Travesties
Pitlochry Festival Theatre
 

TOM STOPPARD wrote Travesties in 1974 and, more than four decades on, it's still a bold re-imagining of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.

In it, the geriatric Henry Carr — fictionalised from a real-life consular official who played Algernon in a production of Wilde’s play before suing its manager James Joyce for the price of his costume trousers — recalls his posting to Zurich during world war one.

The hang-out not just of Joyce but also of surrealist Tristan Tzara and Vladimir Lenin, 1917 Zurich is a gift to any writer and it's one that Stoppard readily accepts, creating a farcical drama entangling all three.

This play is not just referential but self-referential — and a bit too self-reverential — from the start, with some early scenes only beginning to make sense at the curtain call.

Until then, elements of the action give off a distinct air of smugness and, to exacerbate matters, the lack of youth in the audience was pronounced. This reviewer was left thinking everyone else had seen Travesties the first time round.

Diplomatic politics, theatrics and romances are all fought out on stage between Carr, his esteemed associates, his sister Gwendolen and Zurich librarian Cecily (yes, more Wilde). Among this is a continuous but unresolved debate on the worth, purpose and requisites of art. Engaging enough, but somewhat overshadowed by Stoppard’s unrelenting formal experimentation.

Perhaps that’s just as well, because Richard Baron’s visually vibrant production best complements the play’s formal surrealism rather than its enjoyable if baffling content. Alan Steele shines in the second half as a wonderfully Scottish Lenin and the psychedelic circles are squared at rapid speed, meaning any confusions are replaced with a sense of satisfaction.

In retrospect, I’d thoroughly enjoyed myself, but I was a little worried I’d joined the crowd of smart alecks that I’d spent the first half resenting.

Runs until October 10, box office: pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com