Showing @ Brunton Theatre, Musseburgh Thur 3rd March @ 19:30, see full listings below
Two things in life are certain: death and taxes. So what is there to live for? Love? Hate? In Dogstar Theatre’s production Sweetness, existential themes are discussed with humour and flippancy: death is not a fear, but a submission and there is no such thing as living, only survival. Two brothers live in mutual loathing on either side of a hill. Murdo (Sean Hay) is comically obese and suffering from a heart condition; Archie (Matthew Zajac) is gaunt, thin and living off painkillers to aid stomach cancer. Neither will be the first to die.
Kevin MacNeil’s adaptation of Torgny Lindgren’s novel is witty and humble. Behind sharp tongues are sensitive but fearless characters. The arrival of Kate (Lynne Verral) brings opportunity for reconciliation, but only if the brothers give up their stubborn hatred. She has her own objectives, but beyond this, she is a doing as St. Christopher did and unburdening the men before their inevitable deaths. Short scenes at first seem to disrupt the pace, but quickly become part of the rhythm signalling the passage of time. Poignant reflections of memories contrast with climatic release of tension as the story unravels. It becomes a question of peace and what we do to achieve it. Prolonging the dispute is the only way; giving in isn’t an option. If it was, we’d be paying taxes long after we’re dead.
Full Listings:
Venue: Gairloch Village Hall
Date & Time: Tuesday 8 March 7.30pm
Bookings: 01445 781783 Tickets: £8/£6
Venue: Macphail Centre, Ullapool
Date & Time: Thursday 10 March 7.30pm
Box Office: 01854 613336 Tickets: £7/£5
Venue: Farr High School, Bettyhill
Date & Time: Friday 11 March 1.30pm
Bookings: through school. Ticket prices tbc
Venue: Mill Theatre, Thurso
Date & Time: Saturday 12 March 7.30pm
Bookings: 01847 896508 Tickets: £8/£6
Venue: Woodend Barn, Banchory
Date & Time: Thursday 17 March 7.30pm
Box Office: 01330 825431
Tickets: £9/£7 under 16s £5 in advance. £10/£8/£8/£6 on the door
Venue: Grassic Gibbon Centre, Arbuthnott
Date & Time: Friday 18 March 7.30pm
Box Office: 01561 361668 Tickets: £8
Venue: Tower Mill, Heart of Hawick
Date & Time: Saturday 19 March 7.30pm
Box Office: 01450 360688 Tickets: £10/£8
Venue: Raasay Community Hall, Isle of Raasay
Date & Time: Monday 21 March (time tbc)
Bookings 01478 660345: Tickets on the door Tickets: prices tbc
Venue: Lochinver Village Hall
Date & Time: Tuesday 22 March 7.30pm
Bookings: 01571 844104 Tickets: tbc
Venue: Eden Court, Inverness
Dates & Times: Wednesday 23 & Thursday 24 March 8.00pm
Box Office: 01463 234234
Tickets: £12/£10, + £2 friends concession
Venue: Lonach Hall, Strathdon
Date & Time: Saturday 26 March 7.30pm
Bookings: 01975 651779 Tickets: £8/£6
There seems to be a common thread to Emma’s reviews, which is that, rather than examining/ discussing/reviewing/critiquing the actual production, there is only an outlining of themes. Theatre is a live event, it is hard to discuss it meaningfully without reference to the audience or the production – how successfully does the play/production communicate its themes, for example. How has the director attempted to turn the ideas of the play into action? How successfully have the actors personified the characters they play? Giving a star rating is no substitute for expressing an opinion.
Surely, Nicholas, that when new work is concerned the play itself (as in the case of Sweetness where Matthew Zajac both performs and plays the role of artistic figurehead of Dogstar as a whole) a discussion of the piece itself is just as relevant as staging decisions, directorial choices and other things that you catagorise as ‘the actual production’. What exactly would you do with such a restrictive word count that she has failed to?
Incidentally, I’m sure Emma would be flattered that even though you find her reviewing style ineffective and lacking in opinion you bravely battled through enough of her published work on TV Bomb to find a ‘common thread’ that runs through her reviews.
Well done sir, be sure to never cork up that flow of ‘altruism’.
Thank you for your comments. I’m sorry to hear, Nicholas, that my reviews don’t fulfill what you would hope to gain by reading them. I approach theatre criticism with the intention of being able to relate the piece to the wider world and in doing that, assess whether the production is one worth seeing by you the reader. Theatre, and of course all art, is subjective. What I may consider to be bad direction, or a half-hearted lighting design is not necessarily what you would agree with. In that case, I do not feel that I should either encourage or discourage readers from attending a performance because of that. My concern is with the connection between the piece and the context in which it has been produced. A production can be aesthetically faultless, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it makes a good piece of theatre, or even art.
Well said Emma, and indeed that is the ‘common thread’ of TVBomb as well, it’s easy to find articles that comment on how great an actor is, what we do is try and offer something else in our commentary, thanks for visiting the site and sparking debate.