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Gilt
- Tour & World Premiere.
Playwrights - Written in collaboration by Stephen Greenhorn, Rona
Munro and Isabel Wright.
Director & Dramaturg - Zinnie Harris.
Designer - Evelyn Barbour.
Lighting Designer - Chahine Yavroyan.
Sound Designer - Pippa Murphy.
Company - 7:84 Theatre Company Scotland.
Cast - here .
2003 Tour Dates and Times - here .
Seen to review at Tron Theatre 8 October 2003..
Run Time - 1 hours 30 mins, no Interval .
Reviewer - Thelma Good.
Are Scots only losers?
Three playwrights and a director/dramaturg writing a play together to
be acted by some Scotland's finest could be a winning combination. Team
writing is a US technique very successfully used in ER etc. But does it
work off the small screen multi-episode series, crammed into a 90 minute
play?
In a Scottish city the seven characters encounter each other. All the
playwrights involved have strong excellent plays behind them, but the
blend has the storylines cutting each other short and hijacking interesting
glimpses of possible dramatic situations. All of them are subtle writers
but here what laughs there are, come often from cliché lines or
rely too much on our immature relationship to sex and swearing.
There are tantalizing moments such as the woman who will only give a donation
if she can choose the individuals who benefits. But the lack of length
means you're too often having to hold a semi-fleshed character in your
mind, nor is it always clear enough where scenes are happening on the
drab grey multifunctional set - wearing when there are over a dozen different
locations.
The actors don't put a foot wrong but there are only brief chances for
them to show their considerable abilities. It's like getting Nick Nairn
in to make beans on toast. No deep emotion develops between any of the
characters, muting any tension which might develop. We see, parade in
front of us, the small assortment of types most of our playwrights draw
on when the contemporary Scottish play is attempted.
Anita's the successful, childless businesswoman, James is the okay but
nothing special guy who hardly knew his father, Carla's plays the terminal
disability & deserted spouse card while Mick's the deeply damaged
Scottish TV personality with money. Clinging on, ducking and diving are
Jo is the young woman doing a bit of drugs, a bit of sex to get by, Chris
is the big issue seller sometime courier of parcels for dealers while
Al's that newer phenomena the illegal alien. Oh yes it's the Great new
Scotland full of losers stumbling towards its future.
It maybe that the experiment of team writing was of benefit for the production
team, but audiences need some real gold rather than gilt to add genuine
sparkle to the gingerbread of entertainment.
© Thelma Good 8 October 2003. - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
Text is published by Nick Hern
Books
Additional Comment - Setting plays in the here and now presents
challenges. We Scots are still encumbered with glaur and stoor of our
pasts be they wally close, schemie, housing estate, or even detached villa
or large estate. We're unsure of what we'll have to fashion into our future
or may be able to discard or ignore. If we repeatedly bring into the light
just a few varieties of our stored seeds, we risk growing a too limiting
future.
Scotland like any nation has potential. But a disquieting number of its
contemporary dramas suggest all a Scot can be is an ironically funny loser
in a world where all hope drains away by the end. By presenting adult
lives of pessimistic despair, and projecting the image of a land in danger
of terminal and uninspiring decline we send our citizens and audience
nothing to encourage the belief in our ability to make things better as
well as worse.
Cast: Anita - Kathryn Howden, James - Paul Blair,
Jo - Isabelle Joss, Mick - Andy Gray, Chris - Neil McKinven, Carla - Anne
Kidd and Al - Alex Mikic.
2003 Tour Details of 7:84 Theatre Company Scotland's
production of Gilt .
Tour begins
2 - 4 Oct at
7:30pm Paisley Arts Centre 0141 887 1010.
7 - 11 Oct at 8pm Glasgow Tron Theatre 0141 552 4267.
14 - 18 Oct at 8pm Edinburgh Traverse Theatre 0131 228
1404.
22 Oct at 7:30pm Aberdeen The Lemon Tree 01224 642 230.
23 Oct at 8pm Stirling macrobert 01786 466 666.
25 October at 8pm Findhorn Universal Hall 01309 691 170
or 01309 690 110.
3 - 8 Nov at 7.30pm London Soho Theatre 020 7478 0100.
Saturday matinee at 4pm (No show Wednesday).
End of the Tour.
Tour ends
Theatre Editor, Thelma Good's e-mail is
thelma@edinburghguide.com
Although every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the
information presented in these pages, no responsibility can be accepted
for any errors or omissions.
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