The Journey Of Jeannie Deans

THEATRE
The Journey of Jeannie Deans
4 stars ****
Assembly Universal Arts, Freemason’s Hall (Venue 7)

IT’S A TRUTH universally acknowledged, alas, that no-one reads  the novels of Sir Walter Scott any more;  which is why we owe a special debt of gratitude to shoestring companies like Judy Steel’s Rowan Tree group, based in the Borders, who may lack the resources to present the kind of sleekly professional work seen elsewhere on the Fringe, but who still have a sharp eye for the superb theatrical potential of some of the finest romantic stories ever told.  The tale of Jeannie Deans, from Scott’s Waverley novels, is perhaps the finest of them all, courageous and – for its time – absolutely ground-breaking, in its account of how a brave girl from the outskirts of Edinburgh walks all the way to London to beg royal mercy for the life of her sister Effie,  condemned to death for concealing a pregnancy, and for presumed child murder.

There are plenty of rough moments and outbreaks of bad acting in Judy Steel’s production; and it is genuinely difficult, these days, to line up a professional cast who can handle Scott’s  Scots tongue with any degree of ease.  But Scott’s doughty defence of strong women betrayed and bullied by patriarchal law, the superb character of Jeannie herself, and the brilliant strand of political and constitutional commentary that accompanies the tale – set in an  18th century Edinburgh still smarting from the loss of its own king and parliament – makes the story as gripping, and full of contemporary resonances, as it is invigorating.  There’s a real, successful ingenuity in Steel’s effort to tell such a wide-ranging story with only three actors, and one wild and brilliant female fiddle-player; and for all its flaws, this is a show that is giving its audiences a memorably good time in the basement of the Freemason’s Hall, just a stone’s throw from the streets where Jeannie’s story began.

Joyce McMillan
Until 14 August
p. 200

ENDS ENDS

Long Time Dead

THEATRE
LONG TIME DEAD
4 stars ****
Traverse Theatre (Venue 15)

SOMEONE ONCE defined humankind as a “being towards death”; meaning that our unique knowledge of mortality increasingly shapes and defines our lives, as we grow older.  Rona Munro’s fine new play Long Time Dead, playing at the Traverse in a beautifully-paced Paines Plough production by Roxana Silbert, is a rich and thoughtful modern variation on this theme, a contemporary comedy about four strange people on the road from birth to death, and about how their paths meet and touch, as they strive in their different ways to make sense of the journey.

The three central characters are mountaineers – old man Grizzly, young man Dog, and young woman Gnome – dedicated to pitting their strength against the most dangerous high places of the earth.  They love what they do, the challenge and the thrill of it; but none of them wants to die, and Grizzly is increasingly aware that soon he will have to call it a day.  Meanwhile, back in the London hospital where they are patched up after their frequent mishaps, there is a nurse known as The Widow, a woman who combines a terrific, warm, witty sexuality with a dark seam of bitter grief that not only prevents her from “moving on”, but makes her contemptuous of the very idea; an attitude that has profound repercussions for Grizzly, and for his companions.

Staged in a magnificent show-hole shaped set by Miriam Buether, which creates a sometimes terrifying world of white around the characters, Long Time Dead offers a hugely enjoyable combination of action theatre – all pitons and climbing-ropes – and good old-fashioned dramatic dialogue.  The play falters strangely in its final 15 minutes; I counted at least two powerful end-points before we reached the final one, which is too tidy and upbeat by half.  But the quality of the banter throughout the play is superb, full of post-modern trivia on the surface, timeless wisdom beneath; and Garry Cooper, Lesley Hart, Jon Foster and Jan Pearson turn in four memorable performances, in a virtuoso display of acting that, for once, finds a play worthy of the effort.

Joyce McMillan
Until 26 August
p. 205

ENDS ENDS