Dundee Rep
Four stars
If ever Scotland needed a big, intelligent state of the nation(s) play
to sum up where we're at, it's now. David Greig's three-part
Highland-set epic may not be it, but it comes pretty close. First seen
in 2000 but only now receiving its Scottish première, Greig's play
spans sixty years and three generations of a rural community in a state
of social flux, with those both up and downstairs trying to find
something to believe in.
In 1936, it's the romance of revolution and the Spanish Civil War on
one hand, and the pseudo-mystical allure of fascism on the other. By
1974, rock stars are getting their heads together in the country, and
by 1996 even the land has been annexed by big business. At the heart of
all this are three vivacious and free-spirited young women called
Victoria. With all three played by a vibrant Elspeth Brodie, each in
different ways is looking for a brave new world, but are still drawn
back to the big red house they pivot around even as they crave a better
future.
Philip Howard's production, his first as co-artistic director of Dundee
Rep, is as huge in ambition as the play. While both may be a tad
unwieldy on Neil Warmington's all-purpose set, Victoria nevertheless
presents a fascinating portrait of a community that takes things beyond
the domestic to become something epochal. As recurring little motifs
in each act point to how the past informs what follows, and how the
ghostly energies of that past linger, Brodie leads a heroic
twelve-strong cast through a play that's about the risks of blind faith
and the very human consequences of warped idealism.
The Herald, September 9th 2013
ends
Comments