After the success of Interiors from Vanishing Point, comes another voyeuristic gaze at humanity. This time we’re looking at the battle of the sexes and whether men are born to be bankers whilst women are born to file. If Big Brother and the never ending plethora of reality TV programmes have shown us anything it’s that both men and women can be vacuous, fame hungry plebs, but why are men always ahead in the business game? Writer Pamela Carter and designer/director Stewart Laing, the pair that bought us Slope, have turned their gaze to Pierre de Marivaux’s 1744 play La Dispute, which focuses on a rich couple who decide to see which gender is more faithful in love by isolating four teenagers from birth and introducing them to each other at the age of eighteen. Carter’s version examines the masculine and feminine traits of risk-taking and risk-aversion in the finance industry. The focus is on two hedge fund workers during the Lehman Brothers collapse of September last year who attempt to settle the debate by playing the voyeur to a group of youngsters in a reality TV scenario.

Both men and women can be vacuous, fame hungry plebs

With an up-to-date text, a timeless issue and the Tramway and Traverse at the beck and call of this tried and tested theatre duo, Stewart Laing explains how he’s working both the small and large spaces at the venues: ‘the intimate conversation is in the studio theatre, and then we move through to the bigger space where we’ve put a garden on stage, it just makes it more convincing. Also there’s so much site specific work in Scotland, people are just in general interested in alternative theatre spaces, and I think that two spaces in one night is an interesting part of that move in Scotland.’ Playing out a bit like a romcom (Laing admits he likes Legally Blonde) there’s no danger of dry debate on a tired subject with Argument, instead ‘there’s more of a human drama side to it and a funny side to it’ which should keep us both entertained and engaged.

With the size of the theatres the show can only play to 90 people at a time, so book your tickets now!

Tramway, Glasgow

Previews: Thursday 1st – Friday 2nd October

Saturday 3rd – Saturday 17th October (not Sundays or Mondays), 7.30pm

Tickets: £10 / £8 conc Box Office: 0845 330 3501

Traverse, Edinburgh

Thursday 29th October – Saturday 7th November (not Monday 2nd), 8pm (Sunday 1st @ 6pm)

Tickets: £13 / £8 conc / £5 unemployed (Tues – Thurs & Sunday) £16 / £12 conc (Fri & Sat)

Box Office: 0131 228 1404 / www.traverse.co.uk

Argument Continues…

A programme of debates and discussions exploring the themes raised in An Argument About Sex

Tramway Thursday 15th October 2009 @ 5pm

“Is monogamy deviant?”

Panel discussion sponsored by The Skinny and ESRC Genomics Forum

Tramway Saturday 10th October @ 4.30pm

A formal debate proposing the motion:

“The differences between men and women are innate”

Tramway Post show discussion Friday 16th October

Traverse Post show discussion Thursday 5th November