Sleeping Around / Separate Tables
Gateway Theatre, Edinburgh

Sean Cannon

As the only accredited drama school in such a vehemently arts-driven city as Edinburgh, Queen Margaret University College (QMUC) carries a certain weight of expectation. These two vastly different productions were attempts to excite and entertain under two opposing theatrical models.

Maggie Kinloch's Sleeping Around (A Paine's Plough commission by Mark Ravenhill, Stephen Greenhorn, Abi Morgan and Hilary Fannin) was a production full to bursting point. The play is very much in the style of many of today's trendy young writers, being controversial, rude, and moving at break-neck speeds. It is of great credit to the team behind this show that such ambition and risk-taking were so richly rewarded in this interpretation of the play. It was a dangerous and free-spirited production.

The audience was subjected to a sensual assault that left us breathless and drained at the conclusion to a very quick 90 minutes. Scene after scene was fired at us, as we clung on through graphic and frighteningly honest interactions between characters, and situations that were related but not necessarily physically connected. Each scene explored the desperate sexuality and cold, hard consumerism, which seems to hold us all in its maddening grip. We watched beautiful young women using their sexuality to persuade those with influence to bend to their 'results-driven' will. We saw two people desperately in love using sex to escape their greatest fear, the fear of allowing someone else into their lives and hearts and facing the ultimate rejection.

Throughout all of this we were constantly reminded of our society's almost carnal lust for labels, brands and the ever-changing model of 'cool'. To drink the right drink, smoke the right fags and fornicate with the right partner. Special mention must be given to the acting, with strong and defined performances from a talented cast, this bodes well for these actors on the brink of graduation.

One week later I found myself back at the Gateway to watch the other half of the year perform Separate Tables, a classic Terrence Rattigan tale of repressed sexuality and more than a hint of the comedy of manners. With Muriel Romanes of 'Stella Quines Theatre Company' fame directing, one would expect a production of taut suppression and ultimately explosive humanism. One was not disappointed.

The production was so precise that it occasionally threatened to lose the attention of a full house, but always managed to throw in some emotional intrigue at just the right time. It is clear that these actors were firmly in the grip of a director who knows what she wants and knows how to get it. The use of film worked well, but added a good half an hour onto a fairly lengthy show and threatened to disengage a typical last night audience. Although not an earth-shattering play, it was an entertaining and highly professional piece with some strong performances adding to the visual spectacle.

It is with great joy that I can suggest that the future performers and practitioners of Edinburgh seem to be in good hands at QMUC. One thing often forgotten is that these productions feature not only student actors but a whole production team drawn from the student body, right through to the refreshingly courteous front of house staff who add to the feeling of a venue that is never less than a joy to attend.

How often can you say that on two consecutive visits to a theatre you enjoyed two excellent shows at very reasonable prices in a wonderfully presented environment? I can only advise that you all get down to the Gateway Theatre, and you might just get a sense of exciting times ahead.