Outlying Islands
David Greig is an outstanding contemporary playwright. He has written more than 30 original plays and nearly as many translations and adaptations. His work has been performed at many of the major theatres in Britain, including the Traverse Theatre, Royal Court Theatre, Royal National Theatre, Royal Lyceum Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and around the world.
Outlying Islands isn’t his finest hour. Apparently based on a real incident from WW2, it concerns two recently-graduated ornithologists sent to the Outer Hebrides to count rare birds on a remote island. The only other residents are an avaricious elderly shepherd and his niece. Three virginal young people on an island. You won’t be surpised by how it unfolds, interspersed with comments about birds, nature, what it’s like to eat a puffin, and the impending War.
In this transfer from Atticist, it is performed by an inexperienced cast of young actors who do their best on Jermyn Street’s tiny playing area but can’t quite swing it. Simply put, we don’t believe in them or Greig’s plot, as staged by their director, Jessica Lazar. Enough said.
The post Ruth Leon pocket Theatre Review ….Outlying Islands – Jermyn Street Theatre appeared first on Slippedisc.
