Caledonia is the story of a small, poor country mistaking itself for a place that is both big and rich. It is an ancient story for modern times.
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William Paterson was a financial adventurer who in 1698 devised one of the most daring and disastrous speculations of all time. His plan: to found a Scottish colony in Darien on the isthmus of Panama in Central America and turn Scotland, one of the poorest nations in Europe, into a prosperous colonial power. He invited the public to invest. And they did - in a big way. Within weeks a vast proportion of the nation's wealth had been subscribed.
What went wrong? Distance, disease, corruption and culpability all played a part in this ruinous episode. Within a few years, the Scots - demoralised and impoverished - gave up their nation's independent status and signed the 1707 Treaty of Union with England.
Inspired by documents, journals, letters, songs and poems of the period, celebrated playwright and satirist Alistair Beaton has created a work that is both a tribute to heroic ambition and a darkly witty take on the deceptions and self-deceptions of rich and poor alike. Caledonia is directed by Anthony Neilson, the Scottish writer and director whose award-winning work for the Edinburgh International Festival has included the National Theatre of Scotland's Realism and The Wonderful World of Dissocia.
A co-production between the Edinburgh International Festival and the National Theatre of Scotland.
...finishing with tremendous power on a note of political outrage...
A history-vaudeville.
For me, regrettably, Caledonia promised much but delivered little except a stereotypical portrayal of Scottish people.
The play is tugged in too many different directions to ever fully arrive home intact.
Anthony Neilson's production is energetic and often stylish.
As a history lesson, it's fascinating. As a drama, it is not quite all there.
The pure gusto of the piece makes for a compelling watch.
What Caledonia finally achieves, in its closing scenes, is a kind of profound elegiac lyricism about the sheer human cost of the enterprise, expressed in brilliantly theatrical terms.
Another damp squib in an evening whose mixture of sanctimony and incompetence proves well nigh unendurable.
A lifeless, linear retelling of a truly fascinating story.
Caledonia does scant justice to the unfairness it seeks to expose.
Like the venture capitalist Darien scheme, it doesn't quite add up.
Like its subject matter...a mishmash of great ideas, poor execution and misguided opportunism.
The production values and cast are as top-class as you would expect. In truth, rather in excess to requirements.
A chance squandered.
A resounding flop.
Scotland the Broke
Alistair Beaton and Anthony Neilson: double trouble
EIF show Caledonia discusses banking and Scottish nationalism
Pivotal chapter in Scottish history
Caledonia--Darien: The drama
Alistair Beaton--Calamity on the high seas
The past rubs against the present in Caledonia
King's Theatre, Edinburgh from Saturday August 21, 2010, until Thursday August 26, 2010. Sat 21st at 7.30pm; Sun 22nd at 2.30pm & 7.30pm; Tues 24 at 7.30pm; Wed 25th at 2.30pm & 7.30pm; Thurs 26 at 2.30pm. . Tickets: £12-£27. More info: http://www.edtheatres.com/kings
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