Sunset Song

Reviewed at the King's Theatre, Edinburgh in 2008.
NB there may have been changes to the cast.

A gripping central performance by Hannah Donaldson makes this production of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's tale of rural hardships moving and compelling, even if it does race along at such a gallop that some of the more subtle exchanges are missed.

Kenny Ireland, former artistic director of the Royal Lyceum, has the reins. He has directed a stylish, confident production that makes very effective use of movement and music to convey the story of farmer's daughter Chris Guthrie (Donaldson), and her love affair with the land.

Reflecting the novel's unflinching (and, for its time, controversial) approach to sex and childbirth, such scenes are portrayed on stage. And while the necessarily fast pace makes for some comically quick deliveries, Ireland's use of a motif to convey Chris's unions with the men in her life effectively contrasts the very different emotions associated with each experience.

Hayden Griffin's curved wooden set is fantastically flexible, and the cast are at ease manipulating it, running around it and leaping over the edge of it. It's a treat to see a cast of ten in a tour of a straight drama, and the doubling and tripling of characters (including gossipy neighbours, farmers and even a horse) is precisely co-ordinated.

Be warned: if you've ever struggled to understand River City's Roisin, bear in mind that Joyce Falconer, the actress who plays her, is among the more intelligible members of this cast. It should be noted, of course, that the problem may not be with their accents but rather with our ears.

Reviewed at the King's Theatre, Edinburgh in 2008.