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Preview by Paul Nelson |
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CONCORDANCE in association with Culturcated Theatre Company will present
the first London revival since 1983 of Falkland Sound by Louise Page
based on letters from David Tinker's book A Message from the Falklands,
directed by Jennifer Lunn.
On April 10th, 1982, 25 year old Lieutenant David Tinker RN wrote to his wife
from HMS Glamorgan, steaming towards the Falkland Islands as part of the Task
Force: "Here we are in 1982, fighting a colonial war on the other side
of the world: 28,000 men going to fight over a fairly dreadful piece of land
inhabited by 1800 people.... The ideal is most praiseworthy; the wishes of
a tiny people supported by the might of a large state. Everything else is
quite ludicrous."
He was killed in action a month later.
"David Tinker, Lieutenant, aged 25... Committed to the ocean deep in
position 51 50' 50" South, 53 31' 80" West. 160 miles East of Falkland
Islands: on the evening of 12th June".
Falkland Sound tells the life story of David Tinker from his letters and poems.
His simple and moving story is told by his father, Hugh, whose simple narration
guides us through David's life as he attempts to make sense of his son's sacrifice.
In this 20th anniversary year of the Falklands War, Falkland Sound presents
one of the only views of the Falklands War written as the battle was raging.
Based on the book A Message from the Falklands: the Life and Gallant
Death of David Tinker, Falkland Sound originally formed the first
part of Falkland Sound/Voces de Malvinas which opened at the Royal Court Theatre
Upstairs, London, in June 1983 (pictured above) and - after a national
tour - was revived in the main theatre in December 1983 with a new cast.
The play forms part of a double bill as Penny Dreadful Productions presents
the first London revival of Frank Pig Says Hello by Patrick McCabe.
This is his own theatrical version of his Booker Prize nominated novel The
Butcher Boy.
It is the early 1960s: In a small town in a remote part of rural Ireland,
young Francie Brady's dreams of adventure and excitement, fuelled by comic
books and TV, contrast with the grim reality of his family life. Francie shows
a child's mischievous face to the world, but privately he struggles with the
hardships of his family's imminent disintegration. His father is a drunk with
shattered dreams and his mother has already been hospitalised once due to
a nervous breakdown. Shunned by the local townspeople, he struggles with his
sense of loss and pain as his fantasies become ever more grotesque and his
behaviour more and more threatening.
Frank Pig Says Hello is a portrayal of a childish imagination damaged
beyond repair.
Playwright Patrick McCabe was born in Ireland in 1955. The Butcher Boy
(1992), the novel on which the play Frank Pig Says Hello is based,
was the winner of the Irish Times/Aer Lingus Literature Prize 1992 and was
shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Patrick also co-wrote the screenplay for
the film which was directed by Neil Jordan and starred Eamonn Owens, Stephen
Rea, Fiona Shaw, Sinead O'Connor and Aisling O'Sullivan.
Director Caitriona McLaughlin made her London debut last year with Ronny Jhutti's
Unsung Lullaby at the Finborough Theatre. She was also Associate Director
on Around the World in 80 Days (BAC).
Other credits include resident director on A Christmas Carol (BAC),
director of Polite Meaningless Words, The Good Doctor, Romeo and Juliet
and Premonitions (The Playhouse, Derry). She has also worked in
Belfast, Dublin, Germany, Czech Republic and South Africa.
Falkland Sound by Louise Page & Frank Pig Says Hello by Patrick McCabe
at the Finborough Theatre, Finborough Arms, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10.
Tuesday to Saturday evenings at 8.30pm Sunday matinee at 4.30pm. August 20
to September 14. Tickets 020 7373 3842
