FERGUS LAMONT. To 5 May.

Tour

FERGUS LAMONT.
adapted by Gerry Mulgrew from the novel by Robin Jenkins.

Communicado Theatre Company in Association with Perth Theatre To 5 May 2007
Runs 2hr 50min Oone interval.
Review: Thelma Good 24 March at Perth Theatre

What a delight this is.
This adaptation of the novel Fergus Lamont by Robin Jenkins is crammed full of dramatic moments. Packed full of life, the direction as well as Gerry Mulgrew’s adaptation is full of reminders of what strange and confused beings we Scots were – and some still are.

Over 50 scenes take us from the grim industrial town of Gantock, to WW1 trenches then around Scotland, from the well-heeled and well-connected to the life lived close to the bone. Gordon Davidson’s set allows actors to move and audiences to imagine all the varied surroundings. The nature of the whole production means that nothing gets in the way of the pull of the story; it’s a shame Robin Jenkins’ (1912 – 2005) did not live to see Mulgrew’s skill.

Fergus Lamont’s an awkward wee boy in a kilt who becomes an invention of his own as he climbs up the social tree. Gossip is, his father was the son of an earl and, despite growing up in a slum, there’s just enough evidence.

Played by Sandy Grierson, the increasingly twisted and lonely Fergus becomes someone we at first flinch at, his desire to leave his working class past is so strong. But as time goes on and he loses the life once he desired and begins to find another kind of happiness in a remote Scottish isle, Fergus turns into a symbol of the way we Scots got very lost last century. So we grow in understanding of him and ourselves.

There is excellent support from all the other actors with the many characters memorable and rounded. Music and song add to the feeling of a complete, complex mix, strongly drawn from Robin Jenkins’ superb tale. If you want to understand how dislocated from their pasts Scots became in the 20th century, see this production. If you can’t get to it, the novel published by Canongate will assist.

Fergus Lamont: Sandy Grierson
Mary Holmscroft: Irene Allan
Nancy Lamont/Kirsty MacDonald/Mrs Shields: Lesley Hart
Betty T Shields/Mrs Grier: Isabella Jarrett
Limpy Calderwood/Campbell Aird/Jock Dunsyre: John Kazek
Bella/Cathie Calderwood/Dorcas/Mr Maybole: Beth Marshall
John Lamont/Smout McTavish/Mr Orr/Fiddle: Aly Macrae
Major Holmes/James Mutt-Simpson: Malcolm Shields
Accordionist: David Vernon

Director: Gerry Mulgrew
Designer: Gordon Davidson
Lighting: George Tarbuck
Composer/Arranger: Karen Wimhurst
Costume: Aileen Sherry and Kirsten Naismith
Fight Arranger: Raymond Short
Gaelic Translations and tuition: Aonghas MacNeacaill
Gaelic song Tuition: Gerda Stevenson

2007-04-07 08:09:06