BAAL
November 1980
 

Cumbernauld News – “Walkout Act II!” Cumbernauld Youth Theatre storm”
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Cumbernauld Theatre was once again the scene of controversy this week with patrons walking out on the latest production.

This latest altercation comes less than a month after a pervious production at the theatre, where members of the audience left their seats before the end of a performance.

And on mother was so disgusted by Cumbernauld Youth Theatre’s version of Bertolt Brecht’s “Baal” that she refused to allow her daughter to take part in the second night of the show which includes scenes with couples lying on top of each other, and two girls taking off their trousers!

The director of the show, Mr Jan Wawrzynczak, answered criticism by suggesting that perhaps the play had been too complex for the audience, and a brief outline of the plot should have been made available to those watching.

Mr Wawrzynczak, the theatre’s full-time workshop and education co-ordinator said: “The only way we could have let the audience understand the play would have been to give out a synopsis to them as they went in. But I don’t think that Brecht would have approved of that. And I wouldn’t either.”

The original Brecht play was written in 1923, but was updated for the youth theatre by, according to the theatre publicity material: “substituting the original wandering poet/singer for a modern-day rock star, the Brecht text slips into contemporary context without loosing any of its original force. Baal is a rock star, on the road, swamped by fans and admirers, a Bowie-like figure.”

But mother Mrs Louise Robson of 52 Marmion Place, Greenfaulds was not impressed when she saw Friday night’s performance – nor with the fact that her daughter Ann-Louise was taking part in what she described as “a play totally unsuitable for this age group”

The young people taking part were all in the 15-21 age group and Saturday night’s show went ahead without Ann-Louise. “I couldn’t sit through the whole show! Said Mrs Robson, “it was just too much. I’m seething because my daughter was in the play.

"The play as performed was too advanced for children of that age. It was completely and entirely about sex – nothing to do with a poet. “

She continued: “I’m taking my daughter out of the show. She is only 15. I am not allowing her to take part in the Saturday night performance.”

And Ann-Louise’s father, Mr Iain Robson, was also unhappy with “Baal”. “Why pick a predominantly sex play? There are thousands of good plays they could have chosen. It just wasn’t right for that age group.”

Mrs Robson added: “The young people put a lot into the show, but they were very innocent of the facts laid down on the stage, even the 16-year-olds. And I don’t mean innocent in the sense of not knowing the facts of life. There was a lot of talent on stage tonight and the children gave more that could be expected. The performers did well, but it was a terrible waste of talent.”

Also in Friday night’s audience was Mr Douglas Brown, chairman of the Theatre Board, who strongly disagreed with some of the comments made by Mrs Robson. “The play is not about sex, and if people thought this then the director failed in these individual cases. Sex comes into the play, but it mainly concerns the poet Baal.”

Asked if he was happy with this latest production from the Youth Theatre Mr Brown said: “I am never happy with a production. But that is not to take anything away from the young people’s production, there are always improvements which can be made.

“It was not a perfect production but the young people put a lot of effort into ‘Baal’ and it was very worthwhile.

Mr Brown also added he was not aware seven people had walked out of Friday’s performance, but he had heard that one mother was unhappy with her daughter taking part in the play.

Even theatre director John Baraldi had some reservations about the production, although he didn’t agree with all the criticisms.

“On hindsight, perhaps we should have circulated a synopsis to the audience.” He said. “that point is taken and I agree it would have helped the audience to reach a better understanding of the play.”

"I admit the play itself might have been a bit foggy, but we will learn a lot from the production. But I must say I thought the overall impact of the play was considerable.”

Even the younger generation weren’t in full approval of sections of the play. Twenty-year-old Carol Donnelly of 8 Marmion Place, Greenfaulds, whose brother David (15) was in the show, had mixed reactions.

She said: “ I didn’t think the play was all that bad and I thought the music was very good. But I didn’t think it was necessary to show couples lying on top of each other on the stage, and I didn’t like the part where two of the girls removed their trousers. If they had toned it down a bit it would have been really good.”

Last month saw the first walkout at the theatre when the controversial revue “Last Tango in Partick” was staged. The first offering to be performed by the theatre’s new full-time company, the revue incensed many prominent politicians and cause a storm of outrage locally.

Last Friday and Saturday the Cumbernauld Youth Theatre staged what their pre-show publicity described as “a new, exciting rock version” of the Bertolt Brecht play “Baal”.

The production, at Cumbernauld Theatre, purported to be an “updated” version of Brecht’s original 1923 script with the central character Ball being transformed from a wandering poet/singer into a Bowie-like rock star, and the play taking the form of a “fully rocky show”. The director was the theatre’s full-time workshop and education co-ordinator, Jan Wawrzynczak, who was also responsible of the adaptation of the script.

The component parts of the play contained much that was good: the actors, aged from 15 to 21, gave a good account of themselves and had obviously put in a lot of time and effort; the music, written and arranged by musical director Ron McAllister, was excellent and we were treated to a highly competent and invigorating performance by the youthful band; the stage design, by resident theatre designer Tony Whelan, was original, functional and pleasing.

THE PLAY TAKEN AS A WHOLE WAS UTTERLY APPALLING!

What went wrong? The answer is easily found. With what must have been a great deal of effort Mr Wawrzynczak managed to obliterate entirely the original Brecht story line, leaving the audience with a series of disjointed, incomprehensible scenes that no mere mortal could be expected to understand.

Substantial section s of the play took the form of rock songs with the style of singing and the loud backing ensuring the most of the lyrics were inaudible. While this maybe the norm for this type of music it is questionable whether such a format is suitable vehicle for delivering Brecht’s beautiful poetry. What is not questionable is that the audience was needlessly deprived of large sections of the play, and thus of any chance of following it.

To further confuse matters, the director elected to dress the actors “out of costume” in casual modern clothing. Thus in one scene, which in Brecht’s original script portrays two policemen hunting for Baal, we are confronted with two youths dressed in jeans and shirts prowling around the stage. Seemingly, by some mystical process, the audience is meant to know that hey are policemen.

Further, the director deigned to omit certain parts of the original script.

The director is quoted as saying that the only way the audience would have understood the play was if they had been handed a synopsis as the entered the theatres, and neither he nor Brecht would have approved of that. He also stated that if the audience could not understand the play the fault was Brecht’s, not his. These remarks tell us more about the director that Brecht, whose work, until now, has not generally been regarded as obscure of impossible to understand.

What is the point, one may ask, of presenting a play that cannot be understood by the audience unless it has been explained to them beforehand? Theatre, Mr Wawrynczak, is about communication – your experimentation with the script was a disservice to the youth theatre, to the audience, and to Brecht.

Sadly, the fault in direction tended to overshadow the high quality and dedication of the young people. As a group they performed with flair and conviction and demonstrated that there is no shortage of talent in the town.

On the individual level, Graham Bisset, as Ekart, was notable for his sensitive delivery of Brecht’s poetry. Leslie Crook in his role as Baal produced an energetic performance which would be the envy of many a rock star, and in supporting roles strong performances were given by Beverley Jardine and Carol Law.

There have been several complaints about eh sexual nature of some of the scenes and it is debatable as to whether the subject matter of the play was too advanced for performers in this age group. This is a matter which will doubtless be resolved by the cast, their parents and the community at large.

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