Lyth Arts Centre, Lyth, Caithness, 16 May 2009

James Bryce in The Sweetener (photo - Callum Mackay)

FOR THOSE of you who have never ventured deep into the Caithness countryside to this quirky little venue, Lyth is a converted Victorian school house sheltered by trees and stone walls in which is secreted a small but perfectly formed theatre. It doubles imaginatively as an exhibition space and is much beloved by audiences and artists, performing and visual, for the warmth of its welcome.

I had driven almost as far North as it is possible to go for a double bill wrapped around a buffet supper. The first play, Arts in Motion’s The Sweetener, was inspired by the inventor of canned laughter, Charles Rolland Douglass, who died only six years ago, aged 93.

James Bryce gave a well-paced, completely convincing performance as a Douglass protégé in an early 70s American radio studio, reminiscing about the changes in the two decades since Douglass had had his brainwave.

As the set, furnished with reel-to-reel tape recorders, 8-track cartridges and wall-mounted telephone, evoked a time which now seems ancient, before PCs, CDs, ringtones and the internet, this dramatic conceit allowed writer Dave Smith plenty of opportunities to wring knowing laughter from the audience.

This was more than just a nostalgic comedy. Having seen the inner workings of the ever more sophisticated canned laughter of sitcoms and comedy shows, having provided live recordings of laughter, sighs and applause which were then neatly integrated into the show, the audience was left pondering the degree to which fakery is a routinely accepted part of twenty-first century life.

In our society of routine plastic surgery, cosmetic dentistry, Photoshop-ed photos, CGI, advertorials, product placement, viral marketing and spin doctoring, how much of our reality is real?

It made for plenty of conversation over supper (delicious) before the second theatrical course was served. Sea View Productions’ The Last Cuckoo echoed the themes of comedy, pathos and nostalgia for a simpler age evident in The Sweetener, but in a British context.

There were many resonances for a rural audience, from the hopeful dish of lasagne left on the doorstep to an impassioned diatribe which ended “Long live the dull, the mediocre and the ordinary – and they do”, which was greeted with sympathetic murmurs of agreement.

With minimal costume changes, Andrew Harrison (last seen in these parts in Murray Watts’ The Legacy of John Muir) deftly changed characters throughout, from eccentric birder Henry “8 point” Baskerville to his nephew and heir, to the latter’s teacher, Mr Gardener, and back again, sometimes after merely a line of dialogue.

Tight writing and taut acting is an unbeatable combination. It’s a long way from almost everywhere, but Lyth is a unique theatrical experience. As the Michelin Guide puts it, “mérite un détour“.

© Jennie Macfie, 2009

Links

• Arts in Motion
• Andrew Harrison
• Lyth Arts Centre
• Jennie Macfie