Caledonia

Once more the National Theatre of Scotland have a play at the official Festival, and this year they have given us a work right bang on the zeitgeist. Playwright Alistair Beaton has struck a rich resonant seam in his new play “Caledonia”. In the 1690s William Paterson, a key player in founding the Bank of England, attempted to make Scotland a colonial power with the ill-fated Darien Scheme. “Caledonia” tells the story of these events, and for many of us who did not know much about this sorry episode in Scotland’s history, they seem almost farcical, unreal, a parable for our times.
The awfulness of these events is here – the waste of lives, the loss of fortunes, the bankruptcy of Scotland – but somehow there is hope, recovery . This is a musical play, more “Les Mis” than miserable, more satire than tragedy. The undoubted derring-do vision of risk taker William Paterson (played by Paul Higgins, right in The Thick of It) confidently carries the hopes and aspirations of the deluded, investing aristocracy in a manner not unlike Ally’s Tartan Army It‘s the same cocky confidence that is so often our downfall. The theme and Anthony Neilson‘s production has made the play one that should travel well round Scotland and elsewhere. There is a lively feel to the production, which probably lifts the mood of audiences fed up with being dispirited from losing money on their ill-fated shares and falling pensions. It’s reassuring to see it has all happened before and that somehow life goes on. The Darien Scheme left a crippled Scotland forced into Union with England. Maybe this time round India might take us on. In any case, the biggest laugh of the night comes at the end as amid worthless banknotes tumbling on the audience all hope for the future is pinned on a great new institution – the Royal Bank of Scotland. Plus ca change! The music is bright and lively, the staging is imaginative – a rather rickety stage framework on which to build an empire. A marvellous scene at sea conveys motion and seasickness to very good effect – life is full of ups and downs. This is an enjoyable play, fun and informative, and one that deserves a wider audience after the Festival.

*****

King’s Theatre until Aug 26th.