Edinburgh Fringe: Dream Plays (Scenes from a Play I’ll Never Write) – Traverse Theatre

Writer: Sue Glover

Director: Orla O’Loughlin

Reviewer: Deborah Klayman

The Public Reviews Rating:

With a different playwright showcasing scenes from an unwritten play each day of its run, Dream Plays is a very interesting concept. Essentially a rehearsed reading, we were treated to excerpts from Sue Glover’s play Catterline, which is based on the life of British painter Joan ‘Jock’ Eardley. Showing a selection of scenes predominantly from the beginning and end of the play, this reading gives a good idea of the shape of the play and its themes through convincing performances from the three actors and stage directions read by Traverse Artistic Director Orla O’Loughlin.

Set alternately in an art gallery in the modern-day and in the eponymous village on the in the 1960s, Catterline introduces Joan (Anne Lacey) and her disciples Angus Neil (Lewis Howden) and Lil Neilson (Victoria Liddelle). Their relationships are somewhat unclear, likely because parts of the play are yet to be written, but essentially Angus and Joan have a co-dependent friendship and Lil and Joan appear to have a romantic as well as professional entanglement. Throughout the piece Angus’ fierce loyalty to and love for ‘Jock’ radiates from Howden, a man who is so lost without her that he is institutionalised after her death. Lil’s character is far less developed, and therefore Liddelle didn’t have that much to get her teeth into, however what we did see was deftly delivered. Lacey’s Joan is a special blend of caring and cantankerous, again making the most of the mutual dependency she and Angus share.

A look at a lesser known artist living in a small, obscure village on the North-East coast of Scotland, Catterline doesn’t appear (on paper) to have a very interesting premise, yet once the relationships are explored it leaves you feeling that perhaps this could indeed be a full length play.

Until 26^th August