BEYOND THE PALE Arches Theatre, Glasgow

Anyone desperate to see theatre so bad as to put them off it for life, need look no further than James McNulty's appropriately-titled play for the Tigerstripe Theatre Tribe.

Here we find a future Scotland in turmoil, where a council house dwelling king and queen are appointed to keep the masses happy. Pregnant prostitute Mary is appointed chief sandwich maker to the monarchy, and ends up as queen.

An interesting idea, not too dissimilar from Derek Jarman's post punk celluloid poke at the English monarchy, Jubilee. Except that after about 15 minutes, everything goes up in smoke as ideas blur into gobbledegook that gets increasingly absurd. It's not helped by a rambling production, performed by an under-rehearsed cast. Somewhere buried deep amongst McNulty's undisciplined, unfocused ramble there may just be a sliver of a one act play hiding. As bad a representation of Scottish theatre as it is of Scottish drama, Beyond The Pale is a waste of everybody's time, especially the audience's. Neil Cooper

Copyright 1999
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