PHANTOM Productions is the revolutionary theatre wing of Strathclyde
region social work department and last night's performance was the end
of the first run of their inaugural show.
Written by two members of the social work staff -- Tommy Crocket and
Gordon Wilson -- The Ghost Of Benjy O'Neil compares the work being done
today with the situation of 100 years ago, by the simple device of
placing a benign ghost (David Tennant) from Glasgow's Barnhill Poors
House in the assessment centres and children's panels of today.
Part history and part pantomime, the cast was drawn (in roughly equal
thirds) from the local area and youngsters from children's homes and
assessment centres. But despite the large numbers involved and the
static nature of some of the scenes, directors Mercedes McGurn and
Eleanor Goodman -- both recent RSAMD graduates -- kept things moving
briskly enough, particularly in the second act with its ''Ghostbusters''
hook for the young audience.
Both the script and the songs were not afraid to tread on a few
political toes, and the transition from the 1870s was best captured in
the comparison between the parochial board and the children's panel. The
amateur actors reappeared as their modern counterparts, none more
effectively than Susie Cox's transition from ferocious matron to
simpering residential children's officer.
This production has further performances in Dumbarton and Bearsden,
but it is only the beginning of the 1990 project. Look out for a Phantom
production appearing near you.
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