IT'S SHOWTIME

From sawdust to gold, Neil Cooper watches the transformation of a Voltaire classic

OBSERVING the process by which a Suspect Culture production comes together is like watching the alchemists of old trying to convert sawdust into gold. Only in Suspect Culture's case, it works.

Thankfully, sawdust does not feature among the raw ingredients assembled by David Greig, director Graham Eatough and musician Nick Powell for Candide 2000, the company's latest venture and the biggest project to date. Instead, the shopping list runs like this: One hideous disused Glasgow shopping centre, one 250-year-old novel written by a Frenchman whose satiric bite is so deep he was once jailed for his trouble, one dozen untrained young actors, five seasoned ones (including Taggart stalwart Colin McCredie), a violinist who has worked with everyone from The Tindersticks to Bryan Ferry, and, finally, a large electric keyboard, which is allegedly portable.

The story of the production begins last November and it's this last item in the shopping list which provides my introduction to Candide 2000 as I meet with Powell outside the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, although in the darkness he and Candide 2000 designer Ian Scott appear to be carrying a large coffin.

Under the light of the Royal Lyceum rehearsal room, Powell sets up the keyboard and Eatough works with the 12 youngsters from the Lyceum Youth Theatre who are to take part in the show. Their input is crucial because they have a say in the creative process. The relocation of Voltaire's story from a castle in Westphalia to a shopping centre has been done to reflect the preoccupations of people their age.

After a couple of hours of seemingly unconnected improvisation, Eatough hands each of them a page of script. It's the first page of Candide 2000, complete with choral introduction. The actors take turns reading lines until the whole thing runs smoothly and they then begin to move through the room, pretending to window shop, eyeing each other up, or just milling about, mall-style.

Scott sits quietly at the back, scribbling occasionally. For anyone not directly involved with theatre, the rehearsal room can be a tedious and terrifying place and, watching Eatough running through the exercises that involve his cast wandering through a shopping mall, I can't help but wonder just what the point of it all is.

Fast forward to a few days ago and the point has become clear, the alchemists have done their work. Greig, Eatough, Powell and Scott have pulled their 21st century update of Voltaire's classic tale together.

Of course, you'd expect nothing less of a team which has worked together on every Suspect Culture show since they founded the company at Bristol University in 1990 and which, in Greig, has one of Scotland's most gifted and prolific playwrights.

The significant moments they've shared, professionally and, perhaps, personally, must be akin to those shared by the four friends in Timeless, the show they produced for the Edinburgh International Festival two years ago. Greig's solo Edinburgh Festival work includes last year's epic historical play, The Speculator.

We're now in the derelict Briggait Centre in the centre of Glasgow, which, in typical Suspect Culture fashion, is being used as a rehearsal room, although the performance itself takes place at the Old Fruitmarket.

"The setting was one of the most important decisions we made," explains Eatough. "It's about what world we want the play to exist. The thing about a shopping centre is it's a kind of twisted microcosm of the world. It's one of these cocoon-like environments that is a world in itself. You can shop there and serve all your consumer needs. You can eat there and even go to cinemas there. Yet, as well as being a single environment, it's also a world in miniature. We've tried to juxtapose the two."

Suspect Culture are of a generation that also knows the importance and the emotional power of music, as well as its reference points, so now the keyboard doodles I witnessed in that rehearsal last November have become fully structured pieces, incorporating skewed rock, reflective piano and even a boy band pastiche.

Powell used to play in bands such as Strangelove and The Blue Aeroplanes while violinist Lucy Wilkins is equally rooted in contemporary pop culture, having recently toured with Bryan Ferry (who agreed to rework his dates around Candide 2000 to free her to do both) and played on the bulk of the Tindersticks' back catalogue.

Even Scottish Television have shown faith in the production, re- jigging the filming of the next batch of Taggart so Colin McCredie can play the title role. Happy to muck about between scenes by singing old Aztec Camera songs, McCredie is transformed on set into the wide-eyed naf who, in this version, has been re-named Colin.

Meanwhile actress Lucy McLellan has just had her hair dyed with shocks of scarlet. The other professional cast members are Jill Riddiford, who has appeared in Greig's The Speculator and Caledonia Dreaming, Paul Blair and Grant Smeaton.

Breathing new life into a novel many see as dated and dusty was never going to be easy but Eatough, Greig and their team seem to have managed it without twisting the story out of all recognition. Eatough is pleased with the results. "One of the interesting things we've found is how faithful we're being to the original," he says, "and what equivalents we're finding in the contemporary setting. But keeping the spirit and the tone of the original has been the main thing."

Through hard work, the application of tried-and-tested methods and a creative team which must now rank among the most innovative and daring in the UK, Suspect Culture have dragged Candide into the 21st century and created a production which is shaping up to be one of the highlights of the theatrical year. So maybe they could turn sawdust into gold.

Candide 2000 is at the Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, this Thursday to Saturday, then touring

Copyright 2000
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