Realism SKINNYFEST 3
| 14 Aug 2006
Realism is Anthony Neilson's follow-up to the 2004 International Festival hit, The Wonderful World of Dissocia. It is also Neilson's way of snubbing his critics and, to a certain extent, his audience. In the chaotic, neurotic world he builds around his protagonist, Stuart MacQuarrie (played magnificently by an actor of the same name), he stubbornly refuses to clarify events. Yet there is somehow cohesion inherent in this mental fragility that defies even the most logical interpretations of what is 'real'.
Most surprisingly, by questioning the reality of everyday events, Neilson does not force his viewers to examine their preconceptions of realism. Instead, he enters what appears to be a self-indulgent exploration of one man's psyche: as he mopes about his flat bemoaning the loss of a girlfriend, Stuart imagines that he is poisoned by one of his best friends, and subsequently muses on what his funeral will be like. But is he really imagining these things? It is the blurring of these boundaries that makes Realism as enigmatic as it is compelling.
Ultimately the note Neilson hits with this play is deliberately confusing, but he strikes a chord nonetheless. Lying somewhere between the confines of Michel Gondry's magnificent Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the paltriest of Nick Hornby novels, Realism presents us with a spectacle of modern man and an examination of the recesses of his innermost thoughts. Just how Neilson manages to make this play, its woeful hero and its wonderful, sand-covered set so likeable is beyond any notion of realism imaginable.
Most surprisingly, by questioning the reality of everyday events, Neilson does not force his viewers to examine their preconceptions of realism. Instead, he enters what appears to be a self-indulgent exploration of one man's psyche: as he mopes about his flat bemoaning the loss of a girlfriend, Stuart imagines that he is poisoned by one of his best friends, and subsequently muses on what his funeral will be like. But is he really imagining these things? It is the blurring of these boundaries that makes Realism as enigmatic as it is compelling.
Ultimately the note Neilson hits with this play is deliberately confusing, but he strikes a chord nonetheless. Lying somewhere between the confines of Michel Gondry's magnificent Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the paltriest of Nick Hornby novels, Realism presents us with a spectacle of modern man and an examination of the recesses of his innermost thoughts. Just how Neilson manages to make this play, its woeful hero and its wonderful, sand-covered set so likeable is beyond any notion of realism imaginable.
Run Ended. National Theatre of Scotland.