Ted Ackery | Bouquets & Brickbats

09/02/24

Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh

It’s hard to believe it’s five years since we saw EUSC’s last version of The Taming of the Shrew; it feels much more recent. Directed by Tilly Botsford, it was a marked success.

Any notion we have that it might be too soon for the student company to revisit this controversial play is soon dispelled when we realise how very different this interpretation is. Director Minna Gillett’s gender-swapped adaptation cleverly unearths the humour, reminding us that it was always intended to be a comedy, just like the fabulous 10 Things I Hate About You, which Gillett cites as inspiration.

Of course, the central relationship between ‘Petruchia’ (Maria Wollgast) and ‘Kit’ (Ted Ackery) is irredeemably toxic – she bullies and gaslights him into submission – but it doesn’t feel as problematic as the Petruchio/Kat pairing: Petruchia doesn’t have the weight of an entire patriarchal system behind her, and Kit isn’t institutionally broken. It’s still horrible on a personal level, less so on a political one.

Usually, the shrew is the lead role but here the tamer takes centre stage, and Wollgast shines as the suitor, oozing charisma as she struts and frets her hour upon the stage. Ted Ackery clearly relishes his turn as the brattish Kit, imbuing him with a surly teenage petulance and playing up the comic elements. Fraser Murray (as Tranio) has the house in stitches, while Anna Yarwood (as Grumia) and Juliet Gentle (as Biondella) both prove excellent clowns. Indeed, the whole company performs well; there is no weak link here.

The set, designed by Émilie Noël, is suitably fresh and contemporary, and impressively professional. In fact, everything about this show feels right. Gillett has got to the very heart of the piece, nimbly side-stepping or overturning all the problematic aspects in a simple, unfussy way.

This Shrew is a triumph.

4.6 stars

Susan Singfield

29/04/22

Teviot Underground, Edinburgh

There are good playwrights and there are great ones. Arthur Miller definitely belongs in the latter category. It’s a brave student theatre group that dares to tackle one of his works but, down in the crowded basement of the Teviot Underground, EUTC take on his 1947 play All My Sons and, with great skill and determination, make it their own.

This is the story of the Keller family and it takes place entirely in the garden of their home. It’s the night after a storm has uprooted a beloved tree, planted three years earlier in memory of the family’s youngest son, Larry, a fighter pilot who went missing in the war. Patriarch and factory owner, Joe (Ted Ackery), has survived accusations of shipping defective airplane parts to the military during the conflict and has subsequently prospered, even though his partner, Steve, still languishes in jail, found guilty of the charge.

Joe’s devoted son, Chris (Conor O’ Cuinn), is in line to take over the family business, but it’s not going to be plain sailing. He is hopelessly in love with Ann Deever (Olivia Carpenter), Larry’s former fiancée and she, in turn, has feelings for him. But Chris’s mother, Kate (Lucy Melrose), steadfastly refuses to give up hope that her lost son will one day return – and accepting this new union would, for her, be the final nail in her missing son’s coffin.

As ever with student theatre, the staging here is clearly constrained by budget, but the set designers have applied themselves to the task with great ingenuity; and using the canteen area at the back of the stage to depict the interior of the family home is a terrific idea. Interestingly, the costuming evokes the late 1960s and snatches of Bob Dylan and The Doors on the soundtrack accentuate the idea that this is a tragedy that could just as easily be applied to the Vietnam War – or any other one, come to that. The spectre of profiteering from war is, I’m afraid, universal.

But what really comes across in this production are the performances, with the four leads in particular submitting thrilling interpretations of their roles. And it doesn’t end there. The supporting roles of the family’s neighbours – who all know that Joe is guilty but have conspired to overlook the fact – are also delivered with utter conviction. There’s no weak link here – and there’s a palpable moment in the middle of the first act, when you sense these young performers coming to the realisation that they have their characters nailed and are going to make them fly.

Into this volatile atmosphere comes George (Priya Basra), Ann’s older brother, now a successful lawyer, who has previously accepted Joe’s acquittal and refused to see his own father ever since the trial – until now, that is. Now he has talked to his father and the wool has finally been pulled from his eyes. He visits the Kellers intent on seeking revenge.

The slowly rising tension builds steadily to a climax of extraordinary power. It’s a hard-hearted soul indeed who won’t be moved to tears by its shattering conclusion. EUTC have achieved something here that they can be truly proud of and, if you have the chance to catch this performance, then I’d advise you to take it.

It’s an assured interpretation of one of Arthur Miller’s greatest works.

4.6 stars

Philip Caveney