Theatre
ReVIGWS cvmno Dundee Rep. Fri 19 & Sat 20 Oct
BLOOD BROTHERS ”” Festival Theatre. Edinburgh. until Sat 27 Oct 0000
ANTIGONE ‘2‘ " , u ‘ U H ,
Tron Theatre, Glasgow, until Sat 27 Oct 000 " J ' I ~ 'I ‘. ' ' ‘
In March 2003, 41% Of British people were opposed to the Iraq war, taking " -- t. ' ' l :' 3, ."~ . .z ' x ~' ' :
to the streets in protest. however this did little to break Blair’s resolve. " : :w :. aim f 1 l.’ " " z . :' ' .' ' :: ; . :' Over four years later and with Iraq still in turmoil, Blair admitted in his :' ‘ *1 2'. 1w: w 2 : l.‘ r' ' z" .‘ resignation speech that ‘he may have been wrong’, but like Creon (Jimmy ' . x " _. 2' " :"2 ' v ;' 2. ' z" :' ‘ .
Yuill) in Sophocles‘ classic play, his admission comes far tOO late, after ' '4 ".tl ‘. v' 1' :r 1"": .t [M w: 11:; ' 2' ' 1' 2:: destiny has already taken its toll. ' nt': ~; .iw'. : ' ' ' .v' : .
Antigone (Hannah Donaldson) defies the law in favour of her own moral " t- ' m . 'l»- Mo PM L ~‘. .. z :' judgement, Creon upholds the law without question, however both must N t .i ll’ 14:: 1 . l l '* :m f ' ‘f. I‘m 2 .t face the consequences. 1":lv"‘.v<l vt ll \ 2‘ t" u« 2:01.: w: :' 1:.” .
Using televised press conferences, projections of alternating images .i" .t’T'} L. v _;V.i:,' w : " ' ,:' : showing the honour and horror Of war and pre-recorded sequences of a in-r'" vvv .:": w : ' T" a 'v Lian. i'll” .. , ° ' i ' l' newsreader relaying the plays key events, director David Levin, who has 'I l >.;#.t< '~ .. '- :f'w! ' 1 : ~ lived much Of his life in conflict-ridden Tel Aviv, attempts tO increase the I: ' ‘ : ‘ ' ‘ plays relevance tO his contemporary media-aware audience, but it’s not i t ' . - : z " ‘ enough. The Greek chorus comprising Of three Old cronies reminiscent Of t' i " ' .i t - ° ‘ ' ' Foggy, Clegg and Compo in Last Of the Summer Wine (Billy Riddoch. 1.. in '. l' "
Hamish Wilson, Andrew Dallmeyer) and a Weegie-turned-soldier (Martin 1-1 v u ;r l ' Docherty) (an all too common Tron device) intrusively attempt tO inject t , v v n : :. ' . v " some humour and detract from an interpretation which seems to otherwise l l' ’ ' v r 1 iv :. ° focus (through bright lights, loud noises and long silences) on making the i ' . i l " I~ l' ' ' : . . . ' audience share in the onstage pain, feeling that they are in some way - ' " ' . ; responsible for the outcome. Levin prefers not to formally audition for his *w- ' f I 2‘ l : . productions and despite his luck with Yuill and Donaldson, with stiff actors i o f ll ' :r . littering the rest Of the stage, distracting through their rigidity — it shows. ' . ll' . " o . , 1 Also, be prepared for a lot Of shouting (at times you might feel like you‘re ‘ "1 .f ‘ w ' ' watching a Christmas episode Of Eastenders). Bringing out themes of l ' ' :z t l/ - v o ' r patriotism, governing through fear, law versus morality, the conflicting " . ' l w . v r 2 importance Of the past, present and future, the danger Of vanity and what l‘ t ‘ ' 2 - " " a ' ' people Of the previous generation can learn from the new, it’s worth a look '~ ' I» x l i ‘ ' but there might be an admission Of some artistic guilt from Levin in the ' ’ i' '.' - w ' : ‘ ' near future. (Nicola Husband) ' l " » ' H 2 i . r ' | THE CAR MAN Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Tue 30 Oct—Sat 3 Nov 0000 HWHVMJI.‘L'.I..,.t)(fl,,,.,NHL”);ny .I..,,l.,.,,,z./,, (din/Lye). ',.,,. ' "l‘ » B't‘ ' ' 2" ' l"l‘} . ;' r‘ ' . ‘ 2 ' l ' r I ’ l't‘ ‘ :i" I ' , 1 l" /1' lr’ '/ ”' .x I, . T ,, . ’, . I. , l, ,) W, , I, ,0, , . , ‘, ,(q/HIKW‘HV, '1/ 1’ i »' "' > ’1‘ 1‘." . " :’ ' .'z w '1 u} 2' ' I. ' ' t.’ {m .( : 1/2» ’ ’,‘:. "‘ t ’ 5 (r _ v. ' .; a ' " . .~ ‘ ‘ '4 ‘ "i ' [1‘ . ~ '.’ t: 4’ .' '. ' 5"" '1 z 1 2‘ ' "° I . ...:"‘\ . ' I ' ‘ ’ 1' ' l' ‘:" H? ' I .‘r' ’ ‘ A 4 ' ~ K ' . y < 2 an: " K ' 1' Cr " : ,; V. f . . ,( ,, . I, . z ‘ > z . " ‘r; ' r ' ' ' ' . ‘ xK ‘ ' w ~ " .2 ~ .. 1' V v " r f r L: (I ' ‘ (J ' r -: — "/76 ~:, ' I
80 THE LIST ':4 '\. ..