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| Edinburgh : A&E : Theatre: Reviews |
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Theatre listings > Into the Dark
- Tour & World Premiere . After a successful tour with Beethoven's Brother Donald Mcleary returns with another stage play for Visible Fictions, Into the Dark. Unlike his earlier piece, which was hailed as a thoughtful piece of children's theatre by audiences and critics alike, Into the Dark is a deeply flawed piece. Mcleary, a successful television comedy writer, has not managed to grasp the world of theatre metaphors on this particular occasion, and has, unfortunately, landed into the most notorious of minefields - a collaboration with a director who did not succeed to translate Mcleary's quirky esprit into a cohesive dramatic structure. The concept of re-creating theatre of horror, a sort of a grand guignol for contemporary young audience, encompassing everything from urban myths to old creepy-crawly tales, could certainly appeal to both children and adults. The problem is, Visible Fictions' take on theatre of horror is neither blood-curdling, nor particularly imaginative. Mixing numerous film and television cliches and packing them into a two-hour show sends a shiver down my spine, but for the wrong reasons. After a dire beginning, the young audience's attention was lost in the first five minutes, only to be regained from time to time with an occasional funny reference to popular culture and a few knob jokes. This is not to say that the show is entirely without its saving graces. Beyond the clichéd characters, rehashed urban myths and too often retold gory tales of a bad old witch, which are neither scary nor particularly funny, there is an intriguing story just waiting to be told - about fear, prejudice and a hint of supernatural. Mcleary's ideas come across as something that could have been turned into a wonderful visual experience for the 11+ audience. Even more the shame that he did not actually write them into the script. Perhaps if given a chance, time and appropriate support to develop these ideas, the result of this project would have been quite different. Accompanied by an uninspired and monstrously cluttered set and the music score that does not fulfil its potential, it most certainly makes for a substandard theatrical viewing. Furthermore, one must commend the cast. There is not much wrong with their overall performances given the fact that they made a brave stab at giving a fresh lease of life to a clearly unfinished script. There are glitches, such as occasional inconsistencies of characterisation or movement, which should have been dealt with in the rehearsal space. However, all in all, the actors are just about the only ones who come out of this experience a wee bit rumpled but still smelling of roses. One must particularly mention Antony Strachan as fat boy Jim, Claire Knight as sassy Ang and as her boyfriend Ben, Grant O'Rourke. However, never in my fifteen years of practicing, teaching and writing for and about theatre have I seen such a great actress as Vari Sylvester so misused on stage. Her performance remains in the realms of Hammer movies, unfortunately for the actress who gave us mesmerising performances in Thebans, Medea, Twelfth Night and The Silver and The Red, to mention but a few. If given more scope, it is beyond a shadow of the doubt that Sylvester would have transformed the character of Mrs Liddle. As it stands now, the very makeup of this character begs another quite significant discussion about the presentation of scapegoats on stage. We live in a cynical society that feeds on its greed and indulgences, and often forgets its very old, and its very young. The shortsightedness with which Mrs Liddle is presented as a one-dimensional, evil character leaves hanging uneasily the issue of old people being rendered as an invisible, burdensome element of the society, and the realisation that we really do not understand either our elders, or our children. Into the Dark is a prime example of how not to do a show for a younger
audience. Theatre should inspire, open up horizons, and leave them in
a twirl of wide-eyed awe. Let's face it, knob jokes alone can produce
giggles but will not save the day, and though the language of teenagers
was spot on, there was many an assumption made about how they may think,
feel and view the world around them. Give the young ones a little bit
more credit, please. Cast: Theatre listings >
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