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51 Pegasus
Playwright - Ian McDonough
Director - Tom Maghill
Set Designer - Moley Campbell
Lighting Designer - John Carins
Music - Andy Thorburn
Company - Grey Coast Theatre
Company
Venues & Dates - see end of review
Seen at Traverse Theatre on 12 September 2002
Run Time - 1hr 40 mins no interval
Reviewer - Thelma Good
Hinting at a more complex universe
Ian McDonough's first play is set in Sutherland in the far North of Scotland,
true to its roots in its rhythms and characters and with an able cast.
Exploring the tensions of staying and going in the areas of Scotland which
at first glance are light-years away from our mainly urban lives, the
play goes beyond that first look to hint at a more complex universe.
John James, Dan Olivera, the one who escaped to Edinburgh and University,
returns to see his friends before he goes off to New Mexico to explore
the heavens through the largest radio telescope in the world. His old
friends have stayed in Sutherland, Billy and Morag McPhee, brother and
sister. Both of them tarred by a surname, shared by their Mother Bella
which shouts their Tinker origins, Morag also may have inherited her Grandfather
Black Peter's second sight. That tinker background is one of the tensions
Trouble plays on when he taunts Billy, PJ Farrell, a lobster fisherman.
Trouble arrived in Sutherland as a kid from Glasgow, Martin Docherty
gives us Trouble as a man he's a raw, edgy energy always looking for a
bit of rammy to get stuck into. Billy's a keep-it-to-himself guy, closest
to John James, closer than either of them know.
As a Dance goes on in the nearby hall, all five of them come out to talk,
reveal secrets, fall out and fall closer. Most memorable are Bella,
Helena Ross, and her daughter Morag, Jodie Campbell, passing
a bottle of vodka, a mother and daughter treating each other well as adults
while dealing with hard, difficult things. Some other encounters also
show McDonough's potential as a dramatist - the tensions between Trouble
and the born and bred locals have a well directed, punchy velocity, but
others overstate, overexplain too directly, making the dialogue falter.
The metaphor of the star with two planets, 51 Pegasus illuminates, others
are over written, and the play could do with tightening and trust its
audience's comprehension more. Andy Thorburn's music providing thematic
references, a jig for Trouble, eerie tones for the serious or supernatural
increasingly irritates. The script and the acting are atmospheric enough,
the audience doesn't need the music to prod them into the "right"
mood or way to see a scene. It's a more than credible first shot at drama
but poet McDonough will hopefully realise an important component of what
plays need to shine is honed lines, no excess words or unclear imagery
just like memorable poems..
© Thelma Good 12 September 2002. - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
Tour Details
4 & 5 Sept at 8pm Thurso High School 01847 891426
6 Sept at 8pm Brora Primary School
7 Sept at 8pm Inverness Eden Court Theatre, 01463 234 234
9 Sept at 8 pm Ullapool Macphail Theatre. 01854 613336/612013
10 Sept at 8pm Rosehall Village Hall 01847 891246
11 Sept at 7.30pm Nethybridge Community Centre 01479 841211
12-14 Sept at 8pm Edinburgh Traverse I 0131 229 1404
16 Sept at 8pm Ballachulish Village Hall
17 Sept at 8pm Aros, Portree 01487 613750
18 Sept at 8pm Glenuig Hall 01847 891246
19 Sept at 8pm Birnam Institute 01350 727674
20-21 Sept at 7.30 Glasgow The Arches 0901 022 0300
24 Sept at 8pm Bettyhill Village Hall 01847 891246
25 Sept at 8pm Stromness Academy
26 Sept at 8pm Hoy Gable End Theatre 01856 791200
27 Sept at 7.45pm Rousay Community School 01847 891246
28 Sept at 8pm Wick Pulteneytown Academy
30 Sept at 8pm Latheron Hall 01847 891246
1 Oct at 8pm Golspie High School
2 Oct at 8pm Lochcarron Village Hall 01847 891 426
3 Oct at 8pm Invergordon Arts Centre 01349 868479
4 Oct at 8pm Banchory Woodend Barn Arts Centre.
5 Oct at 7.30pm North Edinburgh Arts 0131 315 2151
Tour Ends
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