Sound Stage: Who Are You?
Four years ago, we moved to the Highlands (The Cairngorm National Park) settling in a very small village, leaving behind professional lives in the smoke. This new work, sadly I could identify with. Superbly performed by Georgie Glen (perfect diction) and Saskia Ashdown, this eery strange piece resonated with howling sounds I had woken up to the previous night, wondering if it was a wildcat or a capercaillie in trouble. Wertenbaker’s new drama seeks to question many important questions from which we can no longer escape. Climate change, our imposition on nature and how we manage it. Are the new lairds acquiring vast estates with their ambitions to re-wild really doing the right thing? Can humans live alongside nature without destroying it? These are questions which a previous city dweller is now aware of.
A single lady returning from collecting wood finds a strange presence in her house. The entity is not made clear which made me think, is it a stray rabbit? We trap them as they eat our plants and send them to the polar bears in the wildlife park. Or is it a red squirrel? We put out nuts for them! The lady rightfully asks it/them to leave. The presence refuses to go. The outcome is not good, and you draw your own conclusions. With superb sound recordings and performances this is a thought-provoking work, especially with COP26 looming in Scotland. If you are interested in the world’s problems, then listen! If you are feeling low, then this will either spur you into action or send you back under the duvet. As Kowalski in the ‘Penguins of Madagascar’ says to Private ‘We are not your family, and we are all going to die.’
Enough said!
