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Theatre listings >
Double Top
- Tour of Scottish Premiere.
This play's first production was at Hull Truck in 2002.
Playwright - Ron Rose.
Director - Michael Emans.
Designer - Lyn McAndrew.
Company - Rapture Theatre. contact
Cast - here .
Tour Dates and Times - here .
Seen to review at Brunton Theatre Musselburgh..
Run Time - 2 hours including 15 mins interval.
Reviewer - Thelma Good .
Good night out with a bit to think about.
Double Top - Rapture Theatre Production.
Marianne P. Muir as Kath and Adam P Tompkins as one of his varied
men Kath's husband.
© photographer 2003
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Marie is a girl who could do with getting a life, Karen Reynolds
gives her a nice irritating edge. Instead of getting into a life she tries
to get into her supervisor's underwear and into academia by studying the
collapse of working women - going undercover and running a womens' self
awareness group. They were called conscoiusness raising groups in the
heady days of womens' liberation, we did the work ourselves then, no PhD
aspirant or leader.
Ron Rose's play is set now, in industrial Humberside - the three women
Marie gets involved with all have dead end jobs and lives. They're stuck
in a present which looks very like the past, with the ancient juke box
in the pub Kath works in. It plays just the right sister songs, I Will
Survive is one of course.
Marianne. P. Muir's Kath is particularily well played, a
woman with a yo-yo man and developing self possession. She gets the rest
of them into shape, friends, huge voiced Chris and Jackie, being the others
we meet who make up the darts team with Kath, Marie and two unseens. Linda
Cuthbert is great at showing Chris's love of a good time and having
fun. Nothing is going to get her down. We see her type every night out,
tuning their friends so they all get the emotional melody of a great night
out. Anne Lindsay's Jackie is a thin woman worn to a wraith by
worries and unshed tears, she later doubles as local darts player gone
mega, dominating her naff, 60's style hubby she makes each one memorable,
one poignant , the other in contrasting over the top style.
Adam P. Tompkins does all the men and he really gets into their
variety from the smarmy lecturer, boyish Brian the barman, Kath's loutish
husband, and his "policeman" routine, which is great fun though
he had some trouble with his trousers on the first night! It's good to
see Tompkins getting stuck into all these little parts, making you blink
at the speed of his transformations and number.
Tthe scenes could flow a little faster on occassion but Micheal Emans
and his cast do acheive the emotional range of the story and its aim to
be a good night out, with some thoughts for after. The Humberside accents
generally hold up. Some might wonder why not do it in Scots, but why shouldn't
our actors show they can tackle English scripts without this fad for Scottiffying
every text we've seen other companies succumb to.
Rose really knows these women and their men, and how hard it is to really
get away from the way life makes them feel they have to be. Only one of
the women really visibly takes positve charge of her life, but only to
go for a slightly better type of man. She still has him in a van on their
night out.
Rapture Theatre tackle a wide range of theatre in new touring productions
for their growing and appreciative audiences. Filling a gap in the Scottish
Theatre Scene with their frequent productions and well thought out programme,
they're a peripatetic rep. Their next spring production will be a Scottish
Premiere of David Mamet's The Boston Marriage set at the time of Wilde
and James.
© Thelma Good 14 March 2003. - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
EdinburghGuide Reviews of other Rapture Theatre Productions. Simpatico,
Boy Gets
Girl, Your
Turn To Clean The Stair, The
Old Neighbourhood, The
Sailmaker and Richard
III.
Cast: Marie - Karen Reynolds, Chris - Linda
Cuthbert, Kath - Marianne. P. Muir, Jackie/Kirstie - Anne Lindsay and
as Rob/Brian/Miller/Kev/Student/Policeman - Adam P Tompkins.
Tour Details of Rapture Theatre's production
of Double Top.
Tour begins
14 March at 7:30pm Musselburgh Brunton Theatre 0131 665
2240.
15 March at 7:30pm Greenock, Arts Guild Theatre 01475
723038.
19 March at 7:30pm Falkirk Town Hall 01324 506850.
20 March at 7:30pm Kirkcaldy, Adam Smith Theatre 01592
412929.
21 & 22 March at 8pm East Kilbride Arts Centre 013552
61000.
28 March at 7:45pm Irvine Harbour Arts Centre 01294274059.
5 April at 8pm Livingstone Howden Park Centre 01506 433634.
6 April at 7:30pm Motherwell Civic Theatre 01698 302999.
9 April at 7:30pm North Edinburgh Arts Centre 0131 315
2151.
11 April at 8pm Glasgow Gilmorehill G12 0141 3305522.
16 April at 7:30pm Paisley Arts Centre 0141 887 1010.
Tour Ends.
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