Collaborators, John Hodge – National Theatre

Posted on 5 December, 2011 by EveNicol

I want it now

Posted on 12 November, 2011 by EveNicol

In the space of 12 hours, I changed my mind about what movie I wanted to see right down to the second before walking through the cinema doors where I suddenly found my fickle mood sending me into a Ghostbusters screening.

It was a disappointing film but the experience got me thinking about how different this is to my experiences with theatre and the amount of preplanning involved. Each month I attempt to schedule my theatre calendar and the result looks like a detailed plan of a military coo than a ticklist for good times.

Invariably my mood will change and when that dark, wet November evening draws around it is with some grumbling that I extricate myself from my cocoon to fulfill an obligation I made when buying a ticket.

There are occasions when I won’t bother my bum to go at all and, tut tut, often don’t alert the theatre. I’m torn with guilt at the thought of some poor soul standing in front of a SOLD OUT sign.

The ceremony of a night out at the theatre is part of the whole experience but if the industry wants to become a more regular, and potentially more profitable, form of entertainment and art, it needs to start looking at how to deliver theatre on demand.

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Best in Show

Posted on 8 November, 2011 by EveNicol

The need for separate awards to delineate between male and female performance feels a curiously outdated practise.

Is there an argument to allow genders to compete without the threat of the other and give an equal footing to the lesser represented (read, female) parties? If feels patronising to separate the male and female categories. There is an underlying suggestion that the delicate ladies might be battered and bruised in a competition against the Men. An award given to a female performer in a mixed category would have more gravitas for me than one given from a restricted pool of nominees.

Even the title of Best Actor carries more weight than Best Actress, where the suffix trips it up and makes the title appear diminutive and cutesy.

There has been a push to recognise women in the industry, especially in representations on stage. But don’t we need to place more emphasis in encouraging greatness in our female directors and technicians. Until the daft gap between men and women is fixed, should we perhaps encourage Best Male and Female across all the categories?

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DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES

Posted on 23 October, 2011 by EveNicol

This review was originally written for The Public Reviews

Days of Wine and Roses – Tron Theatre, Glasgow

Writer: Owen McCafferty
Director: Kenny Miller
Reviewer: Eve Nicol

Owen McCafferty’ new version of Days of Wine and Roses takes the relationship at the core of the original film and teleplay, placing it in bristling and unforgiving spotlight.

Both Mona and Donal are seeking new starts as they meet on a flight from Belfast to London in 1959. The couple’s expectations of life in the big city are met as they spend their days working and evenings drinking and socialising. Through marriage and the arrival of a son, ‘just the one drink’ turns into downing entire bottles at breakfast to hold off last night’s hangover. The couple argue and reconcile over endless sips and gulps as they attempt to tackle their mounting alcoholism.

The bright eyed Mona and Donal we meet in the play’s opening swiftly mutate into wine soaked, bitching and violent alcoholics. McCafferty’s writing does a splendid job of establishing the two characters from the off and it is easy to warm to this excitable, loving and funny couple. The transformation of Mona (Sally Reid), the little girl with big dreams and canny Donal (Keith Fleming), the man with a plan, is at points deeply frightening to watch. It has been dangerously easy for the couple to find themselves in a state of alcohol dependency as they blast through parties, hangovers and AA meetings. ‘Days of Wine and Roses’ will make you think twice about having that interval drink.

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