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Theatre listings > Mancub. - Tour & World Premiere. Adapted from the book The Flight of the Cassowary by John Levert. Playwright - Douglas Maxwell. Director - Matthew Lenton. Set & Lighting Designer - Kai Fischer. Costume Designer - Becky Minto. Company - Vanishing Point - Company Website. Cast - here . 2005 Tour Dates and Times - here . Seen to review at Traverse Theatre Edinburgh Scotland on 6 May 2005. Run Time - 1 hour 15 mins, no Interval . Reviewer - Thelma Good. Rich strongly compelling theatrical power.
Paul finds he increasingly can think and feel like all sorts of animals, a rhino, an eagle, a rat even a shark. At home he and his Dad sparr over the milk bottle, at school he and his friend Jerry are taught by a variety of teachers, their types recognisable to young and old while Paul hopes to be closer to Karen. The play gives gems for the actors, and all three of them grasp them with alcarity and superb skill. Paul J. Corrigan's makes Paul a boy you can believe can morph into other living species skins, he gives us that heady, disturbing state when you realise your reality isn't others. Caire Lamont's Mr Fidleles is the teacher you encountered during dusty school days, as Jerry's Grandmother is a woman still coloured by her European Jewish past and as Karen a schoolgirl who understands Paul better than he could ever hope. Sandy Grierson gets on all fours to be the laconic hound Ken, the canine equivalent of a wise owl, while his human roles encompass Paul's increasingly baffled, concerned father, Jerry the friend who releases wisecracks in class, at home the minefields are seeded by his father, a bullying ned and the oh so eager for his team to succeed gym teacher. All three make the scenes vivid and let them slide seamlessly into the increasing tension of the play's exploration of what are we - boy, man, human or beast under Matthew Lenton's tone perfect direction. The excitement and challenge of Maxwell's text where no lines are ascribed to characters has been fused and infused by this company. Kai Fischer's set of a tree with branches reaching out to the audience and his lighting also embraces the fantasy feel of the play without hindering its roots in real human experience. After Vanishing Point's striking The Lost Ones this production of Douglas Maxwell's play shows this is a company who have found a rich and strongly compelling theatrical power. © Thelma Good 6 May 2005 - Published on EdinburghGuide.com Text of Mancub info and other reviews of Douglas Maxwell's plays - Published by Oberon Books who also publish Douglas Maxwell's other plays Decky Does A Bronco, Our Bad Magnet, Helmet, Variety and If Destroyed True. Cast - Paul - Paul J. Corrigan, Father, Jerry, Ken, Mr Sisskind and several other roles - Sandy Grierson and Mother, Karen Cleary, Mr Fideles, Jerry's Grandmother - Claire Lamont. 2005 Tour Details of Vanishing Point's production of Mancub . Tour begins 5 - 7 May at 8pm Edinburgh Traverse Theatre 0131 228 1404. 10 May Eden Inverness Court Theatre 01463 234234. 13 May at Kilmarnock Palace Theatre. 17 May at 8pm Stirling MacRobert 01768 466666. 19 May at Leicester Melton Theatre 01664 851111. 25 - 28 May at 8pm Glasgow Tron Theatre 0141 552 4267. 1 - 18 June at 7.30pm (Sat. Mat. 4pm) London Soho Theatre 0870 429 6883. Tour ends. 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. Theatre listings >
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