Collaborating with award-winning poet Simon Armitage, Told by an Idiot, National Theatre Scotland and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh present a wildly comic and provocative piece of music theatre.
Edinburgh; a cold town on the edge of civilisation, in very much the Year of Our Lord, 1696. The church has spies everywhere. Here, you keep your counsel and choose your words with care ... unless you are Thomas Aikenhead– a loud-mouthed, smart-arsed and likable student at the university. A man in the wrong place at absolutely the wrong time ... trouble is brewing for Thomas.
A rich vein of black humour is exploded in this account of the last person in Britain to be executed for blasphemy. Using Told by an Idiot’s internationally celebrated theatrical invention, we glimpse into Edinburgh’s dark past to reveal this true story with universal resonance. A riotous and unsettling drama which swings between 1696 and the present day, I Am Thomas is performed with an original live score.
With lyrics from Armitage and showstopping arrangements by Iain Johnstone, Told By An Idiot fashion an irreverent musical about a 17th-century atheist.
More successful musically than dramatically, I Am Thomas is a bold theatrical experiment nevertheless. It is not a Dawkinsian assault on religion so much as a memorable critique of both oppressive theocracy and intellectual intolerance.
The fascinating story of Thomas Aikenhead – the last person in Britain to be executed for blasphemy – is marred by a mix of theatrical styles.
All of this is driven by composer Iain Johnstone's settings of port Simon Armitage's lyrics in a show that goes beyond knockabout satire to a more brooding meditation on dissent.
His contemporaries killed him, Satan may well be toasting marshmallows on his soul, but here on 21st century earth, Told By An Idiot, NTS and the Lyceum have given this name from the history books a colourful, theatrical new life as a metaphor for enlightenment and rebellion.
This combination of gloom and glee characterises a production that is driven, thought-provoking and above all great fun.
This bold show may be a bit ramshackle but it puts humanity first, reminding us that we are all Jock Tamson’s bairns and inviting us with song and humour to ‘come see the light’ in a ‘country of infinite dreams'.
It’s a fitting, and genuinely emotional, finale to a provocative telling of a forgotten portion of Edinburgh’s history.
Rowdy, fun-packed, and yet deeply moving.
A rhapsody of ill-invented nonsense, patched up partly of the moral doctrines of philosophers, and partly of poetical fictions and extravagant chimeras.
I Am Thomas has a political point but it doesn't beat you over the head with it. Maybe its irreverent spin on historical tragedies and the ones we face today might not be to everyone’s taste, but if you like Brecht, jokes, and songs you’d be a blasphemer to miss this production.
A swaggering, cheekily inventive musical play that continues Told By An Idiot’s tradition of sending in the clowns to do the serious business.
It's got this wonderfully playful subversive charm that runs throughout the piece.
This holy trinity of theatre stables have 'bore' witness to a false prophet. Avoid.
Told By An Idiot--I Am Thomas
I Am Thomas, a timely adaptation of a 17th century blasphemy execution
Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh from Wednesday March 23, 2016, until Saturday April 9, 2016. More info: www.lyceum.org.uk
Eden Court Theatre, Inverness from Tuesday April 12, 2016, until Saturday April 16, 2016. More info: www.eden-court.co.uk
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