theatreSCOTLAND

25 April 2012 The Guardian

Kidnapped

Adapted by Ed Robson. A Cumbernauld Theatre review.

ROBERT Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel is a lot for a dramatist to contain on stage. It kicks off at the creepy House of Shaws, where the recently orphaned David Balfour finds himself at the mercy of an acquisitive uncle, before taking us to the port of Queensferry and on to the Covenant, a slave ship on which the young man finds himself captive.

2 March 2011 Northings

Wild Life

By Pamela Carter. A Magnetic North/Cumbernauld Theatre review.

IT IS billed as a play inspired by the story of the wolf-boy of Aveyron, a child who ran wild in the woods of southern France until his discovery in 1800. The unexpected twist of Pamela Carter's Wild Life, however, is that the wolf-boy makes no appearance – at least, not in three-dimensional form. Rather, in this production for Magnetic North, Carter imagines the effect such a feral creature could have on a modern-day couple who have banished all traces of wildness from their comfortable, middle-class lives.

21 Seoember 2010 The Guardian

The Bookie

By Douglas Maxwell. A Cumbernauld Theatre review.

IMAGINE if bookmakers let you place bets not just on horses, but on personal events that only you could know about. Such "happy bets" form the funny idea at the heart of Douglas Maxwell's new comedy musical, in which the manager of a small-town branch of Queen's International Gaming sends profits rocketing by accepting lifestyle wagers.

6 November 2008 The Guardian

4.48 Psychosis

By Sarah Kane. Cumbernauld Theatre review.

THERE are three players in Adrian Osmond's audacious staging of Sarah Kane's swan song. The first is you. To enter the theatre, audience members are taken individually into the dark by an usher wearing night-vision goggles. Having stumbled to your seat, you are clueless as to your surroundings. It negates the social aspect of theatre and turns you inwardly on yourself.The second player is a tape recording. Working with sound designer Kenny MacLeod, Osmond recorded Kane's text before rehearsals began. Rather than using one voice, he fragmented the script into a panoply of speakers, ranging in age, gender and class. The intention is to turn the playwright's private evocation of a mind in deep depression into something universal, reminding us that mental illness can affect anyone.

theatreSCOTLAND © Mark Fisher 2009–2012