THE BURNS PROJECT | ROYAL LYCEUM, EDINBURGH
★★★
‘Gentle storytelling, haunting music and a wee jig to boot..’
Poet, adulterer, farmer, Master Mason, exciseman and Caledonia’s Bard… Robert Burns was all these things and more. In The Burns Project, James Clements dons his mantle in an engaging hour-long entertainment as he wanders through the life and times of one of Scotland’s greatest cultural exports.
Set around a plush dinner table that snakes from one end of the Royal Lyceum’s Irving Room to the other, it’s a lavish, ghostly affair – the candelabras, place settings, glasses, butter dish, the odd cloche and an assortment of curios are all coated in an off-white lacquer.
Set designer Jenny Booth has let her imagination run riot to conjure up this intriguing focus for the storytelling. Full of surprises, it is quite exquisite – the use of a gravy boat in particular providing a lovely little unexpected and humorous coup de theatre.
Played in the round as an immersive piece with the audience seated as guests at the table, it’s an intimate if at times frustrating affair. By the nature of Cora Bissett’s dynamic direction, following the action around the room can be a challenge, for much of the performance actor James Clements is out of sight, always positioned behind one half of his audience.
The piece itself, also written by Clements, chronologically charts the landmarks in Burns’ life. There’s little new to learn here but as Clements, an engaging story-teller, sallies forth, the interactive nature of the piece though minimal is perfectly executed – a moment romancing an audience member, a hand held briefly, a knowing nod of acknowledgement.
Compartmentalised, sections of Clements’ script, broken up by disembodied voices sharing reverential soundbites about the bard, these thoughts and memories occasionally break the spell of the piece, just as does the odd anachronistic line sit awkwardly with the overall tone of the piece.
Clements’ Burns is a gentle creation, amusing and charming. He is joined in the room by multi-instrumentalist Lisa Rigby whose beautifully rich and occasionally haunting vocals soundtrack the piece.
Burns died 230 years ago but his legacy lives strong as do his words, now known worldwide. A national treasure, a profane rhymer, a misogynist, a lover, the Boris Johnston of his day (with 12 children that are known of to numerous women), and the genius behind such timeless works as Auld Lang Syne, The Burns Project captures the humanity of a complex man who was all of these things with a light touch.
Just remember, ‘don’t touch the props’ on the table and a tip, so intimate is the setting of the Irving Room that little is gained from being at the table, the few additional seats against a wall offer a better vantage point of the action without losing the immersive nature of the production.
More details and tickets HERE
