'Immensely satisfying on many levels,' Lorna Irvine reviews the Tron's latest.
Celebrated writers' vignettes rub-up against new Scots writers' work in Andy Arnold's new production for the Tron's spring season, which is both experimental and immediate.
Against Kirsty McCabe's stunning set, which looks like a dystopian landfill site filled with curtains, tyres, chicken wire and musical instruments, four terrific, expressive actors (Keith Fleming, Natalie Toyne, Gavin Wright and Brian Pettifer) tussle with themes of love, work, violence and the impossibility of communication. JP Donleavy and Patrick Marber have contributed fine satirical work here, but it's Alan Ayckbourn's Ron And Julie which is the most imaginative and Julie Tsang's The Sorry Story Of The Angel And The Bear that emotionally resonates- the former a visually imaginative, absurdist narrative delving into the hierarchy of three theatre hands and the reasons they will struggle to love; the latter, a cold look at the consequences of domestic abuse from two perspectives, achingly portrayed by Toyne as Angel, staring sadly out ahead into an uncertain future after an abortion and Wright as The Bear, Angel's now ex-partner, in denial and unable to break the cycle of hurt and neglect.
The scenes all flow seamlessly into each other, and Arnold directs with class and great clarity.
A bold, highly ambitious sample of the strengths of emergent and established voices in contemporary theatre: immensely satisfying on many levels.
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