THE VINEGAR DOLL. To 24 December.
Edinburgh
THE VINEGAR DOLL
by Michael J Blyth
Traverse Theatre (Traverse 2) To 24 December 2005
20, 21 Dec 10.45am & 2pm; 22 Dec 5pm; 23 Dec 1pm & 5pm 24 Dec 1pm
Runs 1hr No interval
TICKETS: 0131 228 1404
www.traverse.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 18 December
Vinegar makes for a sourpuss Christmas show.
With its 9-14 intended audiences, Scotland's Cat in a Cup Theatre company reaches its first Christmas aiming for the age that starts with the late years of keenly anticipating the season and reaches up into the early years of disillusion with everything except the most material of present-getting. And materialism's at this show's heart. The Doll that appealingly calls out 'Mama' when squeezed (something discovered when it's trodden-on) is manufactured for profit. And it carries a curse that emerges from that. Everyone who touches it ends up badly.
Yet it's welcomed into a happy family home, and chased after by a father. In return, families are split, bereaved and fall out in its presence. All this is told in the company's visual style, with surprisingly sweet singing from a quartet spread around the audience. There's little spoken content, and what there is comes over indifferently; singing apart, this company's probably wise to keep its mouth shut.
The movement's more skilful, though not without the indulgence that enjoys making plot-retarding moments out of routines, and using the repetitive physical patterns beloved especially of East European mimes. Some scenes, such as one where a nervous man trying to learn confidence from a recording, on which his chance placing if the stylus leads to unexpected messages, seem to be there more for its cleverness than becauswe it adds much to the theme, let aloner plot cohewrence. The staging has a period flavour, which is unfortunate. It may play off traditional Christmas iconography but it also makes things too easy for a piece that's trying to make a point, while the introduction of the 'Titanic' (apparent to me only from accompanying notes) seems adventitious.
Its simplistic downbeat mood is a sign of the show's immaturity; Cat in a Cup has the physical skills to produce exciting, provocative work, but this piece lacks complexity. Except in its presentation, which hardly seems attuned to 9-14 year olds' interests or mental geography. And is the company's sweet singing meant to be dismissed as merely saccharin? It certainly sounds out a beauty that's crushed elsewhere in the piece.
Better vinegar than saccharin in midwinter festivities, maybe, but if there's really no positive content to thrust us forward into another new year, why not give up now? That's hardly a message to impose on young people. Be provocative, be challenging, yes - but sheer negativity is too easy an option and ends up patronising the audience.
Cast: Matt Addicott, Susie Chown, Megan Kennedy, Stanley Pattison
Director: Jo Timmins
Designer: Claire Halleran
Music: Matt Elliot
Dramaturg: Libby Brown
2005-12-19 17:06:57