Theatre evaluations: Sister Radio | The Comedy of Errors

The Comedy Of Errors, Stay at No. 40, Glasgow ****

Out of the ache of lockdown, a brand new Scottish theatre area is born; and Pitlochry Pageant Theatre now has a stunning new 150-seat Studio Theatre, constructed in the course of the lengthy pandemic closure, so as to add to its essential home, its attractive small woodland amphitheatre, and the riverside inexperienced area usually used for household reveals.

The primary present to look on its spacious sq. stage – with the viewers on three sides – is a model new play by British-Egyptian author Sarah Shaarawi, Sister Radio, which displays on the massively topical theme of displacement, exile, and the lives of those that search refuge within the UK. Shaarawi’s characters are two Iranian sisters, Shirin and Fatemeh, who first arrive in Britain in 1970, despatched to review right here by their father; however because the unusual mixture of sounds from their previous hi fi inform us, they one way or the other discover themselves spending the subsequent 50 years collectively in the identical flat, and are nonetheless there in 2020, throughout lockdown.

Like a 3rd character, the radio lights up with music, information bulletins, public well being bulletins, poetry, and sudden recollections of their very own conversations; and in opposition to this aural backdrop, on an atmospheric tenement-window set by Becky Minto, the 2 sisters step by step reveal a long-drawn-out household drama in two time-frames, involving an enormous private betrayal, many years of indignant silence, and fixed nervousness about relations again house, as Iran lives by its Islamic revolution, adopted by many years of battle and repression.

There are features of this story which might be tough to dramatise, notably the lengthy silence between the sisters, which director Caitlin Skinner seeks to seize in frequent, dream-like repetitions of small home routines, as they measure out their lives in espresso spoons; and there’s generally a jarring lack of precision about dates, ages and site. But a passionate efficiency from Lanna Joffrey as older sister Fatemeh, with a poignantly youthful Nalan Burgess as Shirin, brings the drama of their relationship absolutely to life; in a type of quiet human tragedies that defy the calls for of typical dramatic construction, however nonetheless carry a robust ring of reality.

In a large marquee on the Scottish Opera manufacturing studios automotive park, in the meantime, the Residents’ Theatre – nonetheless closed for refurbishment 4 years on – revives its acclaimed 2021 ensemble manufacturing of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, so stuffed with bells, whistles, flashing lights and comedian results that its exuberance generally acquires an fringe of desperation. Written early in Shakespeare’s profession, The Comedy of Errors is actually not his most elegant or convincing play, and leaves loads of area for the comedian and theatrical shenanigans by which Dominic Hill’s ingenious manufacturing delights, as two units of twins – two an identical masters, two an identical servants – chase each other across the metropolis of Ephesus, making a determined tangle of mistaken identities and escalating accusations.

Regardless of its nonsensical and largely borrowed plot, Shakespeare’s play comprises some attractive and poignant poetry, which might maybe use a bit of more room right here. For essentially the most half, although, this formidable firm of eight actors – led by Angus Miller as each Antipholuses, and a exceptional Michael Visitor as each editions of the servant Dromio – are busily engaged in emphasising nearly each line with as a lot shouting, banging, grimacing and savage crowd-pleasing slapstick as Jessica Worrall’s spacious warehouse set can accommodate; and please the gang it does, attracting mighty roars of applause, on the present’s swish and pleased finish.

Sister Radio is in repertoire at Pitlochry Pageant Theatre till 28 September. The Comedy Of Errors is at Stay At No. 40, Glasgow, till 3 September, and at Perth Theatre, 7-17 September