Anna Burnside reviews a new adaptation of a classic Scottish text.
Paul Bright’s Confessions of a Justified Sinner was one of my top plays of the last decade. Could this Dogstar adaptation of James Robertson’s 2006 novel - which is based on Hogg’s masterwork - hit the same heights?
The opening was not promising: an overlong monologue meant to root the action in the ominous north-eastern landscape. It had me begging for the devil to appear and the action to start. The rest of the cast wafting around in supporting movement did not help speed things up.
When the pace increased there was much to enjoy in Matthew Zajac’s adaptation of Robertson’s sprawling tale of the Church of Scotland minister who finds himself hanging out with Satan.
Kevin Lennon was a strong Gideon, self-centred and full of doubt, bounding around the stage in his running kit. Even better was Zajac himself, playing Gideon’s old-school minster father then slipping into a louche leather jacket for devil duties. And if he gave himself all the best lines, who could blame him? It’s the devil’s prerogative.
The support team did a grand job, with Molly Innes particularly delightful as Gideon’s feisty parishioner pal, taking none of his nonsense and putting him to work rolling her pain relieving “cigarettes”.
The problem was a baggy script, exacerbated by Megan de Chastelain’s lumpy direction. With some judicious streamlining of both, this might not rival the Justified Sinner of beloved memory, but it would do Robertson’s book proud.
The Testament of Gideon Mack is a Dogstar Theatre production and tours until March 14th with future performances at the Gaiety Theatre in Ayr (March 12) and Dundee Rep Theatre (March 13-14).
Photo by Paul Campbell.
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