Temptations Of Tam, Citizens Theatre, Glasgow

Theatre critic

Monday 2 July 2012

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Neil Cooper

There's something a little bit special going on in this latest collaboration between the Citizens Theatre Community Company and Scottish Opera. Inspired by and in part sourced from Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, this pocket-sized version may put its 20-strong cast in period dress, but the references and themes are as 21st century as it gets.

Tam Rakewell is a happy-go-lucky kind of guy about to get hitched to Ann, but he is led astray into the Glasgow flesh-pots by a mysterious stranger with a gold credit card. From Byres Road to Sauchiehall Street, the full social mix of a city in motion is observed in all its glory, with Tam falling prey to hedonistic excess, rampant consumerism and the shallow narcissism of celebrity. This comes in the form of a bearded pop starlet called Lady Baba, while there are nods too to Hello! magazine, west end institution Oran Mor and a top-flight emporium revelling in the name of Pradamark.The result of all this in Elly Goodman and Neil Packham's production, devised with the company, and with a new score composed for a live quartet by Matthew Brown, is a playful mash-up of old and new material.While on one hand the company rise gamely to the complexities of Brown's material, under conductor Chris Gray's guidance they prove equally adept at tackling the chorus numbers from Stravinsky's original via its libretto by WH Auden and Chester Kallman.While there is much acting talent on offer, it is Jonathan Collins as Tam who anchors the show, although Annette Stewart's Lady Baba steals things in a refreshingly accessible take on an old story that retains its dark heart.

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Temptations Of Tam, Citizens Theatre, Glasgow

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