Confessions Of A Justified Sinner
Having directed Six Characters in Search of the Author by Pirandello last year, Mark Thomson prepared another challenging play, Confessions of the Justified Sinner based on James Hogg’s famous novel
Adapting such a complex novel for stage must have been quite daunting. Secondly, the piece touches upon the seemingly dated themes of Calvinist religion, predestination, good and evil. However, Thomson managed to smoothly transform Hogg’s fiction into a brilliant play and present the themes of faith, fanaticism, murder and madness through modern theatrical means to suit this contemporary production. As the Gothic tale unfolds, Robert Wringhim (Ryan Fletcher), one of the “chosen by God for salvation”, takes up a utopian task of annihilating all the world’s ‘sinners’. His dark deeds are supported by the mysterious devilish doppelgaenger, Gil-Martin (Iain Robertson), who forever inspires Robert to ‘do good’. While the audience listens to Wringhim’s somewhat unreliable confession, other characters appear and disappear from the eerie carousel graveyard stage set. The hypnotic quality of the play and excellent acting of the whole troupe completely suck the audience in: to the point when you forget to breathe. This powerful production brings the best out of Hogg’s novel and its universal themes, in the sparsely evocative images and the spectacular use of the stage set. The challenge has been met.