HIRSCH : Pleasance Forth: Venue 33

Hirsch, created by Alon Nashman and Paul Thompson, is a one man play. Alon Nashman is the actor. It’s the story of John Hirsch who was orphaned by the holocaust aged 13 and arrived in Canada with no English. It’s a tribute from Nashman who encountered him directing Maggie Smith and then worked for him for a season when fresh from college.

The play starts at the end of Hirsch’s life, he died from an Aids related illness aged 59, and then moves back to the Hungary of his birth in the 1930s. He sang and danced for his mother’s guests. He went off to school and lived with his grandmother – Nashman dons a lace shawl to signify female old age. The world as he knew it was blown apart by anti-semitism and the second world war, but he survived and made his straggling way to Paris. Once there he queued for entry to several countries and arrived in Winnipeg.

The production is enlivened by the witty use of a Mother Courage type wagon. Props go in and out of it. Large expanses of material cover and uncover. Nashman’s glasses go on – and off. Throughout, the actor takes us into rehearsals with Hirsch. How did he attack Mother Courage, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet? What did Nashman, fresh from drama college learn from working with the great man? And there was Brian, the love of Hirsch’s life.

Hirsch has a cv of some length that more or less equates with the creation of Canadian theatre and television drama. Nashman teases out the complexities of his character which led to as much, or more, drama in the back office than there ever was in front of the audience. A great man lingers among us and one felt his ghost watching over the company.

Catch it if you can 14.15 (75mins) till Aug 25.

LIMINAL TERPSICHORE: WHITESPACE

Liminal Terpsichore is an exciting new work and concept by recent graduate Rachel Lobban and four students at the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance in Dundee. It blends the costume creating artist’s work with the performers who will wear those patterns to interpret their musical score.

Lobban’s degree is in textiles and she exudes passion for theatrical design and costume in her work. Watching the designer at work creating patterns on moving bodies is such an interesting insight. How does the movement influence the artist? Or the music? Or the presence of an audience with its unspoken expectations?

Dancers Millie Daniel-Dempsey (choreographer), Maeve McGreevy, Jack Anderson and Glen McArtney were in constant movement. They brought a tristesse to their dancing which I found very touching adding to the vulnerability of their youth. Choreographing for four fit and athletic bodies in a small space is an added challenge, but Daniel-Dempsey rose to it with grace. The dancers were shown alone, together and in ensemble passages. They are, of course, lithe and supple so some almost acrobatic moves held the interest.

Rachel Lobban addressed the audience at two points and, if one might make a tiny criticism, needs to overcome her shyness. We, the audience, are with you so tell us confidently what we’re going to experience.

Excellent cupcakes included in the price were by Emma at Story cakes.

Run ended.

Dramatic Dippings

The Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh buzzes during the Fringe with high expectation and this year, as so many years, it hasn’t disappointed. The quality of the drama on offer is second to none.

First up I saw GROUNDED by George Brant, directed by Christopher Hayden and performed with intense passion and conviction by Lucy Ellinson. What does getting pregnant do to the inflexible world vision of an elite Air Force Major? Does it introduce humanity? Does it vary inviolable self-belief? Does it chip away at only Americans are right? Can it drive you mad? Not actually a very attractive character the major nonetheless commands our sympathy and, ultimately, understanding.

I’M WITH THE BAND was a heady mix of music, poetry, hyped-up action and bad language to the point where you screen out the F and C words and piece the meaning together from what’s left. An extended metaphor about the possible break-up of the UK, it was entertaining and thought provoking.

CIARA by David Harrower was a one woman play for talented theatre performer, Blythe Duff. She handled the complex mix of related and interwoven stories with seasoned skill and understated comedic force that concealed and revealed tragic loss. Loss of a normal childhood, a brother, a father, virginity, trust, the prospect of a child and the Gallery that was the substitute child. Absorbing and in places overwhelming, Harrower’s words ask unanswerable questions about the forces that compose the Glasgow bad man and his woman. If you can’t see another play this year, see this one.

MARK THOMSON TALKS

Along with the invitation to renew the annual subscription from the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh this year, came an invitation to join Mark Thomson for a glass of wine and informal chat in the stalls. I’m up for that.

So were several others. A cheery group of annual subscribers gathered and, while one man said he’d been a subscriber for around twenty years, we generally avoided any competition over that.

Me? Well, it’s continuous since 1983, as you ask.

Mark sensibly got the gripes out of the way early. We did not enjoy Guid Sisters – possibly one exception. It was nominated for an award as were six of last year’s seven productions. Personally, Guid sisters is the closest I’ve come to leaving a Lyceum production before the end. Why could one lady not see all the action in Doll’s House. Theatre was written for performance centre stage. I suppose that’s the declamatory style much favoured in the nineteenth century. Now, directors want folk to move. So what’s the defence? Theatre design and, by the way, if you want to watch square on there’s always the tv. This actually chimes with something I heard from the head manager at the EFT: not everyone wants a seat where they can read the super-titles.

Praises: a lady from the Borders is so pleased that the theatre does matinées as it enables her to get home afterwards. Taking Over the Asylum was universally enjoyed.

There’s no Shakespeare next year because there’s no place one would fit the overall arc of productions. Fair enough. And Edinburgh audiences don’t necessarily come out for Shakespeare.

The Young Lyceum will be in performance in July. A version of A Christmas Carol will be this year’s Christmas Show, with some music and suitable for all ages.

How are the actors chosen? Best person for the part, although some will always find a home.

I missed the end as I had another engagement, but it was a good exercise and one I hope they might repeat.

STREET THEATRE: ADD TOURISTS – AND THE LOCALS

The pilgrims start arriving early. On foot, by bus, underground, taxi and private car they come in droves. 

HARRODS of London was buzzing yesterday. Arriving in the street outside at 9.50, I realised it didn’t open till 10, but there was no shortage of action. People were milling around. From overheard conversations, many were visitors, either foreign or from the country, and we were keen to get inside.

I’d come on a pilgrimage too because the nephew of friends, Nicholas Kirkwood, is now designing and selling shoes. They’re available in Harrods and I wanted to see them for myself.

During the wait, I walked round to Pont Street and spent a quiet moment in that outpost of the Scottish Church in London. Its calming austerity was a sharp contrast to the consumerist worship I was about to plunge into.

Back at Harrods, the performance began when a top-hatted gentleman in the iconic green coat opened the door for me and spoke the first line of dialogue ” Good morning, Madam.” It was to be repeated every time I caught the eye of any staff member. Genuine smiles accompany the words, despite the obvious non-Harrods’ customer costume I’m wearing. Indeed, I have to go into the food hall before I encounter more than a couple of people who are there to buy.

The feeling of being on a stage set is enhanced by the way the shop is dressed and lit, and by the loud upbeat soundtrack of popular, but not heavy, music throughout. People are here for one of London’s free interactive tourist attractions. Only in the millinery department do I see a sign saying ‘No photography’.

The set is salted with shoes. All the big brands have little side aisles, shops within shops, with doors that can be closed. The big clothing brands have their own shoes dotted among their displays. Eventually, as in the V&A ten minutes later, I have to ask for directions. ‘Is there a dedicated shoe salon?’

I find it and spend my own pilgrimage sashaying among the stands of shoes my ankles would not thank me for. Never mind a shoe horn, I’d need the kitchen steps to get onto them.

I don’t spend my pilgrimage to the Nichols Kirkwood display on my knees, but catching sight of a price tag en route, £690, nearly brings me to them. Nicholas’s shoes are lovely colours, electric blue with peacock green, pink and he doesn’t show any prices.

I spend a little time up and down escalators and am bewildered by the stout poles blocking the entrance to all the ups. Notices explain. It is forbidden to take buggies on this escalator. Clearly the management know their cast.

A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen adapted by Zinnie Harris

A Doll’s House is a play I’ve seen more than once and studied. It isn’t a happy work, but it does have a lot to tell us about the ways in which our best endeavours for the ones we love the most can blow up in our faces and cause life-long harm. This version by Zinnie Harris, staged by the Royal Lyceum Theatre and the National Theatre of Scotland, has lost none of the intense moral centre of Ibsen’s original.

Harris took the play out of the banking world and into the political one where trust is equally important. Trust is all the politician has to allow him (and they were him) to lead his flock by the even-handed use of power that can be frighteningly all-embracing. At the core of the work is the issue of whether wrong-doing is ever justified. Thomas tells the embattled Nora everyone always has choices. Do we? What kind of choices? Choices might be to not buy a small car for the country cottage so one can re-decorate the drawing room, but equally might be not to put the heating on because then you can’t buy food. Thomas says they would face consequences together and then when he has to is unable to see beyond what he would lose and falls into the myth Nora created to save him from the stigma of being known to suffer from mental paralysis. I had pneumonia, he says without pausing for breath.

Excellent performances by the cast kept the pace moving along and the audience quiet. Lucianne McEvoy as Christine and Brian McCardie as Kelman were a delight to watch. Amy Manson was an engaging Nora.

On a personal note, I was really pleased the pears used in the scene we bloggers were privileged to see  pre-opening, had been abandoned.

Run continues. Well worth your time.

In Before the Act A Doll’s House

A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen adapted by Zinnie Harris is the next production in 2012-13 subscribers’ season at The Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh.

As regular readers of this blog know, that’s my favourite place. An invitation as a social media person to join a session in the main auditorium for one of the press calls for A Doll’s House, was a wonderful surprise. I accepted, but where were the rest of you? This production is a joint one with the National Theatre of Scotland and the NTS run regular social media opportunities. In Glasgow, they sometimes have to cap numbers.

All the more opportunity for me and John from Blip Photo blog – hope I’ve got that name right. We spoke with Graham McLaren, the director, Zinnie Harris the playwright and several of NTS’s staff on-site. I am amazed by how many people support the two actors we saw run through one of A Doll’s House’s climactic scenes.

Amy Manson as Nora and Brian McCardie as her protagonist Neil Kalman (Krogstadt) were locked in combat on the fully dressed stage and played the scene over several times for different press requirements. Graham and Zinnie spoke of the need for people now to understand how the problems arising from women’s lack of power are still with us. Although the people we see on stage were distinct products of their social and cultural mores, parallels can be found.

The morning was a great experience and I’m looking forward to seeing the whole play. Preview is tonight at 7.45 pm and it runs until 4th May.

Box office 0131-248 4848

SHAKESPEARE (RE)PRODUCED SOUTH MORNINGSIDE PRIMARY

SOUTH MORNINGSIDE PRIMARY’S Stage Club turned in a well rehearsed and expertly crafted evening of Shakespeare for the modern outlook last night at Edinburgh’s Churchhill theatre in Morningside Road.

Romeo and Juliet were first up with their internet romance enabled by laptops in the bedroom and mobiles in the back pocket. The young romantic leads, Adam Harrower and Aaliya Bradley, gave excellent performances with little trace of nerves and were well supported by their choruses of TAGS AND CAPS.

Several of the children appeared alone or in small groups on stage, performing with confidence and in some cases remarkable presence. A solitary child, Luke Pudney, filled the space created by the opening curtains and twice four children filled the space in front of the curtains. They were the organisers of the trouble-causing Masked Ball and the News Reporters. They broadcast with that well observed air of brashness and will this work expressions one sees on TV.

A Modern Midsummer Night’s Dream was second and yet again demonstrated that script’s adaptation-friendly nature. Writer Stephen James Martin had written a piece full of one-liners and directed his young cast to pitch perfect delivery. Naomi Wilson as Sharmain, Hermia to you and me, has a comic touch sometimes lacking in older performers. She also sang beautifully. Yossi Pechar was a superb Puck drawing the eye with star-quality ease.

The whole cast was word perfect and showed no panic when one or two sound cues caused hesitation early on. Excellent music, dancing and friendly war-of-the-sexes banter made this a remarkable production of a much loved play.

Congratulations to the whole back-up team who did a sterling job bringing this school production to a delighted audience of parents, rels, grannies and granddads. Martin’s scripts were a delight and the children’s appreciation of him when he took a reluctant curtain call was evident. But there was costume, make-up, dancing, stage-fighting and a fantastic lighting-score which all added to the overall professional feel.

Oh and two trays of ice-cream in the interval.

Friday and Saturday 12th-13th April at 7.30 pm

Scottish Association of Writers

I’m heading for the Scottish Association of Writers’ conference (SAW) at Erskine Bridge Hotel, weekend of 22nd-24th March. It’s a really buzzy weekend meeting up with friends in the writing world from all over Scotland and meeting new people.

In past years the SAW has awarded me The Hebridean Award for drama. The Hebridean Award was a sponsored competition for several years and it was for a two-hander for two women. My play CLINICAL KNOW-HOW was the first winner in a year when Chris Ballance was the judge. Clinical Know-How is available to licence from the author and is a good festival play, but would also be an awareness raising piece for women’s groups. Black comedy full of sharp one-liners and social observations.

I’ve also been privileged to win the Helensburgh Trophy for the regular drama competition with my play LOVE TO DEATH. It’s set in a rehab and is now published by Plays4theatre. The link to their catalogue, my page in their catalogue, is here:

http://www.plays4theatre.com/bookdetails.php?pr=712

This year at SAW, I’ve entered the sketch competition with one I wrote earlier. Whether it catches John Binnie’s eye: wins or sinks, it’s likely to be performed. The programme now includes performance of the entered sketches by the entrant’s clubmates on Friday night. It was good fun last year, so I thought I’d give it a go.

As with all things that were ‘not until…’ the conference is now next weekend and I need to remember to print off copies of the sketch. There’s nothing more excrutiating than watching four or five try to read their ‘bit’ from one copy.

Scottish Association of Writers is an umbrella organisation of writers clubs/workshops etc in Scotland. It started when Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Greenock clubs came together over forty years ago and is still going strong.

Time and The Conways

Currently playing at Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum theatre, Time and The Conways by JB Priestley is a must see.

Priestley takes time to draw the audience into the post demob world of Mrs Conway and her six children. Alan and Robin have miraculously escaped the carnage and returned home undamaged from the trenches. Kay is celebrating her twenty-first birthday and her sisters, Madge, Hazel and Carol are helping.We watch with 21st century disbelief as they fidget through a huge pile of dressing-up clothes and false moustaches. A simpler time then – it was simpler even when Priestley wrote Time and the Conways, first produced in 1937.

The current production is a collaboration between Dundee Rep and the Royal Lyceum. It’s directed by Jemima Levick and she’s ably supported by Designer Ti Green, Lighting designer Mark Doubleday and composer Philip Pinsky. The costumes were the responsibility of Dundee Rep and they are fabulous. Nor should one forget to mention the ageing of the characters between the first act and the second. Make-up, padding, wigs, movement – the whole package carried the characters forward to the late thirties in a beilievable way.

The performances of Emily Winter as the lead character, Kay, Irene Macdougall as Mrs conway and Richard Conlon as Alan Conway were very nearly perfect, but that’s not to forget the rest of Time and the Conways able and engaging cast.

The story is reminiscent of the Cherry Orchard, although no ancient retainers are shut up for the winter, and shows just how easily comfortable optimism can lead to disaster.

Another week in Edinburgh and then transferring to Dundee Rep. You should go…