PORTRAIT
a new play by Ellen McAteer

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About the production

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Newspaper Reviews

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About Amber Theatre Co.

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Circle of Sound

Patrick Lynch, the actor in this play, is a professional storyteller. Visit this site to find out more about his recordings.

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Visit this site to find out about the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1998 and see what else is on!

Performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 1998. This experimental piece interlaces the monologues of four characters, all of whom want to tell in their own words the story of a man who dominates their lives. But have you ever tried to tell someone else's story? The four people - brother, wife, friend and son of the absent main character - are all played by Patrick Lynch, a remarkably versatile actor with the ability to compell the audience's attention.

Greyfriar's Kirk House, Tuesday 18th - Monday 31st August 1998.

"Through a quartet of voices we begin to accumulate a composite picture of the absentee. Although he remains elusive, a distinct odour of failure hangs about him. Not so the canny Lynch, who quickly and subtly shifts between identities through body language, accents and the use of blackouts." The Scotsman.

"The fifth character is unseen but curiously present...a very watchable show. Lynch holds the attention with a set of clearly defined registers, and an avoidance of caricature." The Herald.

"Ellen McAteer has created humanity from austerity" Oxford Mail.

"the atmosphere is compelling and electric" Blah Blah Magazine.

About this production

The Actor.

Patrick Lynch, of Irish Family and Scottish birth, is an actor and storyteller by profession. He has performed frequently with Amber Theatre around the UK, and has recently emigrated to Italy, where he has formed a sister theatre company to Amber, called Lingua. One of the first shows he performed in Venice was a storytelling session of Celtic Myths. One - The Woman of the Sea - translated into Italian. He continues to work with Amber Theatre in the UK.

The Author.

Ellen McAteer was born in London, but brought up in Glasgow from the age of seven. She now lives in Oxford. She has worked backstage on several Edinburgh Festival Fringe productions, the most prominent being Fringe First winner "Mirjam" by Mariela Stevenson. She is a founder member of Amber Theatre, and directed Portrait at the Edinburgh Fringe. She is also a graduate student at UCE.

The Play.

Portrait began as a short story by McAteer, called "Don't Get Me Wrong". The story was dramatised by McAteer and Lynch, and grew through a combination of Lynch's interpretation of the characters and extensive rewriting by McAteer, who wrote the play while working as a barmaid in "Jude the Obscure". This is a rather individual Oxford pub run by Noel Reilly, an eccentric character and lover of the arts who has set up his bar as a place where artists and writers can be sure of a place to stage or exhibit their work. The play was well received: the Oxford Mail headed its review with the words "SEE THIS PLAY AT A CITY BOOZER!" The play went on to be a success at the Fringe.

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