The Censor
By Anthony Neilson
UWS Productions
The Vault
****
It is fascinating to see Anthony Neilson's short play with the hindsight of his subsequent work. When The Censor was first produced, with audience and actors on the stage at the Royal Court, it appeared to be a sexual comedy shocker. It still is but the trip through the mind of a "repressed, anally-retentive apparatchik" also foresees later plays like Realism.
A young company under the direction of Morna Burdon does well with this claustrophobic play, helped of necessity by the small space at the Vault.
Eric Robertson is The Censor, the lowest of the low, given films that have the same statistical chance of prosecution as subsequent public release. He is used to ordering cuts but for some reason, agrees to meet a pornographer, Miss Fontaine played by Julia Jack.
Whether she exists or is a fantasy might be open to question but, soon enough, the filmmaker begins to wage war, justifying her film by suggesting that the underlying meaning supports the excesses.
By the end, a man who has failed his wife (Hayley McGill) and is cuckolded by her, gets relief thanks to a dose of Freudian psychoanalysis gratuitously and practical assistance given by his nemesis.
This enjoyable small scale production catches the essence of the work and inaugurates a new company that shows great promise.
About me: UWS Productions, a dynamic new Glasgow-based theatre company, is proud to present its inaugural production of Anthony Neilson’s acclaimed play
THE CENSOR.
This controversial and rarely seen play revolves around a brief encounter between an ambitious female filmmaker and the man with the licensing scissors, while his dissatisfied wife seeks attention elsewhere.
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hello sweetness, i just got online again after being off for over a week; shall have to catch up soon before it gets too long; hope you are good &lotsof love samn'sorln' clowdy xxx
hey julia good to hear from you! great to see the censor is all going ahead, will defo come and see it looking forward to it!! phone me and we will catch up soon hopefully, i am really busy working these bloody jobs same old same old!! take care xxx
