Damascus

Don’t let the title put you off.

Yes, it’s set in the Middle East and yes, politcal ideologies are discussed at some length, but David Greig’s new play Damascus is also highly entertaining and subtly thought-provoking. In many ways it’s everything that last year’s Traverse commission Petrol Jesus Nightmare #5 was not.

If the second half disappoints it’s mainly because the first is so strong, and also because (perhaps appropriately for a play about the Middle East) having woven a complex tale full of characters with contradictory ambitions, Greig seems unsure how to bring things to a satisfactory conclusion.

It feels like a self-deprecating nod when feeble or idealistic writers pop up in plays – Gregory Burke’s Black Watch and Greig’s own 8000m are prime examples. Here, the central character is Paul (Paul Higgins), a weak-willed and physically pathetic writer of English language textbooks (and associated multi-media materials).

In Damascus Paul meets two very different writers – there’s Zakaria (Khalid Laith) a hotel worker touting an autobiographical screenplay, and Wasim (Alex Elliot), a frustrated poet and also dean of the university to which Paul is attempting to sell his materials. As the latter doesn’t speak English, negotiations are assisted by his glamorous colleague Muna (Nathalie Armin) – Wasim’s former student and also his former lover.

All the while, the hotel’s frustrated and very glamorous pianist provides a running commentary, and periodically drowns out the bustle of the street and rolling news coverage with extracts from her repertoire.

There’s much to savour in Greig’s cleverly-constructed play, and Philip Howard has assembled an outstanding cast to bring it to life. This is a theatrical experience that’s more about the journey than the destination – and, for the first half at least, the audience is travelling first class.