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The Right
Ballerina
Written and directed by Billy Cowan
1st November 2012
Reviewed by
The Right Ballerina opens with a lonely dancer
rehearsing, the incident the play revolves around has already happened
and all we see are the repercussions. The ballerina, Penny (played by
Helen Macfarlane) has been accused and is guilty of being a member of
an extreme right wing political party. A party which has some racist notions
in its manifesto. She joined as a young girl and whilst not racist, she
does believe in some of their polices on mass immigration. We see Jack,
the artistic director (Adam Grayson) of the company she dances for, trying
to deal with the publicity and blackmail in the aftermath of the headline.
He is being blackmailed by Mr X (Richard Sails), a representative of a
secretive group who are large in number and have great influence with
their ability to protest and cause disruption, and who wish to see Penny
lose her job over her beliefs.
As the play unfolds, the undercurrents play out beautifully - the hidden
resentments, disappointment and bitter feeling between Penny and Jack
run much deeper than dancer and director. In addition to them being ex-lovers,
there was an abortion that was never discussed or emotionally dealt with
as the issues of sacrifice and ambition are raised and questioned. As
the pressure on both characters mounts, the cracks in their seemingly
beautiful world begin to show. Penny blames Jack for resenting her decision
to have an abortion and her ability to move on after their relationship
ended, Jack blames her ambition as a dancer for her abortion. It is clear
that blame and unresolved issues raise the stakes of their current situation.
The climax of the show was disappointing for me. It seemed far too easy
just to tie up all the pressure and angst with Jack murdering Penny and
claiming she had gone missing. Especially a murder that no one questioned,
investigated or explained. The concept of this play was brilliant, showing
how people crack under pressure and how when issues are not properly dealt
with they can resurface. There was a slight repetitive feeling to the
play, not helped by the repetitive music, the pauses and the lights coming
on and off with the music. The Mr X character bordered on pointless, as
the blackmail could have been explained without his presence. Grayson
was brilliant as Jack, but I found Macfarlane a little stiff as Penny.
Again, another twenty minutes and an extra scene could have finished off
perfectly what started beautifully with so much promise.
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