Skip to main content

The War

King's Theatre, Edinburgh
Five stars
The crackle of a wind-up gramophone at the opening of this epic
evocation of war's mighty blast can only hint at what follows over the
next two and a half hours in this world premiere of Vladimir Pankov's
production for his tellingly named SounDrama Studio. In Paris, 1913, a
group of poets, painters and free-thinking aesthetes are gathered for
Christmas. With storm clouds already gathering, some see the impending
conflict as a a disaster, some as a necessary cleansing, others as an
inspirational romance. It is English painter George, however, who is
killed on the frontline, causing his poet friend Vladimir's intense
mourning. In order to heal, a radical psychiatrist has George's friends
and family role-play Homer's Iliad in order to get to the root of their
own pain.

While all this sounds ennui-laden enough, it is in the telling that
makes Pankov's co-production with Chekhov International Theatre
Festival, based on Richard Aldington's Death of A Hero and Nikolai
Gumilyov's Notes of A Cavalry Officer, so explosive. As George's
soul-sapping decline is unravelled over seventeen scenes, or
'rhapsodies' as they're announced onstage, Pankov's cast of nineteen
navigate their way through a maelstrom of discordant modernist
chorales, strident brass band marches and ancient East European keening
as chandeliers swing, performers are hoisted into the air as they play
their instruments and an entire regiment of great-coats crash down from
above.

Sergei Zemlyansky and Yekaterina Kislova's choreography, Artyom Kim and
Sergey Rodyukov's live score and Maxim Obrezkov's design help make for
a thrillingly urgent theatrical whirlwind that demonstrates exactly how
artistic ideals can be destroyed by war's ugly reality, whatever the
cause.

The Herald, August 11th 2014


ends

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Losing Touch With My Mind - Psychedelia in Britain 1986-1990

DISC 1 1. THE STONE ROSES   -  Don’t Stop 2. SPACEMEN 3   -  Losing Touch With My Mind (Demo) 3. THE MODERN ART   -  Mind Train 4. 14 ICED BEARS   -  Mother Sleep 5. RED CHAIR FADEAWAY  -  Myra 6. BIFF BANG POW!   -  Five Minutes In The Life Of Greenwood Goulding 7. THE STAIRS  -  I Remember A Day 8. THE PRISONERS  -  In From The Cold 9. THE TELESCOPES   -  Everso 10. THE SEERS   -  Psych Out 11. MAGIC MUSHROOM BAND  -  You Can Be My L-S-D 12. THE HONEY SMUGGLERS  - Smokey Ice-Cream 13. THE MOONFLOWERS  -  We Dig Your Earth 14. THE SUGAR BATTLE   -  Colliding Minds 15. GOL GAPPAS   -  Albert Parker 16. PAUL ROLAND  -  In The Opium Den 17. THE THANES  -  Days Go Slowly By 18. THEE HYPNOTICS   -  Justice In Freedom (12" Version) ...

Myra Mcfadyen - An Obituary

Myra McFadyen – Actress   Born January 12th 1956; died October 18th 2024   Myra McFadyen, who has died aged 68, was an actress who brought a mercurial mix of lightness and depth to her work on stage and screen. Playwright and artistic director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, David Greig, called McFadyen “an utterly transformative, shamanic actor who could change a room and command an audience with a blink”. Citizens’ Theatre artistic director Dominic Hill described McFadyen’s portrayal of Puck in his 2019 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in London as “funny, mischievous and ultimately heartbreaking.”   For many, McFadyen will be most recognisable from Mamma Mia!, the smash hit musical based around ABBA songs. McFadyen spent two years on the West End in Phyllida Lloyd’s original 1999 stage production, and was in both film offshoots. Other big screen turns included Rob Roy (1995) and Our Ladies (2019), both directed by Mi...

Big Gold Dreams – A Story of Scottish Independent Music 1977-1989

Disc 1 1. THE REZILLOS (My Baby Does) Good Sculptures (12/77)  2. THE EXILE Hooked On You (8/77) 3. DRIVE Jerkin’ (8/77) 4. VALVES Robot Love (9/77) 5. P.V.C. 2 Put You In The Picture (10/77) 6. JOHNNY & THE SELF ABUSERS Dead Vandals (11/77) 7. BEE BEE CEE You Gotta Know Girl (11/77) 8. SUBS Gimme Your Heart (2/78) 9. SKIDS Reasons (No Bad NB 1, 4/78) 10. FINGERPRINTZ Dancing With Myself (1/79)  11. THE ZIPS Take Me Down (4/79) 12. ANOTHER PRETTY FACE All The Boys Love Carrie (5/79)  13. VISITORS Electric Heat (5/79) 14. JOLT See Saw (6/79) 15. SIMPLE MINDS Chelsea Girl (6/79) 16. SHAKE Culture Shock (7/79) 17. HEADBOYS The Shape Of Things To Come (7/79) 18. FIRE EXIT Time Wall (8/79) 19. FREEZE Paranoia (9/79) 20. FAKES Sylvia Clarke (9/79) 21. TPI She’s Too Clever For Me (10/79) 22. FUN 4 Singing In The Showers (11/79) 23. FLOWERS Confessions (12/79) 24. TV21 Playing With Fire (4/80) 25. ALEX FERGUSSON Stay With Me Tonight (1980) ...