A play about a weather forecaster doesn't promise to be a particularly exciting evening's theatre.
The prospects look brighter, however, when one learns that Pressure, the new play by actor and writer David Haig, focuses upon the crucial role played by Scottish meteorologist Dr James Stagg in the days immediately prior to the D-Day landings in June 1944.
The drama is set entirely in Stagg's hastily assembled office in the Allied headquarters in southern England. It traces the events which led to the Scotsman's crucial advice - which was ultimately accepted by General Eisenhower, who was in charge of the invasion - that the D-Day landings be postponed from June 5 to 6, on account of the predicted weather conditions.
Co-produced by Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre and the Chichester Festival Theatre, directed by the excellent John Dove and starring Haig himself as Stagg, the production is as solid and reliable a piece of theatre as one is likely to see. From the neatly structured script, to the assiduously naturalistic set and the uniformly strong performances, it is the epitome of the nicely staged "well made play".
However, for all its strengths, the production is almost too neat. The conflict is provided, primarily, through the professional disagreements between Stagg and the American meteorologist Colonel Irving P Krick; but the latter is too much of a swaggering, over-confident stereotype. The love interest (a decidedly restrained affair between Eisenhower and British military "dogsbody" Kay Summersby) and the dramatic back story (Stagg's wife in a difficult labour) are built into the play with similarly sturdy obviousness.
As a theatre work about a politically significant disagreement between scientists, Pressure doesn't come close to Michael Frayn's post-Second World War nuclear drama Copenhagen. Haig's play is an enjoyable and informative night out, but it doesn't cook up much of a storm.
Interestingly, Saltbush - Children's Cheering Carpet, touring as part of the Imaginate children's festival, is far more elemental than Haig's meteorological play.
Created for children aged four to eight, the show is an impressive and ingenious combination of modern technology with the traditions of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures of Australia.
The "cheering carpet" of the show's title is a huge white performance space which is transformed by the series of exquisite computer-generated animations which are projected onto it. From a river, which the children in the audience are invited to cross on giant water lilies, to a road in a busy city and the cracked red earth of a baking desert, we are taken on a journey which connects us with both the land and our ancestors.
Created by Insite Arts (Australia) and Compagnia TPO (Italy), the piece boasts an exceptional, three-strong cast; Aboriginal performers Jada Alberts and Rosealee Pearson, and Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander Sonny Ray Townson. They tell a simple story by means of narration, dance, movement and music (from live playing on evocative clapsticks to recorded didgeridoo). The resulting theatre work has a beautifully spiritual dimension.
The cast is led by Alberts, a superb performer (and acclaimed emerging playwright).
Moving with tremendous grace through the cleverly represented Australian landscape, she ushers the young audience onto the carpet at key stages in the journey. Of course, young children are themselves forces of nature, and sometimes less predictable than the elements. However, Alberts proves herself admirably capable in the face of unexpected interventions in her storytelling.
By the time the piece comes to its end, with children and adults lying under a star-spangled night sky, one knows one has encountered a very special piece of children's theatre.
Tour details for Saltbush - Children's Cheering Carpet can be found at imaginate.org.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