Theatre
N EZ'W WOl RK
HOME HINDERANCE Broomhill Drive, Glasgow, until Sat 19 May 0000
In our current state of hyper reality the boundaries between the real and fiction have lost their clarity. We have an obsession With reality made fiction and problems differentiating between the two. issues addressed by David teddy in his latest co—production With Vanishing Point. performed in his 16th floor flat.
Alter suffering from a terminal illness. Rory has died leaVing behind those wno shared his life to piece together his memories and reflect on the impact of his death. but as each character reveals a different story we guestion if. in his absence. we can ever real.y know the truth.
Writers are always told to draw upon their real life experiences to inform their art, yet Leddy continually questions his right to fictionalise other people's lives. The characters are aux/are that they are products of teddy 's creation; we Kl)()‘.'.’ they are fictional. and yet. as they talk directly to us ill the close l.)l'()X|lll|l‘y" and non theatre setting of Leddy's flat their tangibility- leads to such an altered
articulacy. Ally finds life at the call centre a strain, perception of reality that v-xhen Leddy particularly with news that Liz seeks a better life as a returns at the end of the play it is he
MUSICAL nurse in Florida - guess where ‘Letter From America’ who seems like the intruder.
SUNSHINE ON LE'TH comes in? The notion of the writer as intruder is
Dundee Repr um” sat 12 Mayr the” touring ..... At no point does James Brining’s production wander intrinsic to the play guestioning of far from the political themes that underlie Greenhorn’s the extent of his duty' to the
The joyful, if slightly fanciful tone of the Evening News ingenious script. After an encounter with the PFI characters iii/hose story he tries to teli.
banner ‘Beckham Signs for Hibees’ combined with the management-speak of her boss (played by Irene Through a series of direct monologues
more sobering ‘Posh Spice seen in Jenners’ that Macdougall) in an NHS hospital beleaguered and and Matheiii: Lenton's intimate
appear early on in Dundee Rep’s stunning Proclaimers impoverished by privatisation there’s a real poignancy direction the audience find themseiyes
musical by Stephen Greenhorn sum up its many to Liz’s singing of ‘What Do You Do When Democracy becoming part of the play and as we
vicissitudes. As it proceeds, full as it is of unashamed Fails You?’ Meanwhile Ally’s commentary on accent leaye the flat there's a distinct feeling
sentimentality, dark reflections, occasional violence, coaching at the call centre humorously sums up much that irrie'y'e shared in something much
passionate yet often unexpressed love and twinkling about cultural repression across the UK. realer than reality. iNicola Husband)
dry humour, there is much in it that epitomises the The earthy, emotionally immense, often cuttineg witty
Scottish character far beyond its Easter Road locale. lyrics of The Proclaimers (arranged by Hilary Brooks)
In it, we meet two young soldiers nervously policing a set it all off stunningly. There are some splendid
dusty roadblock in sandswept Afghanistan, praying for performances, too, with Watson’s winsome,
survival in a pointless conflict. But survive Davy (Keith emotionally confused nurse a standout and Ross’s
Fleming) and Ally (Kevin Lennon) do, and return to rendition of the title song over Buick’s (also quite
Edinburgh where Davy’s sister Liz (Gail Watson), a splendid) ailing husband capable of wrenching a tear
nurse, awaits Ally. But all is not well at home, with dad from the bronze statue of Wellington atop Leith Walk.
(John Buick) on the sick, and mum (Ann Louise Ross) The final, exuberant effect of all this is a combination of
scraping a living as a cleaner on the Britannia. They the Killy Cup Final and that time we put six past the
become estranged by news of an old affair, while Jambos - but if you’re not so comfortable at the
Davy’s new relationship with Liz’s nurse friend Yvonne Cabbage and Ribs (also appearing in this production)
(Emily Winter) is embattled by his lack of emotional you’ll have to find your own equivalent. (Steve Cramer)
Ni .‘.'.’ “JUNK THE PATRIOT Tron Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 12 May 0
ln selecting (Brae Cleugh's frre F’.’i.‘r‘:()f as the first production of fins reign, the Tron 'l‘heatre's new director (‘iregoiy lhompson clearly had the /eitgeist in his sights. Unfortunately, the only thing he rias shot is his own foot.
(Ileugh has created a play of breathtaking theatrical and political vulgarity. a one— dimensional ‘.'.'()l'k of Scottish nationalist agitpi‘op from which the SNP shoeid' run a Royal Mile. 'iJrii‘xeisity student Claire l-iniay lClaire Dai'go» is placed at the neat of a metaphorical aim ".'."t?i§llllltl contest between New labour Holyrood master and guardian loin (Bordon and embittered. ferocious young nationalist Pair Kennedy l(iiae (Iieugni. (Ilaiie's new l)()‘.'il'l(?ll(l.
llie no thrills drama that follox'rs is pitifully schematic, as the heayy-handed metaplnors tumble f'om ()leugn's men like great dollops of steaming polemic, (Ilaire ia len‘aie s'and H) for Scotland itself) has an inai)propi'iateiy sexualised attacnrnent to lom ia ~.ii"e symbol of bath the Laboiii Party and the Ul‘.!()llt. H<)'~.'.‘(;“~.(,’l. in a moment of eye gouging ay'xlulness, she also gets sexuain aroused by Paul talking about the Battle of Stirling Bridge. hag. Protestant sectarianisni and the play‘.'.'r:glit's uiiaiiiliiguous coriteinplatioiis of the Union are introduced like the tliaina's supposed 't‘.'.;:;t'r ‘.'.‘ll" all the subtlety of Michael \‘Jiririer mad ‘.'/lt3§3tlil‘i§) a hippopotamus. It must. surely. be the '.'.io:st new. play pioducei' by a
iiofesszcnal Scottish theatre :oi'i'iginy rl‘ the last to \ea's. {Mil'i\ Bl()‘.‘.l‘.‘
84 THE LIST ' Lei Ha, I”