WALDEN at Gillmorehill12

There are no hiding places in a one man play , which makes it the most stimulating and rewarding interaction between the espousing , almost an expurgation , of an idea.To be communicated psyche to psyche.A way of effortlessly passing barriers any other form of presentation would flounder upon and getting to the very marrow.

A blessing , albeit a brilliant furtively disguised one ,of the cutting of funding in the arts , and the corporatisation of the funding bodies which routinely attract as members shocktroops whose self-imposed diligent duty is to extract the political from "culture".To entertain and educate has been streamlined to entertain.Engagement with the audience is seen as challenging the doctrine of "impartiality" a la BBC , balance has hit the stage , making observations that are not of the observational situational medium taboo for general mass funding.This has meant meaningful statements are of necessity obliged to look for one man stage shows to articulate thoughts , the equivalent of the age of pamphleteers with all the wit;satire and wisdom that such a medium can provide us.

A quite remarkable subject for a one man play is Walden performed by Magnetic North , based on the account by Henry David Thoreau on a spell spent on the edge ( not necessarily detached) from society.An effort to "Simplify;simplify;simplify" life , have two or three things to deal with , not hundreds and thousands.An effort that is more difficult to accomplish today , with debt and contracts controlling the show called life.

According to the Magnetic North Blurb "On 4 July 1845, Henry David Thoreau walked into the woods near his hometown of Concord, Massachusetts and decided to stay. He built a hut next to a lake called Walden Pond and for the next two years attempted to live entirely by his own resources. As well as discovering the thrill of living life at no-one's behest but his own, Thoreau found something else - himself. Walden, Thoreau's account of his life in the woods, is one of the most extraordinary and unclassifiable books ever written."

As i sat for the play to begin , suddenly the person next to me starting moving about in a stimulated robotic trance , suddenly jolted into a charge of life , seemingly having a fit, starting uttering the strangest of disconnected semicoherent musings.Only when he stepped in the centre of the space i realised he was the actor and the performance had begun.Occasionally he would venture from the centre and park his butt next to me as the stage directions merited.I did find him looking at me when telling the story of an "old man" he would observe on the other side of the lake a little offputting somewhat.

The play itself is quite brilliant , touching upon the Human and natural spiritual values of the Book.Scottish Theatre has been producing superb work of late and this is a very worthy gem on the crown of this successful rich seam , long may it continue.

Particular passages really hit the spot for me , one goes " We could be blessed if we always lived in the present and took advantage of every accident that befell us , rather than spending our time atoning for the neglect of past opportunities.we loiter in winter when it is already spring."

Another one is " Is it the source of the Nile, or the Niger , or the Mississippi, or a Northwest Passage around this continent , that we should seek?
We could be a Columbus to whole New Continents and Worlds within us , opening new channels , not of trade , but of thought."

These two are only near the end , there are many more in this quite remarkable and superb piece of inspirational work.