Anna Weiss

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JOYCE MCMILLAN on ANNA WEISS at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow, for The Scotsman 28.3.13.
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4 stars ****

IN A BRITAIN now shaken every week by new allegations of sexual abuse involving once-loved public figures, there could hardly be a better moment for this blazing revival of Mike Cullen’s controversial 1997 play. Staged by young Glasgow company ReKindle, which specialises in revivals of recent Scottish classics, the production drives straight to the heart of this savage 75-minute drama, which begins by conjuring up a classic male nightmare of false memory and accusation driven by man-hating spite, and then performs a dazzling hand-brake turn to move us into the new cultural territory where we acknowledge the truth of sexual abuse, and the huge damage it inflicts.

So the play begins with Cullen’s horrific caricature of a professional woman therapist, in the shape of Kirstin McLean’s compelling Anna Weiss, aggressive, foul-mouthed, controlling, man-hating, intrusive, emotionally blackmailing, and apparently involved in a dodgy live-in relationship with her young patient, Lynn. The extremity of the portrayal makes Anna’s early dialogue with young Lynn almost unbearable to watch; and her first meeting with Lynn’s apparently innocent Dad, David – superbly played by Scott Cadenhead – even more painful in its manipulative ugliness.

At the point where Lynn begins to list her accusations against her father, though, something shifts in the texture of the play. Joanne Thomson’s beautifully-observed Lynn seems so sure of her ground that her story is hard to dismiss; and then, in a whirlwind conclusion, we are swept into a world where it becomes clear that even if David is innocent, there is nonetheless an infinity of real abuse to be remembered, expiated, punished. All three performances are riveting, Jeanette Foggo’s tightly-paced production never misses a beat; and although Anna Weiss is a hard play to watch – sometimes divided against itself, and often emotionally devastating – it remains a uniquely powerful piece of theatre, on a theme none of us can now afford to ignore.

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