Showing @ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Wed 14 Nov only
There was something energising and mobilising about the birth of Theatre Uncut back in Spring 2011. It gave space to reactive and politically charged discussion in the arts about economic conditioning and the function of discussion amongst theatregoers, activists and interested third parties. This selection, featuring some plays already performed at the Traverse during the Fringe 2012, is part of a worldwide week of Uncut action.
The night welcomes some new plays by Helena Tornero (Yesterday, Spain) and Hayley Squires (Blondie, UK), the former about a riot-inducing policeman, the latter about a worse-than-Thatcher leader who monologues about British complacency and luxury. Kieran Hurley’s London 2012: Glasgow reminds us of how distant Scottish identity is from London attitudes towards nationality, Anders Lustgarten’s The Breakout introduces the potential scariness of freedom as two girls debate escaping from prison, while Andri Snaer Magnason and Thorleifur Orn Arnarson’s exceptional Indulge tells of Icelandic businesspeople attempting to corporatise the Seven Deadly Sins.
There is enough humour in these pieces to give the night that feeling of rawness which has become associated with Uncut’s guerrilla style. The satire is strong and the political analysis is deep, as all of the plays have been written by playwrights directly engaging in activism or commentary. But they don’t seem to gel in the same way that Theatre Uncut plays have in the past, from the likes of Ravenhill and Kirkwood, which have generated uproarious experiences akin to the Gordon Brown special staged at the Traverse in 2010. The sense of immediacy just isn’t as tangible as it once was; this might be down to the fact that some of the plays here are far more intelligent than others, whereas the standard at previous events has been outstandingly high overall. It is still involving and responsive, with that exquisitely unrefined quality, but is missing a greater dynamism which makes it unique.