The production and set design for the play 'Extremities'

 by the American Author William Mastrasimone.

Why? I have had a lifelong interest in the theatre and circumstances provided me with the opportunity to fulfil an ambition by producing and bringing the production to public performance. Those circumstance were that my daughter Collette finished theatre school and I was able to find an enthusiastic cast, also I had just completed my degree in Fine Art and so could dedicate the time to the project.

Gains: My work is based around time, what this project has encouraged me to look at is developing performance in my practice, the possibility of developing themes and ideas through this medium has great potential. Working as part of a team and with other professional bodies has also given me insights that will be useful in the future.     

About the Project: Extremities is a play about a young woman Marjorie who is attacked in her own home by a would-be rapist. She is fortunately able to turn the tables on her attacker and imprison him in the fireplace. With her attacker subdued and tied up Marjorie is able if she chooses to exact some revenge in a situation where it is difficult to prove intent by the man and so she has to justify her actions to herself and her returning flat-mates.

This production was a collaboration between myself and the five graduating students from the Urdang Academy in London. I produced , but all that happened on the stage was a collaborative directing tour de force by the five of them.

The production took place at a Venue in the Edinburgh College of Art, in a small auditorium provided by the London based promoters Sweet Entertainment.  There were 14 performances during the run. The poster for the production can be seen to the left, this was designed by myself along with the set, (see below) and logo which can be seen on the top left of the poster.

 The cast and crew were:

    Marjorie ................................Lisa Byrne

    Raul......................................Robin Greaves

    Patricia.................................Pippa Atson

    Terri .....................................Collette Tait

    Lighting and sound ................Louisa Ashton

    Producer ..............................Malcolm Tait

The prison suggested in the poster by the cube is flimsy the perpetrator by his past deeds still influences any spatial arena the victim inhabits even though he is in fact subdued. An attack affects the life of victim almost endlessly as fear of repetition is ever present.

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The stage set:

 The idea behind painting the set black was to dislocate the psychological spaces from the spatial arena, we did not want the set associated with chintzy middle-class suburbia or working class tenements, any environment where excuses or blame are laid at the feet of circumstance. This would be an examination of the crime its effects, revenge and justice, allowing the interplay between the characters to reveal the complex issues.

The set also had to fit on the stage and allow the characters space to work, it was a difficult to achieve but in the end we achieved a productive balance. 

Here are some images from an actual performance.

  Robin Greaves and Lisa Byrne

           Collette Tait

                             Pippa Aston and Lisa Byrne

        Louisa Ashton setting up lighting