LIFE
★★★☆☆ Drawn out
Scottish Storytelling Centre (Venue 30): Fri 2 – Mon 26 Aug 2024
Review by Hugh Simpson
LIFE from Maria McDonell at the Scottish Storytelling Centre is a production that does not always quite live up to its startlingly clever premise.
The conceit of having a drawing class on stage, with some of the audience up there as students, is a clever one. However, it isn’t necessarily carried through that successfully – the on-stage audience soon seem largely superfluous.
Maria Macdonell in LIFE. Pic: Roddy Simpson
The rest of us are also given paper and pencils, but there is no obligation to produce anything, and much of the time it’s a bit too dark to see what you’re drawing anyway. It should be pointed out that – despite the title – it is not actually life drawing as generally understood.
The play’s writer Maria McDonell plays Estelle, the model who would actually have preferred it if she had been nude. Leo MacNeill, meanwhile plays the self-important tutor, spouting philosophy in various languages and finishing Estelle’s sentences for her. Even when she isn’t even saying them, she’s just thinking them. Which is odd…
magnetic
Traditional tales are woven into the fabric of the piece as Estelle tells the story of her life. While there is a great deal of good writing here about art, life and misogyny, and MacDonell’s performance is an undoubtedly magnetic one, it doesn’t all flow as it might do.
There is a portentousness and blustering self-importance to MacNeill’s character that jars at times, and the production takes a long time getting to a conclusion that is not completely satisfactory. Some of Roddy Simpson’s lighting changes are overly dramatic, and the transitions between various parts of Estelle’s story could be smoother.
It’s still an intriguing performance, however, and if it helps the audience think about their own creativity (and mortality) then so much the better.
Running time: One hour and 10 minutes (no interval)
Scottish Storytelling Centre(Netherbow Theatre), 43-45 High St, EH1 1SR (Venue 30)
Friday 2 – Monday 26 August 2024
Fri 2 – Sat 10 (Even dates only): 1.15pm.
Sun 18 – Mon 26 (Even dates only) 5pm.
Details and tickets: Book here
Website: www.mariamacdonell.com
Facebook: @mariamacdonellwriterperformer
Instagram: @MariaMacDonell
X: @MacdonellMaria
Leo MacNeill and Maria Macdonell in LIFE. Pic: Roddy Simpson
ENDS
