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Presented by Open Book - Plays by Writers in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre
The Tobacco Merchant’s Lawyer
The English premiere of a new play
Finborough Theatre
29 Sept - 24 Oct 09
A review by Samuel John for EXTRA! EXTRA! In the cosy confines of a theatre on the apex of a junction in west London, Iain Heggie invites us into an 18th Century Glaswegian lawyer’s home. The audience is spoken to directly and in a most entertaining fashion. We enjoy being voyeurs of a middle-aged man’s conscience, yet are not forced into being therapists nor obligated to seek remedies to his personal turmoil. Callum Cuthbertson gives a bubbly and jovial turn as Enoch Dalemellington, a man at the centre of a booming yet tenuous industry, with all its golden rewards and greasy dealings. Yet the inner workings of his home life are laid bare to reveal him as a lonely widower. General apathy and self-deprecation are attitudes he applies to nearly all of life’s quandaries and struggles. For the most part this is excused as his method of coping, yet some of the more deeply personal and affecting issues seem to require greater diversity of response. Half way through the solitary man’s hour-long stream of consciousness, I yearned for a show of greater vulnerability to the cruel world which drives his existence. This is clearly the biographical monologue of a healthy mind, yet at times, it lacked the regard that such a mind would have given to concerns of such gravitas. Enoch refers to issues regarding his daughter from the stand point of a Father, then argues them alternating as a Mother. It is in the skilfully woven dialogue charting his attempts to rid himself of the financial burden of his pious daughter that Iain Heggie does best. At times the thick Scottish accent and rhetoric, laden with Glaswegian slang, was a bit heavy on southern ears. I felt it would have been met with greater appreciation and engagement north of the border. Having made concessions for character affectations, turns of phrase such as ‘said he/she’ and ‘said I’ were overused. It was unfortunate, as it distracted from the adroit display of an amusing raconteur. The audience relished above all the prophecies of Mistress Zapata, that ‘smoking would one day be banned in public’ and there would be ‘W.C.s even for the poor’. It is these wonderful quotes that offer the richest insight into the stark differences in the lifestyles of those in 18th Century Glasgow.
Finborough Theatre 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 9ED Box Office 0844 847 1652
Tuesday to Saturday Evenings at 7.30pm. Sunday Matinees at 3.00pm. Saturday matinees at 3.00pm (from 3 October). Tickets £13, £9 concessions, except Tuesday Evenings £9 all seats, and Saturday evenings £13 all seats.
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