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Amongst Barbarians 1989
Manchester Royal Exchange World Premiere: 9 - 25 February 1989 Cast includes: Dominic Keating Bryan, Ronan Vibert Ralph, Tariq Unus, Zubi Dar, Anji Dar Gaolers, Sskuntala Ramanee Lawyer, Christopher Hancock George, Avril Elgar Wendy, Kathy Burke Lilly, Rosalind March Toni , Ricardo Sibelo Barman Dir: James Maxwell Fights: Nicholas Hall Availability: Nick Hern books, 1989, first printing (printed before premiere: text may have changed slightly in performance) Mobil-award-winning play by Michael Wall, set in a Malay prison where two young men; rough, 20-year-old, thick Londoner Bryan, and laconic, international Ralph (Vibert), await the death penalty following a Guilty verdict of drug trafficking. The play essentially has
two fields of action; the frustrations, fears, and acceptances of the prisoners'
fate; and the examination of the closed attitudes of Bryan's ultra-working-class
family and Ralph's Marbella-trash, mob-lite, glitterati, Mrs Robinson-esque
mother.
The Mobil Playwriting Award is one of the most esteemed theatrical merits, and Wall's play shares many similar themes with Traffik, which Ronan appeared in the following year (as a less worldly, though still highly sympathetic drug dealer). Ralph appears calm -- even
numb -- in the face of death, playing chess and smoking a joint with the
amiable 'big hairy sadistic bastard' Sikh gaoler. He has a habit of laughing
strangely, often mirthlessly, and it is easy to hear Vibert delivering
Ralph's lines as you read the play.
"...an impressively mature
work, worthy winner of the second Mobil Playwriting
"Manchester's Royal Exchange
has come up with a winner...Any production
"See this play if youire
handy to Manchester, though it is sure to go further"
On being instructed by his Sikh gaoler to embrace his mother for the last time: "He's a big family man, you know. The Sikhs like are like that. They don't understand us, our -- understatement and all that shit (laughs). Something rather universal, kind of eternal in the scene don't you think? Mothers and their sons -- you can't beat it" Last Requests: "I'd like to see Paris before I die (laughs). No one gets it. It's a line from a WC Fields movie. WC Fields -- great movie star. No one knows! I'm dying amongst fools" n. Note the credit for Fight choreography BackQueen
of Hearts
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The Secret Rapture (David Hare) 1990
Manchester Library Theatre Production: Premiere 9th February 1990 Cast includes: Diana Kent Katherine, Amanda Parfitt Isobel, Amanda Boxer Marion, Ronan Vibert Irwin. Dir: Christopher Honer Writer: David Hare Availability: published by Faber and Faber The Diana Kent Webiste From the above web-site: "David Hare's meditation on grief, families and eighties materialism. Diana played Katherine, a self-destructive alcoholic and found the role challenging and rewarding". Although David Hare's 1988 play is now regarded as a seminal play on Thatcherism and family, consistently garnering incredible reviews, much is lost when reading (rather than watching) it, as the main thrust of the play lies in the tension and disintegration of the characters. Katherine, an uncontrollable cuckoo in the nest, acts as a disastrous catalyst to the lives of those around her, in particular Isobel, her martyr-prone 'nice' stepdaughter, and Isobel's long-term boyfriend Irwin.
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