BARRIE: A LIFE IN STORIES. To 1 September.
Edinburgh Fringe 2007.
BARRIE: A LIFE IN STORIES
by Donald Smith and the cast.
Netherbow Theatre, Scottish Storytelling Centre 43-45 High Street EH1 1SR To 1 September 2007.
Daily 7pm.
Runs 2hr 5min One interval.
TICKETS: 0131 556 9579
www.scottishstorytellingcentre.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 26 August.
Exploring a writer's complex imagination.
Splinters Productions has spent a decade exploring Scotland’s writers and artists, so it’s no surprise they’ve turned their hands to Kirriemuir’s famous son, J M Barrie. He has been widely subsumed by one of his creations, Peter Pan, as has Arthur Conan Doyle by Sherlock Holmes. But Barrie (1860-1937) was more than a one-fantasy writer as this collage of his work, set within a framing commentary as the elderly Barrie addresses students on his election as Rector of St Andrews University, makes clear.
It’s not to be taken too literally; one of the most notable scenes comes from a story written 12 years after Barrie became Rector. But the admission of an alter ego, McConnachie, points to Barrie’s innate sense of a split within himself. In his public-spirited right, taking Courage as his theme, Barrie warns the students about the dangers of war. Yet he suspects, as is whispered to him mid-address, what they really want from him is the wild imagination he named McConnachie.
John Shedden’s Barrie occasionally moves from his authoritative position lecturing at the side of the stage to join the world of Barrie’s stories. Anna Hepburn and Kara Johnston add reliable support, and McLean more than that, as assorted characters, comic or serious.
Notable dramatised scenes include an example of life in Thrums, Barrie’s fictionalised Kirriemuir, a scene from the full-length play What Every Woman Knows and a condensed version of the wry one-act comedy The Twelve Pound Look. Most startling is the later ghost story Farewell, Miss Julie Logan, where McLean’s spellbinding, and spellbound, minister is accompanied by a tactful Hepburn and Johnson as the enigmatic, fascinating title character.
This is a company that tours widely and Barrie should be doing the rounds in due time. When it does, I hope the company will make the piece more evidently organic, clarifying how each section develops the Courage theme. And the script assumes quite a pre-knowledge of the writer. A spot more information would do no harm. For, in the best material here, the Splinters quartet already show their author, and their performances, can be transfixing.
Cast: Finlay McLean, Anna Hepburn, John Shedden, Kara Johnston.
Designer: Gilbert Price.
Lighting: Gilbert Price, Alan Little.
Costume: Anna Hepburn.
2007-08-28 15:20:48