NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND at the CITIZENS THEATRE GLASGOW

Citizens Dostoyevsky mini-fest is completed with a superbly executed and highly thoughtful , stimulating performance of Notes From The Underground.

The staging captures the universal angst with unobtrusive , yet highly visualising use of modern social-media technology.A well judged balancing act which seasons the discourse of the character with added relevance to many who are approaching the times in their career and lives when they can also render a testimonial of how their existence shaped out.

As the Citizens Theatre blurb states "To coincide with our production of Crime and Punishment Debbie Hannan directs this play based on a novella by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

A bitter and misanthropic man sits in the dark nest he has created for himself, scrawling his paranoid, confused memoirs. Torn between his derision for the ‘ant hill’ of humankind and his searing contempt for himself, his isolation leads to his retreat Underground.
He scrapes at the ugliest parts of his ego until an encounter with a real life ant throws everything into disarray…"

This review from The Scotsman captures the mood:

"In a bold stroke, Debbie Hannan’s powerful production exposes the contemporary quality of Dostoevsky’s obsession with self-examination and self-presentation by making Samuel Keefe’s Underground Man an obsessive user of social media. His older self appears on screen meditating on his need to retell the story, his younger self records interactions with others on smartphone and tablet."

Two of my friends , one who had not read the novella , and another who had when in his early twenties were both captivated , one promising to search out and read the Book and the other , dryly , commenting as he approaches the age of the character he found himself nodding with wholehearted agreement the bitter,angry rant from beginning to end , something i have been doing for many years.

The staging ends with my favourite line from the book "Can a thinking man ever Respect himself", my two companions had less of that than when they started , which i think is a good sign that the play , and the Book , has done the job.