Bums artistry evoked

Press, 3 May 1977, Page 6

Bums artistry evoked

By

HOWARD McNAUGHTON

I “The Robert Burns Story,” a programme of solo theatre conceived and performed by John Caitney. James Hay Theatre, May 2-4. Running time: Robert Burns, as every historian knows, was the; Burns boy who did not go toj Dunedin, and for that reason; Dunedin honours his memory: with a massive statue which.; on this programme cover,' all but eclipses the Anglican cathedral. Of course, had the Reverend M. Thomas inherited a fraction of Uncle Robert’s talents, no Anglican cathedral would have got within a mile of the Octagon, and the history of Scottish nationalism in New Zealand ; would not have been con- ;

| fined to the gorsy glens of i Mosgiel, Qjrstophine, and Outram. However, history decreed I that Robert’s flair for the picaresque should be employed mainly along the highways and byways that link Edinburgh with Ayrshire and surrounding regions, and John Caimey’s brilliant stage biography contained an evocation of local character which is almost as dynamic as that of the poet himself. It is not difficult to present! Bums as a national hero, and' an actor like Caimey, who can confidently move from the erotic to the elegiac, from the anecdotal to the pious, from satirical banalities to moral profundities, has no difficulty in holding an audience. Everything he does is enthralling, whether it be grand dramatic gesture, gentle, unassuming singing,

or an intimate delousing of a lady in the audience. But to evoke simultaneously the society which could produce, nurture, and eventually canonise a Bums demands another order of artistry altogether. Of the large first-night audience, all but a mere handful seemed to boast Ayrshire accents, and the accumulated knowledge of Bums would clearly have made up any number of oneI man shows; it is not difficult ito entertain such an audiI ence. But to engage such people in a process of rediscovery in which they actually uncover levels of fascination which are not commonplace to them is a remarkable achievement indeed—a programme which will equally delight Bums connoisseurs, Sassenach infidels, and Antipodean nit-pickers.