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The Irish Giant
- Tour & Scottish Premiere .
Playwright & Director - Garry Robson.
Designer - Lisa Ducie.
Lighting Designer - Jesse Cotdell.
Music - Leigh Stirling.
Signer - Wendy Wiles.
Company - Birds of Paradise Theatre Company Website.
Cast - here .
2003 Tour Dates and Times - here . (All
performances incorporate signing).
Seen to review at The Arches Glasgow.
Run Time - 1 hours 20 mins, no Interval.
Reviewer - Thelma Good.
Theatre to open you up.
Four disability activists appear in the Hunterian Museum London after
hours, they plan to liberate the giant skeleton of a man who lived in
the C18th, Charlie Byrne. But they encounter a strange person who tells
them the story of the Irish Giant's life.
Lee Hart is the giant, not quite Bryne's stature he nevertheless
has all the strangeness of a true unique and the Irish charm, reprising
the role he created when the play was originally done by New
Breed Theatre Company. A actor with considerable stage presence he
could dominate but due to Cherylee Houston who is reprising her
roles as Runt/Tag and the new Scottish and strong cast, his performance
is well counterbalanced. Houston is sharp and incisive as Tag the
manager of the Irish Giant.
Judging just right the quirky zanyness of his eager for Byrne's length
woman Raymond Short also is notable as the fellow calculating showman
Devlin. Short is additionally Hare in a splendid double act with
Robert Softley's Burke who is becoming an actor of considerable
charm and deftness, (Technically Burke and Hare were not body snatchers
or resurrectionists but murderers but this production has so much life
and spirit in it you'll soon forgive the play being fast and loose with
history.) Softley also plays the pressman giving us those trivialising
headlines the tabloids love. Playing the role of John Hunter the Surgeon
General who made sure he got Byrne's remains in the end, Kevin Howell
gives him the chill of obsession taking us into the delights of dissection
- in this production there are some I promise.
Using a wonderfully flexible set which offers opportunities for all the
actors able bodied or not to move in many ways and whizz on an extra speedy
wheelchair, the pace of the production and its sheer physicality makes
it stand out. Signing is integrated into the production so clearly you'll
find yourself getting the sense in the few sections where signing takes
over totally from sound. Also watch out for the challenging list of the
diseases as the signer tries to keep interpreting! Adding to the production
is Leigh Stirling's music and several irreverent songs. Yes there is a
serious side to the play and some very real looking body parts but this
is theatre to open you up not to hector or make you feel out of place.
My only quibble is the programme, glossy paper, white print on black background
and 8 point had this dyslexic struggling to read, but many theatre companies
make this mistake.
Birds of Paradise shows are always worth waiting for. This one makes it
clear the many actors who have found their skills and talents honed by
companies who focus on developing differently abled actors create a highly
dramatic and theatrical style. A style which actors who can move or speak
more readily often forget is where theatre is often most satisfying. Director
and Playwright Garry Robson rightly said in the opening night reception
it's clearly time to let this talent and uniqueness be an integral part
of mainstream companies too. They have much to gain and on this evidence
nothing to lose but their flabby, disfiguring and very lame excuses.
© Thelma Good 11 September 2003. - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
Cast: Natalie Garrity - Signer/Brid, Lee Hart
- Boneman/Charles Byrne, Cherylee Houston - Runt/Tag, Kevin Howell - Connoly/Hunter,
EJ Raymond - Deafgurl/Mary, Raymond Shanks - Longshanks/Devlin/Hare -
Raymond Short and Wheeler/Pressman/Burke - Robert
Softley.
2003 Tour Details of Birds of Paradise Theatre
Company's production of The Irish Giant .
Tour begins
(All performances
incorporate signing)
10 - 12 Sept at 7.30pm Glasgow The Arches 0141 565 1023.
13 Sept at 8pm East Kilbride Arts Centre 01355 261 000.
17 Sept at 7.30pm Paisley Wynd Arts Centre 0845 130 5218.
18 Sept at 7.45pm Irvine Harbour Arts Centre 01294 214
059.
19 Sept at 7.30pm Edinburgh St Brides Ctre 0131 346 1405.
20 Sept at 8pm Edinburgh Traverse Theatre 0131 228 1404.
21 Sept at 7.30pm Perth Upper Springland Theatre 01738
632 995.
23 Sept at 7.30pm Galashiels Volunteer Halls Tkts on door.
25 Sept at 7.30pm Aberdeen The Lemon Tree 01224 642 230.
26 Sept at 8pm Inverness Spectrum Theatre Tkts on door.
27 Sept at 7.30pm Invergordon Arts Ctre 01349 868 478.
1 Oct at 7.30pm Ballachulish Village Hall Tkts on door.
4 October at 7.30pm Portree Aros Arts Centre 01478 613
750.
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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