Five bottles, four raffle ticket colours, three plays, two coffins: one great night

SCDA Northern Division Orkney District Preliminary Festival

I'm a bit groggy this morning, after the first night of this year's Festival, but here are some random thoughts on a very entertaining evening!

The adjudicator is Ronnie Mackie, who is or was Adviser in Creative and Aesthetic Subjects, for Glasgow City Council (you can see some of the work he has been involved with on the internet). This is Ronnie's his first visit to Orkney as adjudicator (although candidates for Standard Grade and Higher Drama in Orkney may remember him as the external examiner for the practical exam about 4 years ago). As Ronnie said at the start of his public adjudication after the three plays were performed (and it applies even more to my totally unqualified and unsolicited comments here), there is no right and no wrong way to present a theatre production: each company has made decisions about how best to present their work, bearing in mind the constraints on their company and presented to them by the venue; each play will be subject to the unpredictability of live performance, and will to the reaction of their specific audience on the night.

One person's view (including that of the adjudicator), may well differ wildly (yes, wildly - Festivals usually deprecate actual violence, but vigorous differenc of opinion is the norm) from another's and neither is necessarily more valid. I thought (and this is just one person's opinion too!) that Ronnie's comments were clear, thoughtful and constructive and, allowing for the fact that this is probably the first time he has ever seen any of the companies in action, had a measure of insight and sensitivity. He also did not go on at any great length, and only cracked a few (relevant, short, and quite amusing) jokes! In summary the adjudication was well-thought through, althought it could have benefited from more preparation time (although I understand there were constraints, which I am looking forward to Ronnie's comments on at the Friday night party). He was well lit (we could see his face) used the stage well, and was audible, even to me near the back of the auditorium. But, even if you missed out on tickets for this year's Festival, you can see what you think for yourself by listening to his comments on BBC Radio Orkney on Thursday, Friday and Monday mornings.

So what did I think of the plays?

Kirkwall Arts Club's (Third Age Players): A Phoenix Too Frequent
a comedy written by Christopher Fry, directed Diana Preston, and performed in verse

I must declare an interest, having been involved in a minor, backstage way with this production (towards the end of their production process, which started in earnest as early as September 2009). The company is composed entirely of retired people, and provided in this production a romantic lead role for a female actor in her 80s, an opportunity for one of the cast to make her stage debut, and an opportunity to see an excellent play not much now performed: the play was abridged by the director, and specially re-interpreted for an older cast (having been written for much younger actors). I know it seems indelicate to have to mention at this point that one of the coffins of the evening formed the main feature of the set - as the play is set in the tomb of the recently deceased Virilius - but I am certain that the whole company has so much life in them that no-one will be too upset that I have done so!

On the night, the set was visually stunning, well-designed, carefully thought out and meticulously organised. The costumes (especially th Greek armour worn by Tegeus, played by Robin Preston, and the diaphanous outfit worn by the recently bereaved Dynamene, played by Lena Lewis) were outstanding. These, added to a great choice of music, and 2 very effectively presented owl-hoots, got the production off to a very good start. The company allowed the clear characters and quirky plot in the abridged script, which is very literary and complex, to come through clearly. The performance got off to an uncertain start, with a few fluffed lines, but after the first few minutes all three actors had settled into very convincing performances. There were one or 2 issues for me with the direction that some lines were delivered, and I thought that some of the comedy lines in the script could have been underlined a bit more in delivery, but these are minor criticisms of an interesting, innovative and valuable production, one of the best and highest-quality examples of community theatre I have seen for years.

Palace Players (Earls): The Memory of Water
a comedy/drama by Shelagh Stephenson, directed by Ernie Donaldson

The Palace Players is a friendly and informal fun-oriented amateur drama club based in Kirkwall: that's what it says in the programme, and that certainly my experience (over nearly 20 years) of the Club! Over the years, Palace Players, often directed by Ernie Donaldson, have been probably the most consistently successful Orkney club in SCDA drama festivals; this year's production showed many of their strengths, and was very successful. I believe that this production also featured an Orkney-Festival debut, which was very impressive: it is great to see a new male actor, as part of adult group, having to convince us that he is OLDER, not younger, than his actual years! Even greater than their Festival achievements, Palace Players greatest achievement has been to develop and sustain the interest of young people in Orkney in theatre, as well as (as in this case) welcoming newly-resident adults into their activities: the physical manifestation of this is the Palace Players' Studio: a rehearsal, social and storage facililty in central Kirkwall, which they developed about 5 or 6 years ago.

On the night, the performances from the actors were of a very high standard indeed. Very clear, mostly very nuanced characters, conveying the bewildering complexity and conceptual richness of the script (it was Act II of a full length play, so some of the apparent complexity, on first seeing the play as a member of the audience, was perhaps due to this fact). Visually, the set was adequate, but strangely unexciting - it was clear that a lot of effort had gone into its arrangement, especially the props, but (even for the drab bedroom of troubled older widow Vi, played charmingly by Gill Cooke) it lacked a little something. The adjudicator had issues with the position of the bed, but I did not anything particularly problematic (but then I am not a drama advisor, and had not read the play in advance - one assumes the company explained their decision to him clearly afterwards during their private adjudication). There were some unfortunate sound cue errors, which did not detract too much from the show, but certainly did not help to sustain the various moods the play (at various times) was trying to convey.

The three sisters (Mary, played by Cathy Matthews; Teresa, played by Edwina Cook; and Catherine, played by Sybil Stevens; all daughters of Vi) were very, very good (and cleverly contrasting) performances, although just occasionally (and this may be a production issue, rather than the acting), I felt that a little more restraint might have been appropriate, and that some passages were too consistently shrill. One other issue I had with the production is that I could not decide who was the eldest, who the middle and who the youngest, which I think should have been important, given the emotional and angst-ridden plot of the play (oh, alright - I admit it: I did not like the play, but that is not at issue in a Festival - as the adjudicator put it, it's now what you do, it's how you do it that decides who gets the compliments and points!). Frank (husband of Catherine), was played with great skill and sensitivity by Sam Turner, and Mike (lover of Mary) was played with brio and skill by Walter Gorman (including a very good half-naked entrance, and excellent "getting dressed" passage near the beginning of the play!) The two men coped very well with having to carry off (literally) the second coffin of the evening towards the end of the play: it really did look heavy and awkward, and very (appropriately and deliberately) amusing.

Unfortunately, the play ran over, by between 1 and 2 minutes, the permitted 50 minute time. This meant that 2 marks were deducted from the adjudicator's allocated score for the play.

This was a very high-quality production, with great individual performances, slightly disappointing on the technical front, but altogether very successful and interesting.

Birsay Drama Group (Brough): The Wine Game
an original comedy by Isobel Ross Moar, directed by Greer Norquoy

After 2 complicated and fairly emotional plays, this one was, as the adjudicator said a romp. I would rhetorically ask what else one would expect from the Birsay Drama Group, but that would be entirely unfair: over the last fifteen years Birsay Drama Group has been the most ambitious group in Orkney with their choice of plays. No genre or format has been neglected over the years, and all that I can remember have been presented in a distinctive, successful and enjoyable Birsay fashion. This play was an original work by a friend (or perhaps member, who can be absolutely sure, not me!) of the club - I hope it has been entered in the SCDA playwriting competition, as I think there are many amateur clubs (and perhaps one or 2) professionals who would relish presenting a play with such great, characters and SO MANY greate laughs!

As anyone who knows them would expect, Birsay took the script, and knocked us dead with it. It started slow (unlike the feigned consumption of alcohol on stage) and built to an extremely effective comedic climax: that looks easy, but is incredibly difficult to pull off - just think how many times you have seen a comedy sag in the middle and never recover. This one was gripped and mercilessly and hilariously exploited by the five female actors, excellent individually, and working SO well together as an (as they say) ensemble: Issy Grieve, playing Sue; Kylie Harcus, playing Helen; Karen Hay, playing Lisa; Lynne Nicoloson, playing Anne; and Diane Hay, playing Clair. Comedy timing is alive and well in Birsay, and was brought ... bang on cue ... to Kirkwall last night.

The set was simple and very effective: cream furniture, with one or 2 very colourful props; the costumes perfectly complemented the characters, and worked well with the set. Was there lighting and sound? I cannot remember, as I was laughing too much: my sides still hurt!

And the winner for the night was .....

Birsay Drama Group, with The Wine Game. Did those 2 penalty marks cost Palace Players their victory? We may never know!

(NB: Not to rain, in any way - or snow either - on Birsay's parade, it is important to remember that winning a night of the Festival does not mean anything more than that the play chosen has more marks than the other plays presented on that night. There are 2 more nights, and any of those plays, as yet unseen, may - or may not - be scored ahead of last night's winner!)

Here's to tonight's three plays ....

But first I must go to work, and remember to eat something today!

The Festival in Orkney is always sold out (over 300 in the audience for anything from 3 to 5 nights), but there is usually a ticket or 2 returned, and available at the door. Why not try your luck and see if you can be squeezed in? If so you will be able to watch another 3 great performances from 7pm at the Orkney Arts Theatre:

Ad Hoc Players: Birdcalls
a drama by Lesley Glaister, directed by Vivia Leslie

Palace Players (Bishops): The Yellow Folk
a comedy by Thomas P Andrews, directed by Graham MacDonald

Birsay Drama Group (Greenay):Cinderella
a comedy by Michael Green, directed by Margaret Irvine.