CARTHAGE MUST BE DESTROYED. To 19 May.

Edinburgh

CARTHAGE MUST BE DESTROYED
by Alan Wilkins

Traverse Theatre (Traverse 2) To 19 May 2007
Tue-Sat 8pm Sun 5pm Mat 112 May 2.30pm
Audio-described 19 May (+ Touch Tour 7.15pm)
BSL Signed 19 May
Captioned 17 May
Runs 2hr 35min One interval

TICKETS: 0131 228 1404
www.traverse.co.uk
Review: Thelma Good 29 April 2007.

Resonant drama of the Punic War power-play.
Power and ambition are heady things. Gregor (Sean Campion) is waiting in an up-market Roman bathhouse to meet the Consul Cato. He’s had commissions from him before, and chats in a humorous laid back fashion. Marcus (Damian Lynch), younger and grandson of a slave, waits with him. He’s much more alert and on edge, his position much less secure.

When Cato arrives you grasp at once in Tony Guilfoyle’s playing how coolly powerful this man is . Completing the honed and artistically-muscled cast directed by Lorne Campbell is the quietly convincing Paul-James Campion who as David attracts Gregor’s always roving eye and who later appears as a hostage Carthaginian Youth, another ill-advised pick-up by Gregor.

Kenny Miller provides two contrasting sets for the production and simple garments which the cast wear with a sensuous pleasure. He deploys red, black and white to add to the feeling of dangerous power. Renny Robertson’s lighting and Paul Pinsky’s sound complement the text and acting where tension rarely slackens and a thrust stage ensures we feel closely involved in the action, particularly when the lights come up and Cato addresses us as the senate.

There are resonances in this play of our own dear recent past and our leaders’ attraction to wars. The commission the Consul wants achieved is a Rome that believes Carthage is a real and potent danger. To rulers war is a fine distraction from local difficulties.

This is Alan Wilkin’s second commissioned play for the Traverse, full of challenges and speeches for actors to flex their muscles with. The taut script is very satisfying, and its premier production should not be its last.

Marcus: Damian Lynch
Gregor: Sean Campion
Cato: Tony Guilfoyle
David/Youth: Paul-James Campion

Director: Lorne Campbell
Designer: Kenny Miller
Lighting: Renny Robertson
Composer: Philip Pinsky

2007-05-01 04:14:29