On Going to the Theatre

I have been to the theatre, twice.

It was the Scottish Community  Drama Association Edinburgh District One-Act Play Festival and Compeittion last week. I went to two of the three nights and saw six of the nine productions. Some were good.

It was an interesting and useful exercise to watch so many pieces of drama so quickly.

On Thursday I saw

A Number by Caryl Churchill - a play about cloning and the nature vs nurture question. It was one of my own drama club's entries and I'd prompted for the play during rehearsals. What happens when a bastard clones his own son and then abandons the original to the care system? How many clones is too many?

The Sociable Plover by Tim Whitnail - a play about a bird watcher meeting a Jack-the-Lad whilst out looking for a rare bird. One of them is a murderer.

Blind Date by Peter Quilter - a play about a pre-date date to a blind date.

On Saturday I saw

First  Class by James Beagon - a play set in a railway carriage in three time periods, post-war Scotland, the mid-nineties and today.

The Ram in the Thicket by Glen Mhor - a play about blood transfusion and Jehovah's Witnesses, my other drama club entry, written by the great-grandfather of the director. Will the stern but loving father break his covenant with God to save his sick child, or will the state intervene and if so, will any of them be in time?

Gino of the Lamp by Paul Bovino - a play about a genie in a lamp in New York. He is looking for someone to make the perfect wish. He finds a young woman who has just broken up with her boyfriend after 13 years.

I really like A Number and the Ram in the Thicket, both good scrips, well directed, well acted, well produced and both plays had something to say. I'm fond of A Number because I helped with the production a little. The Ram in the Thicket's production had a lovely lush quality to it. It was as if it were in Techni-Color.

I also like the Sociable Plover, which was well acted (one of the two cast in particular was superb) and funny. It was almost a play about gender and class and generation but sort of backed out of the option of examing those elements too closely

First Class is a bit of messy script. It's a three hander, where each actor plays the main character in their time period and the other two actors play supporting roles, conductors, passengers, school kids etc. There is also a bit of handing off of lines from one principal character to another. The combination was a little hard to follow. I think the show required stronger directing choices and some more nimble acting than it got.

Blind Date was well done but I'm not sure that the script says anything to me about my life. It didn't draw any conclusion other than Blind Dates can be awkward. I've only been on one blind date but it was with a lesbian who had just been dumped and who spent most of the evening crying on me and drinking vodka. I know blind dates can be awkward.

Gino of the Lamp was similar but with a markedly flawed script. Decent acting but I'm not sure I'm any the wiser. A humorous play but not funny enough to stand not having much of a purpose. The scrip flaws: the script kept jumping from one concept to another and then back again. Characters would talk about, say the contents of the fridge, move of that subject to the view and then move back to the contents of the fridge. I thought at first perhaps someone had missed a line or cue but it happened so often that I think the scrip was to blame. Why are you telling me this becomes why are you telling me this again?

I made the following observations.

I'm not much interested in plays that are the equivalent of Sunday afternoon drama. Either be very, very funny or have something interesting to say. Death in Paradise is always going to be better on my sofa.

In order to have a good play you definately need all the elements to be good but I will forgive less then excellent acting if the script is good.

If you are on stage, either stand still or move deliberately.

All in all an interesting few nights at the theatre.

The result of the competition was that A Number finished First, with our other play, the Ram in the Thicket finishing Third. However, competition rules prevent more than one play from each club going on to the next round.