THE PEARLFISHER. To 24 November.
Scotland
THE PEARLFISHER
by Iain F MacLeod.
Traverse Theatre To 10 November 2007.
Tue-Sat 7:30pm Sun 5pm Mat 3 Nov 2.30pm then tour in Borders and Highlands of Scotland to 24 November.
Runs 2 hr 25mins.
TICKETS: 0131 228 1404.
www.traverse.co.uk
Review: Thelma Good 30 October 2007.
Shines, but not clear enough.
Pearls do shine in this play; some are the actors, the sounds, the atmosphere of a hard past that still had its own treasures. But sometimes the flow isn’t clear enough to let them shine consistently.
Iain F MacLeod’s play is set in the North West of Scotland in 1948/9 and the present day, and has within it people who have become detached from their birthright of country and culture. For the director Phillip Howard it is his final production as Artistic Director of the Traverse and shows again his interest in the tensions in the Highlands.
The set has running through it a zig-zag highland burn with pools where freshwater mussels and salmon lie. In a lyrical opening two young villagers, Elspeth Brodie’s confident Jess and Sam Heughan’s good-looking Roderick enjoy a hot summer’s day with an off stage fiddle providing a musical background.
There are Travellers who erect benders on the grassy banks of the burn. Annie Lacey giving us a mythic older woman, Ette, steeped in their lore. There’s also Nicholas Karim’s Willie the Horseman and Phillip Cairns' very attractive pearlfisher Ali.
In the modern second act, Brodie plays Jessie (Jess’s grand daughter) Lacey Old Jess, Cairns the engaging, feckless Alec (Jessie’s husband), while Karimi is Hassan, a refugee from Iran. His journalistic articles have resulted in him working for a Highland estate, employed by Sam Heughan’s Eddie.
With language rhythms and words coming from Gaelic, Scots, Travellers’ Cant, and in the modern section Hassan’s Farsi, the production is aurally vivid. It’s narrative contains several moments suggesting homosexual undercurrents not present in the published text (Nick Hern), and these feel imposed.
The play’s story, where three pearls reappear again and again, echoes the storyteller’s art. But dramatically it, and the production, lose drive, ending in a final scene that undermines the play’s powerful tension between the pessimistic loss of rich culture and strength and the human ability to turn the grit and disappointments of life into glowing future pearls.
Jess/Jessie, Jess’ granddaughter: Elspeth Brodie.
Roderick/Eddie the Gaffer: Sam Heughan.
Ali/Alec: Phillip Cairns.
Etta/Jess: Annie Lacey.
Willie the Horseman/Hassan: Nicholas Karimi.
Musician: Gavin Maxwell.
Director: Philip Howard.
Designer: Lisa Sangster.
Lighting: Kai Fisher.
Composer: Gavin Marwick.
Costume: Mary Robson.
Voice coach: Ros Steen.
Channel4/Film4 Associate director: Sophie Goodhart.
2007-11-01 08:38:21