Outlying Islands - King's Head Theatre

[chameleon]

A quick recommendation for this revival of David Greig's under-rated 2002 play about ornithology and anthrax. Beautiful, atmospheric production (great sound design, in particular), and a brilliant performance from Rose Wardlaw..  well worth seeing..

[NeilVHughes]

Good to hear your positive recommendation, seeing it on Sunday.

[couldileaveyou]

I saw the first preview and was quite underwhelmed, by the script rather than the performances. The cast is fine, with Rose Wardlaw being the stand out, and the limited space is used wisely and well. It's just that the play is not very good imho. btw I'm a bit confused, I saw on TodayTix that there is a nudity warning, but there was no nudity when I saw it. Did I miss something?

[chameleon]

Jan 14, 2019 16:32:02 GMT couldileaveyou said:

I saw the first preview and was quite underwhelmed, by the script rather than the performances. The cast is fine, with Rose Wardlaw being the stand out, and the limited space is used wisely and well. It's just that the play is not very good imho. btw I'm a bit confused, I saw on TodayTix that there is a nudity warning, but there was no nudity when I saw it. Did I miss something?

Why did you think the play isn't good?

[Snciole]

I agree it is not a great script. It is unsure whether it wants to be a drama about relationships or whether it wants to look at the cruelty of war and the casualties of war we may not hear about (er...some birds on uninhabited island) it seems a bit scared to confront why Robert and John want to be isolated together on this island and Ellen is such a well explored character. It is a beautiful production, I felt the claustrophobia and isolation at all times. viewfromthecheapseat.com/2019/01/16/outlying-islands-kings-head-theatre/

[pledge]

I too enjoyed this minute by minute, without in the end being quite sure what the play actually added up to, or where its true dramatic focus lies...but a generally good production and fine performances still make it worth seeing.

[NeilVHughes]

An excellent and atmospheric piece, as isolation and freedom tear away the imposed morality, the reversion to ‘paganism’ hovers just below the surface.

A more adult Lord of the Flies with a sexual focus.

Had also forgotten about the atrocity we imposed on a Scottish island in the name of research, will need to google whether the Island is now habitable.

[joem]

I found this mostly entertaining, perhaps slightly overlong, but it was a confused play which veered between different themes and narratives without quite settling on one. In his attempt to make a fairly cut-and-dried controversy interesting - who would now seriously defend dumping anthrax anywhere, except of course this was then and not now - Grieg develops an interesting set of human relationships which take over the play from its vague environmental viewpoint. I found some of the jumps in the story a bit hard to believe, too.

But the acting is good and the stage designer has worked wonders to create an atmosphere in this small stage. And the writing is interesting, even if the plots are a bit muddled.

[itsabouttogdown]

I feel like about half way through I could understand why it was one of David Greig's least critically acclaimed works. But this production had a brilliant scene stealing performance from Rose Wardlaw. It was utterly gorgeous, she mastered every beat.