Dundee Rep
4 stars
When Tom McGrath's play first appeared in 1986, its depiction of
community spirit in a run-down Dundee housing scheme was a telling
insight into life on the margins in Thatcher's Britain. A quarter of a
century on, and Nicholas Bone's revival of a story based on real
Dundee residents reflects the current and all too necessary wave of
grassroots protest that has risen up in the face of mass political
ineptitude.
At the heart of the play is Kora Lee, the eternally optimistic single
mum to five boys, who becomes a symbol of survival even as her world is
collapsing around her. When an architecture student turns up to ask
Kora and her neighbours questions about their living conditions, an
accidental campaign is launched to try and improve the neighbourhood.
If this sounds like a sentimental polemic, think again. Far from
leading the campaign, Kora's main pre-occupation is attempting to sire
an even bigger brood, either with community policeman Bob or else the
nearest test tube donor, all done on her own terms.
Played in the round inside Becky Minto's wonderful living room pod that
encloses both cast and audience with a display of disembodied
furniture, Bone's production is a multi-faceted affair pulsed by a
gloriously matter of fact earthiness. Much of this is led by Emily
Winter, who plays Welsh emigre Kora as a lusty back-street earth mother
who lives in the moment whatever. In some ways, Kora's acts of everyday
self-determination and a desire to procreate are bigger than the
ultimately doomed campaign depicted. The coming together of community
too is crucial. For Kora, life doesn't simply go on. It's the creating
it that counts.
The Herald, May 27th 2013
ends
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