Sunday, November 20, 2016

THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV at the TRON GLASGOW

I was very intrigued how this seemingly unstageable production could possibly be put on.The Wilderness Of Tigers team put on a rehearsed reading for members of the public.
They treat the story as an intimate Family Drama , leaving off the grand themes , philosophical debates and analysis of the Slav spiritual celestial identity vis-a-vis the material imperial world.So we do not see The Grand Inquisitor , The high debates of the High Priesthood or The Parable of the Onion , which is a wise choice as far as a continuous stageable coherent flow for the audience is concerned.

 The whole production was like a mixture of Frasier , Taggart and Still Game all rolled into one , this may seem an insult for a production based on a Dostoyevsky classic but is really a compliment in how they bring the stripped-bare Karamazov Family Drama to life in an engaging way for a local audience.

This so-called rehearsed reading contained a bristling passion from the cast you would only expect to witness in the most gripping setting of the opening night of a polished full production.The cast seem to really believe in the work and it shows in the gripping way they hold the rapt attention of the audience.


Monday, November 14, 2016

DIARY OF A JAMAICAN SLAVEMASTER IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY by TOM DEVINE



This lecture was based on the 14,000 page diary of an overseer and then plantation owner in western Jamaica. Compiled from 1750 to 1786, it is regarded as one of the most important documents depicting the brutal realities of the lives of black slaves in the Caribbean. The content ranges in remarkable detail across work, health, death, slave rebellion, sex and punishment as well as many other issues.

It is a fact that the slavemaster Thomas Thistlewood regarded himself , and was regarded as a dedicated and valid member of the Enlightenment without question by his peers even though he treated the slaves under his control as little more than labouring , exploitable commodities.

In this video Tom discusses Scotlands historical perceptions in the creation of Empire and its functioning.