There's a buzz around the Citizens Theatre these days.
Recently installed artistic director Dominic Hill is exhibiting an impressive talent for invoking the theatre's brilliant past (especially under the reign of Giles Havergal and his collaborators, Robert David MacDonald and Philip Prowse) in a way that, rather than being merely nostalgic, is making for exciting 21st-century theatre.
This is particularly clear with the first production of 2013. Not only does the staging of Jean Genet's avant-garde classic The Maids nod to Genets from the Citz's past (The Maids in 1971, The Balcony in 1982), but it also brings director/designer Stewart Laing (who trained in design under Prowse) back to his theatrical home.
For his play – written in the 1940s and inspired by the notorious case of the Papin sisters who carried out scandalous murders in Le Mans in 1933 – Genet stipulated that the three characters (maids Solange and Claire, and their Mistress) be played by men. Laing has cast recent Royal Conservatoire of Scotland graduates Samuel Keefe (The Mistress) and Ross Mann (Claire), and current final-year acting student Scott Reid (Solange). How, I wonder when I meet the young actors at the Gorbals playhouse, have they found rehearsals of this famously complex play?
"There are different realms of reality and fantasy," says Reid. "These two worlds collide. It took some time for us to establish which world we were in at any given time."
"I really didn't know what to make of it at first," admits Keefe. "However, it became really clear to me on the first day of rehearsals. Stewart's got such a clear vision for the piece."
For his part, Mann has been impressed by Laing's nuanced approach to the play. He says the director has ushered the cast away from the "melodramatic" acting style the script seemed to imply.
Fitting into female roles has proved to be less of an issue than the actors might have thought. "We're not trying to physically embody women," Keefe explains. "It's more subtle than that. As actors, all three of us can connect to aspects of femininity – I think that's why we were picked at audition."
Mann agrees: "It's much more about the energy we bring to the roles than being a woman or a man."
If the actors have had to adjust to the aesthetic radicalism of Genet's script, they have also had to combine their acting skills with their pre-existing musical talents. Laing has brought in rock music (by the likes of Metallica, the Velvet Underground and David Bowie), which the actors perform live on guitars. They've been working on the music with Scott Paterson (formerly of Sons And Daughters).
"Scott's been a sort of puppeteer," says Reid, "shaping things to fit what Stewart has in mind. For example, with One [by Metallica], we don't play any of the vocal melody, it's just the guitars. The effect is really visceral."
And the overall effect of the production, which the actors say Laing has designed in "contemporary high fashion"?
"The stakes are high," Reid comments. "I think, in any play, if the stakes are high, people find a way to connect to it." However, if the drama does its part for the audience, it also requires its audience to give something back. "I think the audience have to be prepared to get on the train, so to speak. If they don't go with it, I think it's going to be a really difficult two hours."
The Maids is at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, January 17 to February 2. For more information, visit: www.citz.co.uk
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article