COMPETING claims of Christianity and communism shout for ascendancy in the Glasgow-based LookOut Theatre company's drama of family life, which is graced by some strong performances. Revelations of buried secrets about their parents' marriage affect three young people in different ways, which are played out in a tightly structured hour-and-three-quarters, with some sharp, witty dialogue and fluid transitions from past to present.
Wordy, over-extended and somewhat unconvincing group discussions about the basis of religious belief tend to unbalance what is an engrossing, sometimes painful piece of domestic realism, written by Nicola McCartney and Lucy McLellan.
. Piwnica Pod Baranami
Bewley's Cafe Theatre
"WITH all its sham drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world." These lines, translated from Dezyderata, one of the songs in the repertoire of the Polish cabaret ensemble, Piwnica Pod Baranami, encapsulate the beguilingly bitter-sweet, sad-but-playful tone of their late-night performance.
Formed by Piotr Skrzynecki in Communist Cracow 40 years ago as an underground, pluralist respite from the strictures of social realism, the group has infused its blend of Eastern European folk styles with a rich lyricism, sometimes given a brittle edge. Many of the songs are poems set to music composed by members of the group, for piano, violin, accordion and guitar. Only my ignorance of a single syllable of Polish frustrated fell appreciation of this highly recommended show.
