried to do too much. it‘s about the real words spoken. and there‘s no way the audience can escape from what we‘re saying. We‘re forced into having to listen to what‘s said. It‘s very unphysical. I hardly move. but you‘re exhausted by the end of it. just because of what you‘ve got to say.‘
Tramway, Glasgow, Wed 21-Sat 31 Mar, then touring
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* Europe David Greig’s 1994 play shows a relevance to today’s world that will astonish. The stOry of two asylum seekers persecuted by locals in a small European town has much to say about forms of bigotry that seem even more real today. See review, page 81. Dundee Rep, Wed 4—Sat 7 Apr.
* Hughie Andy Arnold’s abilities with obscure texts by classic writers is demonstrated once again with this late Eugene O’Neill. Set in 1928 New York, it tells the story of a boastful but ultimately lonely gambler who buttonholes the clerk of a seedy hotel with apocryphal tales of his past glories. See review, page 80. Arches, Glasgow, until Sat 17 Mar
* Aalst The first piece of new work for 2007 works from the dark subject matter of the true case of a couple who murdered their own children. With Kate Dickie and David Mackay in the leads. this promises to be a night of strong and compelling drama. See preview, left. Tramway, Glasgow, Wed 27—Sat 37 Mar, then touring.
* Bad Jazz After last year’s A Brief History of Helen of Troy ATC are back with this black comedy about a group of performers putting on a potentially catastrophic play. Many an insight into the ‘Me Generation’ is promised. See preview, page 79. Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Wed 21 —Sat 24 Mar.