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| Edinburgh : A&E : Theatre: Reviews |
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A Whistle in the
Dark.
Playwright - Tom Murphy. Director - Roxana Silbert. Designer - Liz Cooke. Lighting Designer - Philip Gladwell . Fight Co-ordinator - Denis Agnew. Company - The Arches Theatre Company . Cast - here . Venue - The Citizens' www.cit z.co.uk for internet booking 0141 429 0022. 119 Gorbals St Glasgow. Dates - 22 October - 13 November at 7.30pm Mat 6 Nov at 3pm. No Perfomances Sun or Mon. Run Time - 2 hours 30 mins with an interval. Reviewer - Marisa Farrell. Not treading new ground, but solid enough. Tom Murphy's play A Whistle in the Dark is one of Irish theatre's great achievements and demands much from those who choose to stage it. This Citizens' production is not treading new ground, but is solid enough. The direction is pretty strong on the whole. The blocking is particularly slick - and needs to be, given that there are often seven or eight actors sharing the heavily reduced and unchanging proscenium stage space. Designer Liz Cooke has created a raked stage for this production and, by doing so, pulls the spectator into the Carney household, drawing us closer to the action that unfolds within it. It is a very intelligent manipulation of the sometimes sprawling Citz main stage. The functional side rooms and backlit window are nice touches, more than hinting at the house being a microcosm of the social and domestic problems prevalent in much Irish writing from the early 1960s. A Whistle in the Dark bears witness to the systematic erosion of a family ruled by violence and misguided loyalty, despite the eldest brother Michael's best efforts to moralise and educate his brothers. At points, production decisions appear more than a little dubious. At the cataclysmic denouement, when the audience bears witness to the collapse of the family unit, the walls of the house too begin to come apart. While the home is used quite obviously in this production as a metaphor for the family, such symbolism is far too contrived and frankly, a little patronising. Both the acting and casting decisions are generally strong. Murphy's dialogue is fast-paced and often very witty and, therefore, demands a huge amount of energy and skill from its actors. Dermot Kerrigan and Cal MacAninch combine well as the more influential of the brothers, affected heavily by an emotionally stunted, dogmatic and stubborn minded father. Those playing Betty and Iggy made less of an impact, but in their defence their roles give them little scope to impress. Despite a few setbacks, this is an enjoyable and strangely entertaining play considering the depressing subject matter. ©Marisa Farrell 23 October 2004- Published on EdinburghGuide.com Cast - Michael Carney - Dermot Kerrigan, Harry Carney - Cal MacAninch, Des Carney - Packy Lee, Iggy Carney - Damian Kearney, Hugo Carney - Jason Kavanagh, Dada - Ciaran McIntyre. Betty - Lydia Baksh. Mush - Michael Glenn Murphy.
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