Theatre reviews: Scenes for Survival | We All Need Company Sometimes

Sometimes, in these strange days, what we need for survival is not so much more reflection on the strange plight in which we all find ourselves, as the occasional moment of complete distraction; and that’s exactly what the inspired team of writer Linda Radley, actor Gerry Mulgrew, director Andy Arnold and composer/sound designer Danny Krass offer, in their brand new contribution to the National Theatre of Scotland’s Scenes For Survival series.

Filmed in Midlothian, co-produced with the Tron Theatre, and titled The Maid’s Room (*****), Radley’s story casts Mulgrew – one of Scotland’s most remarkable actors, as well as former boss of the inspired Communicado Theatre – as a B&B superhost who welcomes guests from across the world into his picturesque cottage home. He converts the old maid’s room in the attic into an extra bedroom where he can sleep when the house is full; but his presence there triggers a chain of events that leaves him convinced the house is being haunted by the unhappy spirit of a maid who once lived, and perhaps died, in that room.

What’s particularly striking about this perfectly-shaped ten minute film – apart from the beauty of the setting, and the unforgettable quality of Mulgrew’s performance – is its disturbing sense that the haunting of the host continues despite his own kind and compassionate recognition of why the maid’s spirit might still haunt the house. None of his compassion, and none of his gentle amateur efforts at exorcism, make an iota of difference to the unquiet spirit he has unwittingly aroused, as her presence becomes ever more insistent and disruptive. And although The Maid’s Room presents itself mainly as a superb piece of entertainment, there’s something topical, too, about its sense of how no amount of personal innocence and compassion can entirely wipe away the sins of the past; particularly those that involved slavery, in all its forms.

The Maid’s Room comes accompanied by a range of well-made lockdown stories, including Oliver Emanuel’s Tiger Is Out (***), co-produced with Imaginate, about a young girl whose family is not coping following the death of her elder brother; Corinne Salisbury’s Three Billion Swipes (***), co-produced with Lyth Arts Centre, in which a couple played with great feeling by David Rankine and Kirsty Findlay attempt a ten-minute online date during lockdown; and Kathy McKean’s Getting Close (****), co-produced with Magnetic North, which features a beautiful performance from Nicole Cooper as an isolated woman in lockdown, reflecting on the magical, lost physical closeness of a love affair long ago.

There’s also a unique and brilliant lockdown drama in Nicola McCartney’s Future Perfect (Tense) (****), co-produced with Cumbernauld Theatre, in which Neshla Caplan plays a woman in a fraught Zoom meeting with herself about how to tackle various practical and emotional issues arising, towards the end of lockdown. One version of our heroine is crisp, organised, well-dressed, and busy writing agendas; the other has her head wrapped in a towel, and is scarred and blotched by a disastrous home hair-colouring effort. It’s the woman in the towel, though, who seems to have a more realistic grasp of the painful emotional realities that lie behind the smart appearance of her alter ego; and towards the end, a third character appears who propels her future self into making some more-than-necessary changes.

And in the apocalyptic fantasy-fiction vein that has also emerged strongly from the Scenes For Survival, there is Nelly Kelly’s 68 Months In Waiting (****), co-produced with Queen Jesus Productions, about a future world in which all trans and non-binary people have been driven out of society and exiled to the island of Ulva – until violence also follows them there, and begins to close in. Featuring a terrific central performance from Afton Moran as a young non-binary person who is one of the last survivors, and a wild guest appearance from playwright and performer Jo Clifford as the female spirit of the island, 68 Months In Waiting is nothing if not vivid and striking; and the force of Kelly’s writing signals the arrival, in the midst of crisis, of another important new voice in Scottish theatre.

In Pitlochry, meanwhile, the Shades Of Tay project continues to evolve, covering all art forms including songwriting and water sculpture, as well as online stores and drama. The latest recording in the series is We All Need Company Sometimes (****), a beautiful five-minute short story by Chinonyerem Odimba about a woman’s profound need for the sustaining presence of the nearby river, passed down through generations. Given the beautiful, simple arc of the story, I’m not sure four different actors’ voices were needed to give it life; but like all the work in this series, it features beautiful river film edited by Nick Trueman, and some wonderful music, in this case by Pitlochry associate director Ben Occhipinti.

For a recent piece of Scottish theatre writing that tackles one of 21st century culture’s last remaining taboos, though – and one more relevant than ever during the current crisis – fans of cutting-edge drama should make their way to the website of young Glasgow company Wonder Fools, and experience their 55 minute audio version of The Coolidge Effect (****), by Robbie Gordon and Jack Nurse. First seen in theatres in 2017, this powerful play-with-reflection deals directly with the subject of online pornography, its pervasive but largely unspoken presence in our culture, and its possibly devastating effects on sexuality, relationships and mental health. It’s never an easy listen; and it certainly offers no escape from some profoundly sad truths about the world we have made for ourselves. Yet it’s an essential piece of drama all the same; and one that should trigger much more discussion, either online, or in what we call the “real world,” when we are all able to meet again.

The National Theatre of Scotland’s Scenes For Survival are online at www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/events/scenes-for-survival; Shades Of Tay at https://pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com/whats-on-digital/shades-of-tay/; and The Coolidge Effect at www.wonderfools.org/the-coolidge-effect-audio – all free of charge.

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Theatre reviews: Scenes for Survival | We All Need Company Sometimes | The Coolidge Effect