stroma - reviews

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=80 BGCOLOR="#330066" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="222467f1dkblkv.gif"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" michele celeste/"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B> /</B><B> michele celeste/</B><B> / </B><A HREF="id10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="STROMA"><U><B>STROMA</B></U></A><B> / </B></div> <div> <B>STROMA REVIEWS</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=25% BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="92" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#BF0000" BORDERCOLORDARK="#BF0000" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 39 WIDTH="80"><div> <B>STROMA REVIEWS</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id75_m.htm#the_guardian____19_march_2001" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="stroma reviews"><U><B>The Guardian </B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id75_m.htm#james_brining" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="stroma reviews"><U><B>JAMES BRINING</B></U></A><B> </B></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id75_m.htm#the_scotsman" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="stroma reviews"><U><B>THE SCOTSMAN</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id75_m.htm#the_stage" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="stroma reviews"><U><B>THE STAGE</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id75_m.htm#the_herald_" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="stroma reviews"><U><B>THE HERALD </B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id75_m.htm#edinburghguide_com_" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="stroma reviews"><U><B>EDINBURGH</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id75_m.htm#edinburghguide_com_" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="stroma reviews"><U><B>GUIDE.COM </B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id75_m.htm#the_mail_on_sunday" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="stroma reviews"><U><B>The Mail on Sunday</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id75_m.htm#metro" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="stroma reviews"><U><B>METRO</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id75_m.htm#evening_news" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="stroma reviews"><U><B>Evening News</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id75_m.htm#evening_news__interview" TARGET="TRLX_Middle" TITLE="stroma reviews"><U><B>EVENING NEWS -INTERVIEW</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>see also</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id245.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BIO HERALD"><U><B>HERALD INTERVIEW</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>back to </B></div> <div> <B>main page </B></div> <div> <A HREF="id10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="STROMA"><U><B>STROMA</B></U></A><B> </B></div> <div> <B> </B></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=400 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="484" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#BF0000" BORDERCOLORDARK="#BF0000" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 77 ><NOBR><div>  <A NAME="the_guardian____19_march_2001"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Calisto MT" ><B>The Guardian</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#BF0000" FACE="Rockwell" ><B> -  19 March 2001</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>"If you're only going to see one thing this week..."</B></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>*</B></div> <div> <IMG SRC="3d702590.jpg" border=0 width="258" height="345" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <B>(Cathleen McCarron and Michael Moreland in the </B></div> <div> <B>Tag Theatre Production of Stroma.  Photo Kevin Low)</B></div> <div> <B>*</B></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="543" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#330066" BORDERCOLORDARK="#330066" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 744 WIDTH="531"><div>  <A NAME="james_brining"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><B>JAMES BRINING</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Artistic Director, TAG Theatre Company</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>One in nine children in Scotland runs away or is forced to leave home before the age of 16. That's 9000 children who run away from home every year in Scotland. And it's rare for young people to run away for excitement. The main reasons young people give include family conflict and instability, violence, emotional abuse and neglect. </B></div> <div> <B>What are the emotional effects of having given up on your home? What causes young people to place themselves in situations of extraordinary danger? And how do they survive once they're on the streets? Stroma seeks to answer these and other questions by following the journey of three young people thrown together by the extreme circumstances of their lives. </B></div> <div> <B>The play has been researched and developed with young people both in Scotland and London over a period of 18 months This research has taken the form of initial creative and investigative work undertaken early in 1998 with young people in a variety of contexts including schools, a Young Offenders Institute, youth homeless projects and a secure school. We have also worked closely with a number of homeless agencies. After this initial period of work we returned to the groups 6 months later with a first draft of the play, as well as the writer, actors and the creative team. During this phase of the project we engaged the young people directly with the material, taking on board their own experiences and views and adapting the script and other aspects of the emerging production accordingly. </B></div> <div> <B>The play is in this respect part-documentary. But it is also part-myth. The journey of Stu, Granville and Z from London, to Glasgow, to the deserted island of Stroma, just off the north-east tip of mainland Scotland, is not just a physical journey It represents a spiritual quest in pursuit of a dream, a search for a place to belong, an idealised haven where safety and comfort prevail. Perhaps this utopian vision is illusory Nevertheless, it is a vision which has fueled the hopes and dreams of people throughout history and will continue to do so for as long as human beings strive to create the sense of a place called "home". January 2001</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>*</B></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="546" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#BF0000" BORDERCOLORDARK="#BF0000" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 723 WIDTH="534"><div>  <A NAME="the_scotsman"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><B>THE SCOTSMAN</B><B>, </B><B>21 February, 2001 </B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Social message falls on deaf ears</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Stroma</B></div> <div> <B>Tron Theatre, Glasgow </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>It's hard to know how to take the fact that so many young teenagers in Britain now feel compelled to leave home for a life on the streets.</B></div> <div> <B>In part, they are victims of increasing family breakdown. But there's also a sense that in a society which preaches choice, young people are no longer prepared to suffer family abuse and neglect in silence; they feel they deserve better, although they often find something worse.</B></div> <div> <B>Michele Celeste's new play for TAG, extensively researched for senior schools audiences with young people who have been homeless, focuses on three teenagers who find themselves in this situation, alone on the streets of King's Cross, and desperately vulnerable to the prowling predators of the drugs and prostitution game. Stu is a tough Scottish kid in flight from an abusive father, militant against drugs, but earning his living as a rent boy. Zed is a damaged, taciturn girl from the north of Scotland, haunted by a nightmare about the island of Stroma fouled by a great oil slick. And Granville is an amiable psychiatric case, obsessed with birds and animals. Together, the three set off for Scotland and Stroma, to see if they can find freedom in its uninhabited loneliness. Their journey ends in confusion and tragedy, followed by a hint of redemption and rebirth.</B></div> <div> <B>The strongest aspect of James Brining's production is the acting. David Ireland, in particular, confirms his growing reputation, after last year's Decky Does A Bronco, as an exceptionally strong and thoughtful new stage presence. And Michele Celeste's script lacks nothing in compassion and a dark sense of tragedy.</B></div> <div> <B>But in the end, although Stroma is a worthwhile effort, it is difficult to see how much it adds to our knowledge of a problem which is already well understood, but which can only be resolved by the kind of profound social change that politicians no longer dare to propose, or voters to support. Joyce McMillan</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>* </B></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="539" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 552 WIDTH="527"><div>  <A NAME="the_stage"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><B>THE STAGE, </B><B>February 22, 2001</B></div> <div> <B>Glasgow/Touring</B></div> <div> <B>Stroma</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Homelessness is a tricky topic to stage, especially for an audience of young people. Not every company could do it, and it is hard to imagine any other doing it as well as TAG Theatre Company. For with this new play, written by Michele Celeste, TAG takes strong steps into secondary schools and community venues across Scotland with a cautionary tale that does not have a phoney line anywhere in its 90-minute run.</B></div> <div> <B>          In London, Z (Cathleen McCarron) is an underage runaway befriended by Michael Moreland's Stu, who tries to shield her from the realities of the street, and protects her from the predatory Terry, played by David Ireland. Together with the manic, dishevelled Granville (also Ireland), Stu agrees to travel with Z to the deserted Scots island of Stroma, to clean up after an oil spill.</B></div> <div> <B>          Director James Brining encourages excellent, unselfish acting from his young cast, who each deliver powerful performances within intensely likeable personas. Caroline Scott's set provides a sloping rocky platform within the Iron Theatre's Changing House space, and the lighting (Kai Fischer) and music (scientific support dept) combine to create superb atmosphere.</B></div> <div> <B>     While the production is frank, Brining resists the temptation to overplay the misery and dangers of life on the streets. ln all, Stroma succeeds through its honesty - accepting the reality that one in nine Scots children will run away, and giving them a voice -rather than standing on a soapbox and patronising `the kids'. Alison Freebaim</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>*</B></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="542" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 647 WIDTH="530"><div>  <A NAME="the_herald_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><B>THE HERALD,</B><B> February 17, 2001</B></div> <div> <B>Stroma, Tron Theatre</B></div> <div> <B>Changing House, Glasgow</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>ANYONE who has ever breezed past a Big Issue seller with the familiar (and patently spurious) cry "Got one thanks," would do well to watch the latest production from young people's theatre company, TAG, which follows the misadventures of three homeless youngsters on the streets of London.</B></div> <div> <B>Designed primarily for school audiences, Michele Celeste's play in no way shirks the harsh realities of living rough, and the driving action has the immediacy of an episode of The BilL Pimps, drugs and corpses are all that pave these streets. Celeste, however, manages to transcend the grime of the big city with the play's heartfelt sense of longing.</B></div> <div> <B>In his hands, it is a sensation that becomes almost mystical: a yearning not for home, but for "Stroma", a deserted island off John O'Groats. For the young people, it is a possible sanctuary; for the play, it is the most appropriate destination for what is ultimately a tragic lament.</B></div> <div> <B>James Brining's production is stark and uncluttered, and the emotive power comes from three striking performances that capture the madness and the melancholy of those who live on the streets.</B></div> <div> <B>Michael Moreland is rent boy Stu - the one who holds things together, David Ireland is flip-flop wearing Granville -mental health problems forcing a nomadic existence in search of the parents he claims have run away; Cathleen McCarron is the mysterious Z - no history and the increasing threat of no future. Together they make the trip to the island - though only two will reach it as planned.</B></div> <div> <B>It is not the road movie we might have expected, but the journeys that they each make within themselves are beautifully realised and profoundly affecting.  Robert Thomson</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>*</B></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="547" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 799 WIDTH="535"><div>  <A NAME="edinburghguide_com_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><B>EDINBURGHGUIDE.COM </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>STROMA  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>In a harsh reality where they are unwanted and uncared for, three young people struggle for a place to belong. Stroma is an original piece devised with the help of young British homeless kids. Designed primarily for schools performances, this short play gave us a glimpse into the reasons why young people feel the need to escape from their homes onto our streets where the dangers may be more visible to us but for the runaways, may offer a hope of something better. Throughout the action, the island of Stroma lying off the northeast tip of Scotland offers a promise of sanctuary and peace.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>The three main characters of Z (</B><B>Cathleen McCarron</B><B>), Stu (</B><B>Michael Moreland</B><B>) and Granville (</B><B>David Ireland)</B><B> are all running from a personal torment. Stu is unable to get on the train to Glasgow at the start of the play even though he is haunted by the thought of his younger sister Janie (</B><B>Cathleen McCarron)</B><B> who is still at home. Z will not tell her story but brings her dream of going to Stroma to clean it up after an oil spillage. Granville is looking for his parents who, in his words, have run away from him. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Stroma works as a tale of redemption, of searching for the truth about our lives and ourselves, and the continued hope of the youngsters that they can find something better drives the story on. There are strong performances from all three young actors who delivered clear, well-rounded characters even when all three were required to double up as acquaintances and siblings of the main characters. Regional accents were strong identifying characteristics of all the parts enabling the audience to see the breadth of the story. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>TAG's target audience for this production is 13-15 and although those of us who are a little older may have seen homelessness tackled before, Stroma offers a new tale for the coming generations. TAG's aim here is not to give a lesson on the dangers of running away but to tell the stories of these children in order to let other children hear them and think for themselves. All in all, a good story well told. </B></div> <div> <B>© Annabel Ingram 16 February 2001 </B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>*</B></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="532" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 438 WIDTH="520"><div>  <A NAME="the_mail_on_sunday"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><B>The Mail on Sunday -  25 March 2001</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Stroma</B></div> <div> <B>The Traverse, Edinburgh****</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>IT is a sad and worrying fact that around 9,000 children run away from home in Scotland every year. Abuse, violence and neglect are the prime reasons for this heartbreaking exodus.</B></div> <div> <B>Michele Celeste's powerful new play Stroma for the TAG Theatre Company makes it clear that a spirit of adventure is the last thing these young people feel as they make their way to London. Once there, they have nothing but their wits and the often bad faith of others to live on.</B></div> <div> <B>Stu (Michael Moreland), Z (Cathleen McCarron), and Granville (David Ireland) fall into together, each burdened by pasts that make living on the streets the sweeter option by far. Z suggests they head off to Stroma, an uninhabited island off the north-east coast of Scotland. It is the place they see as their refuge, a place where they can create their own society, one which is free of the hell of other people. Stroma, which is directed by James Brining, is a fast-moving and wordy show. Drugs, prostitution and crime are all addressed in fine dramatic form. nicely avoiding a deadening documentary feel when addressing these issues.</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>*</B></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 589 WIDTH="537"><div>  <A NAME="metro"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><B>METRO, Wednesday, March 21, 2001</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>THEATRE</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Stroma </B></div> <div> <B>Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Bleak statistics don't have to lead to bleak theatre, and TAG Theatre Company are demonstrating this admirably with their new production Stroma.</B></div> <div> <B>TAG, the national company for young people, speaks directly to its target audience of over-I 2s with Michele Celeste's new play, which looks at homelessness and its causes, and the grim fact that one in nine young Scots will choose to run away from home. We are introduced to the mysterious Z (Cathleen McCarron), a naive underage runaway who arrives in London and is immediately targcted by the sleazy Terry (David Ireland). She is rescued by young Glasgwegian Stu Michael Moreland who takes her under his wing and tries to shield her from the harsher realities of life on the streets.</B></div> <div> <B>Together with the boisterous Granville (also played by the engaging Ireland), Stu and Z cling to the idea of living on the island of Stroma but each will have to face up to the traumas that drove them away from their homes before any kind of peace can be reached.</B></div> <div> <B>Stroma is beautifully acted by an impressive young cast and is staged with energy by director James Brining - and it doesn't patronise its audience for a second. The language is raw and the situations are often shocking, but no more than the subject matter merits. This is a brave and gritty piece, full of unspoken menace and moments of grace, and it is sure to speak volumes to its teenage audience. Alison Freebaim</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>*</B></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="542" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1345 WIDTH="530"><div>  <A NAME="evening_news"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><B>Evening News</B></div> <div> <B>Edinburgh, Friday March 23, 2001</B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Stroma</B></div> <div> <B>The Traverse ***</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>HARD-HITTING DRAMA IS CLOSE TO RUNAWAY HIT</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Issues well </B><B>portrayed</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>HARD-HITTING issue-based drama always runs the danger of allowing itself to become so worthy that the drama becomes lost to simplistic solutions and good intentions.</B></div> <div> <B>It is a danger which TAG Theatre Company manages to negotiate, although not without some difficulty in this touring production  of a new play by Italian born playwright, Michele Celeste.</B></div> <div> <B>And it is to his credit that the result nearly always manages to ring true.</B></div> <div> <B>The issue at the heart of Stroma is that of child runawavs. The fact is that one in nine children in Scotland will, at some stage before the age of 16, be forced to leave home and that a similar percentage of all children sleeping rough in London are from Scotland.</B></div> <div> <B>Celeste has chosen to confront this serious modern problem by writing a play about three kids, Stu, Z and Granville, who are at the worst end of the spectrum.</B></div> <div> <B>No-one's reason for running away is ever trivial to them. But the damage caused by their home lives to these three is so great that living on the streets has become their only option.</B></div> <div> <B>Stu has run away from an abusive and widowed father in Glasgow.  And while he is managing to survive, his constant nightmare is that he has abandoned his younger sister, Janie, at home. </B></div> <div> <B>It is a complex siuration, which actor Michael Moreland conveys with a rare conviction.</B></div> <div> <B>If Stu can vocalise his problems, Z and Granville have greater trouble talking about theirs, even to the people who they have come to regard as friends.</B></div> <div> <B>Z's background is so shrouded in hurt that she has even abandoned her name. </B></div> <div> <B>And while Cathleen McCarron goes beyond the written script to portray an individual who is strong at heart, she also projects in air of vulnerability as she is befriended by Stu because she resembles Janie.</B></div> <div> <B>On the surface, Granville's story is obvious.  He is always telling anyone who will listen to him about his parents abandoning him - how they were so fed up with him that they put him in a foster home and when he insisted on running away, back to them, they in their turn ran away from him.</B></div> <div> <B>David Ireland plays this frightened Irish lad with a fine gift of the gab. But as Granvifle builds up a nervous relationship with the other two, and comes to believe in their dream of escaping to the island of Stroma, Ireland also manages to make you understand that what you hear does not necessarily correspond to the truth. </B></div> <div> <B>All three actors put in spot-on physical performances.</B></div> <div> <B>These are three very carefully observed characters whose speech and idiosyncrasies could have been lifted straight from the streets of any city. As a piece of drama Stroma manages not to fall foul of the issue it wishes to portray. </B></div> <div> <B>Rather it is the environment in which it wishes to portray it that is the problem. </B></div> <div> <B>TAG is Scotland's national theatre company for young people and Stroma is not just touring theatres, but is also playing in schools.</B></div> <div> <B>Director James Brining has had no problem in making Celeste's narrative and his characters believable, if slightly convoluted, as they make their way from London to confront Stu's father in Glasgow and then to turn the island of Z's fantasy into reality.</B></div> <div> <B>It is in treating the subsidiary issue of drugs where the production  does not always succeed.</B></div> <div> <B>Because it always has to portray drug use as evil, in order to comply with the ethical requirements of schools, Stroma moves away from what its target audience will know is the truth. </B></div> <div> <B>TOM DIBDIN</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>*</B></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="548" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 1697 WIDTH="536"><div>  <A NAME="evening_news__interview"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><B>EVENING NEWS -INTERVIEW</B></div> <div> <B>EDINBURGH</B></div> <div> <B>THURSDAY MARCH 15, 2001</B></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>This one will run and run</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Celeste brings the problem of runaway Scots children to the stage, </B></div> <div> <B>writes Rory Ford</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>RUNAWAY children is still a taboo subject for many people. Yet playwright Michele Celeste believes that the problem is far more prevalent in Scotland than it is in other parts of the UK. He should know, he's spent the last three years researching and writing a new play that deals with the issue that opens at the Traverse next week and is set to tour Edinburgh schools next month.</B></div> <div> <B>TAG Theatre Company's Stroma is based on the real life experiences of the young Scottish homeless and deals with three young people who are living rough on the streets of london. All three have run away, from problems at home, at school or within their own minds.</B></div> <div> <B>After forging a friendship they embark on a bizarre journey that takes them from the Big Smoke back to Scotland and then to the island of Stroma. just north of John 0' Groats.</B></div> <div> <B>“The project began when I discovered this historical phenomenon of young Scots running away to London,” says Celeste in his heavy Italian accent.</B></div> <div> <B>“It's not anything new, it's been happening for decades, so there was a natural Scottish angle to the subject. I then did a lot of research in London, mostly among the young Scots but also with any kind of young people.”</B></div> <div> <B>The situation is now so predominant that there is a specialised charity, Borderline, which is based in Edinburgh and London that deals specifically with young homeless Scots.</B></div> <div> <B>“Borderline told uss that one in nine Scottish children run away or is forced to leave home before the age of 19, so that's about 9000 Scots a year,” says Celeste. “And I have a strong affinity for the Scots myself because I used to live in Edinburgh.”</B></div> <div> <B>C</B><B>ELESTE'S first play, Hanging The President, won a Fringe First when it was performed at the old Traverse in 1989. And he has the distinction of being the writer of the first play to be performed at the opening of the new Trav when his play Columbus premiered there in 1992.</B></div> <div> <B>But Stroma marks the first time Celeste has had the “luxury” of having three years to research a piece of work.</B></div> <div> <B>It's an odd choice of words because the PROCESS certainly doesn't sound particularly luxurious.</B></div> <div> <B>After talking to the young Scots sleeping rough in London Celeste moved on to Scotland to work with the play's director James Brining.</B></div> <div> <B>“We went all over Scotland, not just Edinburgh and Glasgow,” he recalls. “We went to schools, young offenders projects and homeless centres and talked to all the young people there to ask for their experiences. We needed to find out what made them run away and what kind of life they were living on the streets.”</B></div> <div> <B>The research could have proved problematic. Most young people run away because of deep-rooted highly personal issues that they wouldn't necessarily want to share with a visiting playwright.</B></div> <div> <B>“Sometimes people would withdraw into themselves and not communicate,” admits Celeste. “But I have quite a bit of experience doing community plays, working with ex-offenders and the like and this wasn't that far removed,” he explains.</B></div> <div> <B>“You learn how to get what you want without being personal. You try to make the situation something that has happened to somebody else: to make them feel free to speak about it so they don't feel like they are under scrutiny”</B></div> <div> <B>After the daunting task of condensing all these interviews into a manageable play, TAG then went back and performed a reading of the first draft to the young people to garner their reaction.</B></div> <div> <B>“We asked whether they thought it accurately reflected their lives and they gave us feedback that we incorporated into the play,” says Celeste.</B></div> <div> <B>“Originally we wanted to explain what the trauma that affected the girl in the play actually was - like she'd been raped or something - but they liked the fact that we hadn't. That was because each one of them could then attach to her their own personal experiences so she acts as a kind of mirror for them.”</B></div> <div> <B>ONE area that did prove problematic for Celeste was the language. Not a language barrier, his English is excellent, but the swearing. “We knew we had to be very careful about the use of swearing, especially as we're touring schools and the Highlands and Islands,” says Celeste.</B></div> <div> <B>“We didn't want to give parents or teachers an excuse not to see the play so there's really just the bare minimum.</B></div> <div> <B>“It's nowhere near how people speak on the streets because its **** and **** every other word,” chuckles Celeste.</B></div> <div> <B>So how did the respected playwright fare in communicating with the sweary Scots? “Hey, I'm Italian,” he laughs “so that means I'm homeless too.</B></div> <div> <B>“Seriously, it's the same for any artist. We're all homeless in a way, we go where the work is.”</B></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>*</B></div> <div> <B>see also</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id245.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="BIO HERALD"><U><B>HERALD INTERVIEW</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>====</B></div> </td> </tr></table></body>