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Uncle Varick
- World Premiere.
A version of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya.
Writer & Designer- John Byrne.
Director - Mark Thomson.
Assistant Director - Michael Emans.
Lighting Designer - Jeanine Davies.
Music Arranger - Bill Murdoch.
Voice Coach - Ros Steen.
Company - Royal Lyceum Theatre Company. Website.
Cast - here .
Venue - Royal Lyceum Theatre .www.lyceum.org.uk
for on line booking
0131 248 4848
Grindlay St off Lothian Rd to left of Usher Hall.
Dates - Free preview 16 April 17 April - 8 May 2004. Tues
- Sat at 7:45pm. Mats at 2:30pm on & January.
Run Time - 2 hours 45 mins including 20 mins interval.
Reviewer - Thelma Good.
Fine new Scottish cousin to original.
Uncle Varick - Royal Lyceum Theatre Company.
L-R: Michael - Richard Dillane, Kay Gallie as Katie Morag and Brian
Cox as Varick .
© Douglas McBride 2004.
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The North of Scotland in the mid 1960s is a more than fit setting for
Byrne's version of Chekov's Uncle Vanya. Back then it could take years
for changes in fashion and attitudes to arrive outside the big cities,
even Glasgow was many months behind the looks on Carnaby Street, London.
Varick's returning and remarried brother-in-law Sandy Sheridan is what
often passes for an intellectual in media land - a presenter with less
brain than Bragg. Sandy's a type who only fits in the world of artifice
and David Ashton's performance captures the superficial charm and
lack of real understanding. As Elaine, Sandy's second wife, Isabel
Brook, in costumes designed by the same John Byrne, has the cool look
of those times. It's as if she's stepped right out of a mid-sixties Vogue
fashion shot, but Brook lets us see the anguish behind the immaculate
turnout.
Keeping his dead sister's estate going is Uncle Varick, a man of vigour
and dynamism even though he's been stuck in the remote north and lacks
real control over his life. It's a towering, generous performance from
Brian Cox who brings us the man's real humanity when he finds out
what Sandy intends. By then the audience have come to understand the importance
of that far off world whose values don't show up directly on an accountant's
balance sheet. He's uncle to Sandy's grown-up daughter Shona, in a performance
of a beautifully judged mix of innocence and hope by Madeleine Worrall.
Also part of the family is Mhari, Varick's mother and Shona's grandmother,
Edith Macarthur on top form, one of those redoubtable women fashioned
by the Empire and no central heating.
Completing the household is Kristy Morag, a woman who knits whenever she
sits, Kay Gallie's performance every inch the old servant who is
almost family. Living in a bothy but eating with the people of the Big
House is Bill Murdoch's well kilted Willie John Telfer. A man who
hit hard times till Varick found a way to help. Dropping in very frequently
is the doctor Michael, Richard Dillane. The scenes where he and
Varick are overwhelmed by their attraction to the visiting Elaine are
just some of many moments in this play where all feels immediate and unpredictable.
Mark Thomson's direction, assisted by Michael Emans, has brought out full,
rounded performances, and once the slow first ten minutes are left, driving
momentum to the final painful moments. The first act set with autumn saplings
causes an awkward and rather lengthy scene change for the second Act when
we go indoors. The music played as well as John Byrne's costume designs,
including a embroidered silk Nehru jacket and ironed creases in Sandy's
demins, span more than the year 1964 stated in the programme. But they
do capture the whole era when youth tried to change the world forever.
Some of the play's sixties references may escape those not born then or
too young or later too stoned - but Byrne's version of Chekov's Uncle
Vanya is a fine new Scottish cousin to its much older Russian relation.
There's real meat in the text and the well seasoned acting serves up a
very memorable production.
© Thelma Good 17 April 2004. - Published on EdinburghGuide.com
Cast: Kirsty Morag - Kay Gallie, Michael - Richard
Dillane, Varick - Brian Cox, Sandy Sheridan - David Ashton, Willie John
Telfer - Bill Murdoch, Shona - Madeleine Worrall, Elaine - Isabel Brook,
Mhari (Varick's mother) - Edith Macarthur and Estate Worker - Dan Travis.
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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