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| Edinburgh : A&E : Theatre: Reviews |
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Theatre listings > 8000m
- World Premiere . We wish actors "break a leg" so as not to tempt the fates. Mountaineers it seems wish those about to climb into the death zone "good luck". Are they so inured to the 1 in 6 death toll - perhaps theatre folk could gain from their attitude? Suspect Culture surely have made their own luck in this production - it's certainly rewarded their corporate and public body sponsors with a nearly fully realized theatre production about climbing high, and should ensure their return from the possible death zone the Scottish Arts Council has placed this and other companies in recently. Theatre and climbing, in 8000m two worlds of risk are roped together,
some of the pitches are better than others, some of the characters better
fleshed, while some of visuals take your breath away, others fail to hold.
By choosing to open on a mountaineer's lone final ascent of Lhotse, the
production stumbles at the start. We lack reasons to engage with this
masked figure struggling wearily to the sound of a fast hammer heartbeat
but in subsequent scenes we start to relate to the mountaineers and their
worlds. One dream scene plays dramatically with perspective raising hopes
for more such scenes, hopes not always fulfilled. Each scene in the first
half is captioned, when real climbing gets under way these cease leaving
us free to rely on our own judgements. Suspect Culture's 8000m goes into the strange routes and diversions that
the active, fit men and women indulge in, showing they're as muddled as
the rest of us, their enemies like ours - ego, self doubt and hubris.
And despite its occasional misguided moments this expedition into the
heights and depths of human risk taking, both mountaineering and theatrical,
shows Suspect Culture are a company who fascinate audiences for they take
risks, risks which have sometimes left me speechless with deserved amazement
or just a couple of times rage. That risk of rage or amazement is what
makes me want to see what they do next. Extra review mainly about the cast and play. - After 8000m's opening scene we are taken back to when the expedition members, scattered over Scotland are drawn in by The Leader, whose grit and hard earned experience is brought out by Eric Barlow. The climbing team has the experienced mountaineering doctor, who knows more than one way to get high, Matthew Pidgeon impresses as the laid back individual who can also bring off feats of endurance. There's two women climbers. One's an able novice, The Writer played by Catherine Keating. She gets to go because she's a poet and maybe because she's girlfriend to an able climber The Alpinist, Paul Blair whose range till now has reached to the European Alps. The main characters are The Sponsor, Mr Mckay with his ability for business
and the other female Erica a famous climber. Mckay's desire to have his
biscuits linked with scary pursuits also allows him to climb seriously
for the first time, Phil McKee ensures we see his likeable side.
Almost a mountain purist Erica's stood on top of the biggest 8000m peak
and aims to climb all 14. She suffers the others but really she'd like
to be there carrying her kit from the beginning, Selina Boyack's
edgy disquiet tightens considerably the tension in the piece . Back home
her husband, John Macaulay keeps their family going, while she
and her companions put themselves in the way of extreme risk. Macaulay
and Boyack together achieve a poignant and desperately sad
hallucination scene toward the end of the play. Theatre listings >
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