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Scenes From An Execution
- Scottish Premiere.
First written for BBC radio play in 1984, staged first at Almeida London
in 1986.
Playwright - Howard Barker.
Director - Dominic Hill.
Lighting Designer - Simon Bennison.
Sound Design - Anthea Haddow and Kenny MacLeod.
Company - Dundee Rep Ensemble
Company.
Cast - here .
Venue - Dundee Rep Tay Square.
Dates - 27April - 8 May Tues - Sat at 7:45pm and Mat on 1 May
at 2:30pm.
Running Time - 2 hrs 25 minutes including 15 minute interval.
Review - Thelma Good.
Ross's Galactia bestrides.
Scenes From An Execution- Dundee Rep Ensemble Production.
Galactia - Ann Louise Ross.
© Douglas McBride 2004.
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This Dundee Rep production is staged in the round, with more than a
few striking perfomances and directed so we are impelled into the world
of renaissance Venice where Galactia is a female painter. Commissioned
by the Venice State to paint an enormous canvas of the Battle of Lepanto.
Never being in a battle, she draws on her imagination and talks to combatants.
Her composition reveals something more striking than most commissioned
artists achieve.
Ann Louise Ross's Galactia is raw and gritty, dressed in scraps
fashioned into workwoman's clothes, she bestrides the stage, full of the
drive of the character. Urgentino, the Doge, who ensured her appointment,
is a man whose power also lets him behave like a dilettante, played to
effect by John Bett. He visits Galactia and tries to get her to
paint a victory rather than the truth of battle - he only succeeds in
getting his brother, the victorious admiral, depicted larger than life.
As that Admiral, Thane Bettany is a cool contrast to the Doge but
they both have petty vanities. Bettany also plays the always in
the shadows man in the cell, chilling with his pragmatic approach to incarceration.
The critic Rivera understands the State's mind and the futility of Galactia's
hopes - to make this commissioned work tear away Venice's political foundations.
Rivera's superficial knowledge, crafted words and media charm, in Irene
Macdougall's skilled hands are clearly delineated, regally entering
and leaving the artist's studio through its trapdoor. John Buick
gives a toned performance as Cardinal Ostensibile, the man who spins the
State's line so Galactia's work and herself are neutered as she becomes
a celebrity. Bringing particular colour and definition to their roles
are Mark Kane as the young sailor devastated when he sees Galactia's
canvas, Robert Paterson as Prodo the survivor of mutilating battle,
Stephen Docherty's Sordo, narrator Callum Cuthbertson's
The Sketchbook and Emily Pollet as the daughter Dementia who knows
her mother is unstoppable and her own talent limited all . On the first
night only three actors gave us perfomances which just lacked that uniqueness,
they were more like rough sketches, hopefully they will later in the run
become more finely drawn.
The production is enhanced by the sound design of Anthea Haddow and Kenny
MacLeod, giving us the intolerable sounds of battle as well as the echoing
spaces of churches. All the nuances of light and shade, essentials of
an artist, are explored by Simon Bennison's extraordinary lighting. And
Neil Warmington's set is largely well suited to this in the round production.
An extra dimension to it from some seats, is the domination of the hanging
crucified Christ, producing significance throughout the play. It adds
a visual confirmation that the reality of crucifixion, mortal combat or
revelation are muted, as the play suggests, by artistic representation.
It's a tale of Artist v State, Artist v Critic, Artist v Lover, Artist
v Patron and how all these adversaries whether having the best of motives
or the worst can diminish rather than develop the genius of original creation.
Ross makes certain we will remember and see its reflection in our
own State, Arts Administrators, Directors and Critics and most importantly
in the treatment of those who make it all possible - the Artists. It's
certainly a timely play for a country enmired in Cultural Strategies,
reviews and policy statements.
Howard Barker is a superb creator of both drama and women of spirit and
flaws, not to mention his varied men - after seeing only four of his forty
plus plays it is astonishing that more are not performed in Scotland.
There's more than enough to make this a treat for Barker fans or a great
introduction to him and to the strengths of plays staged in the round,
a too rare experience in Scotland which has no theatre space permanently
or frequently arranged this way, apart from the Citizens Circle Studio.
©Thelma Good 27 April 2004 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
EdinburghGuide reviews of other Barker plays, all Scottish productions-
Victory - Royal
Lyceum Theatre, Judith
- The Citizens. Brutopia was also done by RSAMD in 2003.
Cast: - Galactia - Ann Louise Ross, The Sketchbook
- Callum Cuthbertson, Carpeta - Paul Blair, Supporta - Emily Winter, Urgentino
- John Bett, Dementia - Emily Pollet, Suffici/Man in Cell- Thane Bettany,
Sordo - Stephen Docherty, Rivera - Irene Macdougall, Lasagna/Mustafa -
Keith Fleming, Ostensibile - John Buick, Sailor/The Gaoler/Workman - Mark
Kane, Prodo/Pastaccio - Robert Paterson. Other parts played by members
of the company.
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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