Dark Road @ the Royal Lyceum Theatre

Dark Road
The Royal Lyceum Theatre
Ian Rankin
28/09/13
★★★★

Exhibiting his script writing skills for the first time, Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels, launches The Lyceum Theatre’s Autumn season with gripping psychological thriller Dark Road. Inspired by director Mark Thomson’s initial pitch “Why do we never see detective stories on the stage?”, Rankin ensures the “detective story” plays out far more thrillingly on stage than what we so often see in books and on television – and his transition from novel to stage writing only strengthens his flair for suspense.

Maureen Beattie plays Scotland’s first female Chief Superintendent Isobel McArthur, a powerful protagonist who struggles to balance her commitment to her demanding career with her equally demanding daughter Alex. What at first seems a supportive and inspiring relationship rapidly becomes a ruthless career race when both mother and daughter find themselves fighting for the chance to profit from psychotic and infamous murderer Alfred Chalmers who, though jailed for twenty-five years, is believed to be innocent by both women. However, the digging up of the long buried trial of his supposedly murdering four young girls infects the McArthur household like a virus, pushing Alex to run away and Isobel to self-destruction.

Beattie simply cannot be faulted as the lead, simultaneously portraying strong career woman, a pushover of a mother, and nervous wreck. Philip Whitchurch’s portrayal of Chalmers is chillingly unhinged, with dialogue always perfectly located between a desperate plea and a snarling warning; it is impossible to take your eyes off of him on stage, almost out of fear. Sara Vickers’ depiction of eighteen year old Alex seems confused between focused student and sex-obsessed train wreck – the latter being the less believable and, whilst declaring her love for sex so impudently to her mother provokes much laughter, these outbursts sometimes seem out of character. However, her character brings a lightness and also makes the play more appealing to younger audience members. Likewise, Isobel’s co-worker and old flame Frank Bowman (played by Robert Gwilym) causes hysterics with witty one liners and engages us with how he challenges Isobel.

Aesthetically comparable to the West End, the production is set in three rooms allowing designers to employ a rotating stage set. This allows the stage to be split at various points, most prominently in the final scene – a simple but striking moment featuring both mother and daughter on the receiving end of life-endangering threats. Even between scene changes, we are constantly kept on the edge of our seats with eerie background music and explicit newspaper clippings of Chalmers’ victims projected onto the stage.   Much suspense, laughter, and jaw-dropping shock make Dark Road the perfect night at the theatre, but despite all of this, nothing can prepare the audience for the finale’s shocking twist – one of the many reasons for the four rounds of gracious bows taken at the end.

Riona Doherty

The Collection @ The Traverse Theatre

The Collection

The Traverse Theatre

Rapture Theatre Company

20/09/13

★★★★

Over the last 10 years, Rapture Theatre have become Scotland’s leading contemporary touring theatre company, attracting sought after performers and boasting a variety of productions. With an already impressive portfolio under their belts, The Collection, set in modern day Scotland, sees Rapture put a fresh spin on a theme almost abused by television dramas – the seedy and immoral game of debt collecting.

Combining gritty realism and Trainspotting-esque black humour, The Collection opens eyes to how taking on such a job can totally eradicate one’s sense of morality, and also the emotional scarring inflicted on those who undertake such a position with some sort of conscience. The latter is depicted through protagonist Bob Lawson (Jimmy Chisholm) formerly known as the infamous Pick Up Truck but who begins to crumble after the suicide of a female client. A reverse personality change is also seen in pitifully unaware new employee Billy Shaw (Tam Dean Burn), whose character transitions from asking “Do you call this a decent living?” to hinting at sleeping with desperate female clients.

With a small but impressive cast of four, The Collection consists primarily of snappy duologues, the strongest and most engaging of which being between Chisholm and David Tarkenter, who constantly captivate with their power struggle. Chisholm portrays the contrast in Bob’s character effortlessly, perfectly conveying the conversion from hard faced businessman to secretly grieving man with a newly discovered moral compass.

Desperately dopey Billy refreshes the audience with light humour through his initial struggle with the job’s ‘heart of stone’ prerequisite, but his frequent outbursts of frustration lack conviction. Likewise, whilst Pauline Turner’s portrayal of one of the clients shows reluctance asking her husband for help with the debt, her emotion is by no means raw. Whilst these minor downfalls could have been improved by further character development, all four actors bounce off each other extremely well.

Lyn McAndrew’s set takes versatility to the extreme, transforming a gravestone to a kitchen table, but the simplistic set works perfectly with the understated lighting. The most refreshing element of The Collection has to be experiencing the moral struggles of debt collecting through the hard-faced bailiffs, rather than through the fearful eyes of clients. Combine this with the gripping intrigue surrounding the suicide, Mike Cullen’s shocking yet witty one-liner script and flawless performances from Chisholm and Tarkenter and it is impossible not to join in with the raucous applause given.

A 7 Hour Car Journey, Innumerable Hangovers and 2 1/2 Weeks Later...

I am fully aware that after not having blogged for over a month I am officially the most inconsistent blogger ever. Especially because I haven't even blogged about a rather huge bombshell - after a stressful and emotionally draining results day, I got into the University of Edinburgh!!! So as of 2 weeks ago, I officially live in Edinburgh - on the Cowgate, pretty much as central as you can get.

Studying French and English Literature, I can't think of anywhere else in the UK more suited to my degree course - Edinburgh is brimming with culture, history and grandeur, with an active L'Institut Français D’Écosse and a strong emphasis on French theatre.

So yes, apologies about my absence but after a stupidly busy August, I suddenly now have hundreds of things to write about. Here are just a few photos from the last two weeks in Scotland's cosmopolitan capital...

Block 7's finest... Our surrogate flatmate Aimee, Emily, me and Catherine - both flatmates.

5am walks home

The almighty BRASS MONKEY. This pub definitely deserves its own post...

Brunching at one of Edinburgh's many independent cafes, The Black Medicine Coffee Company.

The beautifully open plan National Museum of Scotland, a five minute walk from my flat.

Nicolson Street at night

Southside Books - a trusty independent bookshop with a stupidly intelligent owner who seems to have read most of the shop's contents. Almost certain to overhear hyper-intelligent conversations about Oscar Wilde's short stories between the owner and a literature student.

In other news, now a writer for the Culture section of the student newspaper (The Student), Friday night saw me take myself to the Traverse Theatre to review The Collection, which I'll post shortly.

So, unlike the last time I posted, I am now officially no longer an inhabitant of Luton: a statement I have wanted to say for so so long. Edinburgh has so many things to write about, I'm sure I won't be stuck for inspiration.

Bises,

Riona

Budapest: Day 2

After waking up feeling suitably rough after our first night, there was nowhere we wanted to be more than Budapest's famed thermal baths. We bought the tickets from our hostel for the equivalent of about £13. I'd recommend buying it through your hostel if you can because it's A) cheaper (the cheapest online option is 18 euros) and B) you can skip the queue when you get there.

There are several thermal baths and spas in Budapest but we chose to go to the Szechenyi baths, which have two outdoor pools, an outdoor thermal pool and several pools, jacuzzis and a spa inside. There are different packages depending on what you want.

LUNCH:

When I asked for watermelon I was expecting a slice. Instead, I was handed a third of a watermelon. It was all bought from the onsite buffet and lunch will probably cost you the equivalent of £4/5.

Kimono - River Island; Bikini - JD; Shoes - Primark

We lounged around for 6 hours, either in the pools or sleeping next to them, and I can safely say I've never been so relaxed in my life. A must in Budapest.

After wandering back to the hostel, getting changed and dipping in and out of a few bars, we hijacked our pub crawl and went to INSTANT, which is more of a Ruin Club. Unfortunately I have no photos (or no decent ones...) so, apart from the first one, here are some I've stolen:

A Pumba shaped disco ball? I'm there.

We went on a Tuesday night and it was absolutely packed. With four bars and a dancefloor, but also doubling up in the daytime as a café and art gallery, this has to be one of the coolest places in Budapest, and completely different to anything I've seen/heard of in England. Or anywhere else. 

Bises,

Riona

Budapest: Day 1 // Sunsets and Shreks

The first stop of our Interrailing adventure was Budapest, the capital of Hungary.

First Impressions: Lots of bridges. Goulash everywhere. Absolutely no one pays for the tram. Pubs, bars and clubs that are both inside and outside at the same time. "Edgy". Little bit stuck in 2003. Really pretty. REALLY CHEAP.

We quickly realised Budapest is a place that people just don't bang on about enough; without the commercialisation of Prague or seediness of Amsterdam, Budapest entirely, unapologetically remains its own city. There is genuinely something for everyone - be that its unique world renowned "Ruin Pubs", heavenly thermal baths, buzzing night life or stunning panoramic views of the twinkling bridges at night. I cannot recommend it enough as an Interrailing student destination (Eastern Europe is wonderfully cheap) or as a slightly higher budget weekend city break. However, writing as a poor student, you can expect to read about the stunning city from a backpacking angle.

So, leading on from 'poor' 'student' and 'backpacking' you can probably guess our accommodation of choice (or rather, accommodation we could afford) - hostels. Our Budapest hostel was The 11th Hour Cinema Hostel, which pretty much has everything you could want - wifi, no curfew, free pub crawls and even a cinema room if that's your kind of thing. They also offer special deals for guests, such as thermal bath entry at a lower rate and stupidly cheap 2/3 course meal deals at nearby restaurants: 

790 Forintz is £2.19, 900 = £2.50, 1040 = £2.89... You get the gist. For some unknown reason we didn't actually try any of them, but the hostel wouldn't recommend a bad place so I'd check it out if you're on a budget.

Another hostel we visited that night (as it also has a huge Ruin style courtyard and bar) is Grandio Party Hostel who, as well as doing food, apparently do the biggest Jager train in Hungary as well as their own pub crawls.

The front door to the hostel, which took us more time to find than I'd like to admit...

Open plan, ceiling-less interior.

After checking in we crossed the beautiful Chain Bridge over the River Danube into the Buda side.

Sunglasses - Tiger; Bralet - SoulCal @ Republic; Skirt - ASOS; Bumbag - Pieces @ ASOS; Ballet Pumps - Miss Selfridge; Bracelets - Primark.

We stopped off at a roof terrace bar on top of Gellert Hill for a drink and to take in the views of the Danube. I cannot find the name for this place ANYWHERE but you can't really miss it...

Glass tables, white chairs, decking and parasols

The view

We then walked back down and went up another, bigger hill - The Citadella. If you get right to the top, you have a panoramic view of Budapest, so we timed it to catch the sunset, much to Hannah's dismay who wanted to murder me after a half hour uphill walk on about 3 hours sleep.

A waterfall greets you at the bottom:

Ruins on the way up

Classic reflecting on life whilst staring into the sunset

This is one thing you HAVE to do while in Budapest - the views are stunning and it's almost like something out of a film, note the man lying down on the wall. And it's free.

We then walked back down and crossed the bridge back to Pest, by which time it'd gotten dark and the lights had come on...

Well duh.

After going back to the hostel and grabbing a drink we embarked on our first Budapest pub crawl, going to Ruin Pubs and Ruin Pubs only.

Ruin Pub - noun. 1) Essentially a bar, set in an open plan, squat looking environment with weird stuff like bicycles and watering cans stuck to the walls and Pumba-shaped disco balls and trees growing inside and where you can't quite tell if you're inside or outside. Sah rustic, sah edgy.

First stop: Grandio Party Hostel.

A Hungarian speciality - elderflower white wine spritzers. Two parts wine, one part soda, elderflower cordial. Pronounced like moots-ee-frich.

Apparently another speciality - Tabasco 'Mad Dog' shots

Second stop: Füge Udvar.

You can see the quality of my photos getting gradually worse throughout the night

Another drink unique to Hungary - the 'Shrek'. Three parts wine, two parts soda and kiwi liqueur... So so good, and dangerously easy to drink. Definitely try it in Budapest, although I think it may be unique to this bar... Few places will know what you mean when you drunkenly ask for a Shrek.

Unfortunately it wasn't too busy as we were out on a Monday night and this place is off the beaten track, thus not attracting many tourists.

Next up: Fogas Kert.

No specific drinks recommendations here, it's just a really cool place. Some sort of circus top makes up the ceiling, trees everywhere, shisha bar. Once again off the beaten track and not a place you'd usually read about, but still busy for a Monday night.

Then it was off to... I honestly can't remember the name and I have no photos which give any clues. Another club more popular with locals than tourists, it would have been great if there was A) a bigger dancefloor and B) any post-2003 music. Apart from Gangnam Style. Which they loved.

And now for the best part of the night, probably the most well known Ruin Pub in Budapest that has been cited as the '3rd best pub in the world'... SZIMPLAAAA!!! 

Ellie chatting to, wait for it... PIERRE YVES. Not a celebrity, just the Frenchest, most perfect name I've ever heard. Szimpla's walls are covered in written/scratched/sprayed names.

Szimpla personifies everything you expect and want from a Ruin Pub. A must see in Budapest, make sure you see all the rooms.

After being kicked out at closing time (usually 4am, though as it was a quiet Monday night we were told to leave when it got to half 3) we walked back singing Afternoon Delight repeatedly at the top of our voices and collapsed in the hostel reception talking rubbish to other travellers until 5am, when we retreated to Marilyn. (did I mention every room is film themed?)

A successful and unforgettable first night. From what I can remember.

Up next: thermal baths and INSTANT...

Bises,

Riona