Living Quarters

There’s an interesting symmetry to the offerings of Edinburgh’s Lyceum and Glasgow’s Citizens’ Theatre this so far this season.

Both opened with Shakespeare (The Winter’s Tale in Edinburgh and Hamlet in Glasgow) and now each is tackling a lesser-known work by a celebrated playwright. What’s more, Desire Under the Elms and Living Quarters cover very similar ground, each telling of the homecoming of a father with a much younger wife.

On paper, Living Quarters sounded like a sure-fire hit. The play is by Brian Friel, whose Molly Sweeney is currently touring Scottish to great acclaim, and director John Dove was responsible for last year’s great production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. Disappointingly, Living Quarters doesn’t match up. This is the UK premiere of a play written in 1977 that is experimental – at times exhilaratingly so – but that ultimately doesn’t quite deliver.

It tells of a summer’s day that ended in tragedy. Patriarch Frank Butler (Ron Donachie) returned home a war hero and was reunited with his four grown-up children for the first time in years, but by the evening’s end a devastating confession had torn the family apart.

What is presented to the audience is an approximation of that day, pieced together from the memories of those who were there. Friel employs the character of an outsider known only as ‘Sir’ (Stuart McGugan) to act as a sort of director, arbiter and compassionate historian, keeping the ‘cast’ in check during crucial scenes but allowing them to take liberties in others.

It’s a fascinating device, but it suggests a chain of events with many pivotal moments and a cast of characters who share the blame for what happened. In fact there’s really only one make-or-break instant, and when it comes its significance is obscured. The play’s ambiguous nature makes it very interesting, but also frustratingly un-involving. Some roles are fleshed out (Niamh McCann as middle sister Miriam and Gary Lilburn as Father Tom are a real pleasure to watch) while others are brief cameos. Some relationships are clearly defined and communicated; others are difficult to fathom.

Dove makes good use of designer Michael Taylor’s revolving set, which is suitably disorientating, but undisguised support props on a huge fir tree are a sloppy and distracting touch, and there are also niggling inconsistencies with the costumes and time setting.

All in all, an intriguing production with some notable performances, but of a play that tends to feel more like a writing exercise than a fully-formed drama.