Theatre
www.|ist.co.uk/theatre
REVIEW RE. /: ML
THE MAN WHO HAD ALL THE LUCK
Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, until Sat 14 Feb 00.
Arthur Millers first play to be r'nounted on Broadway closed after only four performances. and was barely revived until a successful production in 2002 led to renewed interest in the work. While undeniably flawed it proVides a fascinating glimpse into the theiries Miller would go on to successfully explore in A// My Sons, and Death of a .‘ja/esman. namely the hollowness of the American Dream and notions of responsibility to the family and society.
The title character is DaVid Beeves. a young car mechanic whose seeming incredible good fortune leads to his overcoming obstacles that have defeated those around him. Unable to acknowledge his own industry and tenacity. he is driven demented by feelings of guilt at the random nature of his success.
The play certainly has the feel of an early work, being drawn-out and a tad repetitious. With a couple of unnecessary passages of exposition hammering Miller's point home Just in case we didn't get it. But John Dove's production is distinguished by fine acting from the cast: the scene in which the family awaits the arrival of a baseball talent scout is particularly tense and movuig. And Philip Cumbus really rings the changes in the lead role. plummeting from familial rock of stability to tWitching nervous wreck as his shame at his own success drives him to the edge of insanity.
(Allan Radcliffe)
78 THE LIST 8—22 Jan 2009
PREVIEW THRILLER NAKED NEIGHBOUR (TWITCHING BLIND) Tramway, Glasgow, Tue 27—Sat 31 Jan
Anyone who remembers Aruba, the engaging and whimsical Fringe hit of a couple of years back, which received five stars from this publication, will be interested in this coming piece at Tramway. Rob Evans, writer of this playful and gently satirical piece about the gap between our fantasy lives and the mundane and everyday world of quotidian existence is back as the director of a new piece which seems to incorporate a similarly thoughtful and sprightly approach to its subject matter.
In Naked Neighbour (Twitching Blind), Nick Underwood’s new play, we meet a man left so despondent at the end of a relationship that he turns to total isolation from the world. ‘He’s locked himself in his flat for months on end with jars of jam and loads of UHT milk,’ Evans explains. ‘His girlfriend has left, and he’s been watching Bn'ef Encounter over and over
PREVIEW ICE SHOW CINDERELLA ON ICE Playhouse, Edinburgh, Tue 20—Sat 24 Jan
again and it’s kind of seeped into his life. There’s a thriller side to it, too, as we begin to suspect that his girlfriend might be dead and locked up in the loft, so it's kind of Brief Encounter meets Vertigo.‘
For all the darkness of this story, there’s a commentary about love underneath. Our protagonist is visited by an undead soul who has fallen in love with the music the man composes. ‘The main character is obsessed with romance. But it’s also about accepting what's gone wrong, and he finds that hard. If you keep your past locked up, you’ll never be able to have a new relationship in the present. You'll always dream of the perfect relationship, and never move on. It’s about letting go of the past, which is hard to do.‘ Add to this a certain element of satire in the shape of the purgatorial world the ghost has left, a massive shopping centre, and you have a mix of dark reflection and contemporary commentary on consumerism, which revolves around a series of songs delivered by the two hands of the cast. Expect some clever pastiche of thriller and love story. (Steve Cramer)
GiVing yOur all for an audience is part and parcel of being a perforrrier. Prior to JOllllllg the Imperial Ice Stars. however, Russian skater Olga Sharutenko had to ignore her adoring fans and channel everything in one direction — the iudges.
‘We had so many people in the arena watching us.’ recalls Sharutenko, some of whom w0uld follow us around the world. But in competition, you don't perforrri for them. only the judges. which is Such a shame. In the theatre it feels great because you know you're performing for everyone and when you hear the audience's reaction, it's amazing}
That reaction has been fairly unanimous since artistic director Tony Mercer formed the Moscow-based lmperial lce Stars in 200/1. Since then, the corripany's Jaw—dropping lifts. throws and spins coupled with strong storytelling and theatricality have taken ice dance to a whole new level. Followmg lead roles in Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. Sharutenko is Currently playing the title part in Mercer's new verSiOn of Cindere/la.
ASide from the novelty of setting his shows in a theatre. rather than a draughty ice arena. what is it about Mercer’s productions that sets them apart? ‘Most ice shows jUSl take what competitive figure skating already has and put it in a different area.’ says Sharutenko. 'But Tony has created something different. He tries to bring all our personalities onto the stage. so we're not Just figure skaters, we're characters. which makes our work unique and different.' (Kelly Apter)