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- 2?accountid=15842 accessdate "2013-11-05".
- 2?accountid=15842 date "1995-08-28".
- 2?accountid=15842 isCitedBy Allan_Sharpe.
- 2?accountid=15842 newspaper "The Guardian".
- 2?accountid=15842 page "8".
- 2?accountid=15842 quote "How do you deal with a subject like Bosnia, the Yugoslavian war in all its horrible complexity, in a way that is both genuinely dramatic and yet does justice to the real tragedy? To do it badly – however good the intentions – would be not only theatrically unfortunate, but an insult to those involved in the conflict. Two plays in this Edinburgh Festival so far are outstanding and contrast vividly in methodology – Carmen Funebre , by Poland's Teatre Biuro Podrozy , performed out of doors late at night in the playground of Drummond School; and Playing Sarajevo by Allan Sharpe, performed by Fifth Estate in the tiny Netherbow theatre. Carmen Funebre employs all the techniques of symbolism, going for spectacle with a minimum of dialogue and no discernible plot. Playing Sarajevo tackles the challenge of finding a naturalistic narrative which can carry the situation adequately. Playing Sarajevo is different, a complex narrative involving many actors. A drunken old actor appears on the stage of a theatre which has been commandeered for a military hospital, saying farewell to his trade with bitterness and regret. "When bread is scarce, the circuses become all the more important," he snorts. He is joined by his daughter, also an actor, and her boyfriend, and gradually by others, patients and an embittered military doctor . The excellence of the play is its encapsulation of the multifarious divisions in the community, showing the gulf between a military, terrorised existence, and the stuff of ordinary life. One woman has been comatose for weeks, and her husband has deserted the front line to tend her; another is trying to disguise her husband's ethnic origins, because "he's one of them". Another woman, old and gossipy, an unfortunately stereotypical character and a weak link in the play, wanders aimlessly about, muttering suspiciously about "thespians and mastectomy". She has a lump, and the doctor greets her brutally: "You're the mastectomy." Of course, there's no help forthcoming for her. The other great strength is Sharpe's dialogue, pointed and strongly ironic, and its explicit statement of faith in human nature and the power of imagination, art and love to mitigate the worst of wrongs. It is also a plea for understanding: "Our history's unforgettable – it shapes all of us," declares the military commander who appears towards the end, becoming an unlikely agent of forgiveness and humanity. Sharpe, trying to extend the scope of the play, makes numerous references to Scottish literature, but in particular to Alexander Reid's masterpiece, The World's Wonder, which becomes a metaphor for a vision of a future in which magic and joy are indispensable. Sharpe's play is a powerful, genuine and beautifully measured contribution to the Bosnian debate. So in the middle of the festival, when we're all overdosing on culture, too busy to listen to radio or read newspapers, does political theatre have a function? Allan Sharpe's character blurts out at one point: "We must help. I'm an actor who thinks his work can change things, and if I don't do that I'm nothing." He's right. As we know from eastern Europe, and from Bosnia itself, theatre has a crucial role to play – by stating what's happening and coming to terms with it; by providing ordinary people with the hope to survive. Bringing that to the rest of the world at a festival like Edinburgh gives a more intimate view than the newsreels ever can and moves us in a more profound, integrated way, giving a more total, real understanding. These two plays attempt, and to a large degree succeed, to do so. And when we return to the real world, after the festival is over, we will be enriched by that.".
- 2?accountid=15842 title "Playing for real in theatre of war – Can drama educate and inform on a subject as difficult as Bosnia? Two plays deal very differently with the conflict".
- 2?accountid=15842 url 2?accountid=15842.