David Greig is undoubtedly one of Scotlands finest contemporary playwrights, and the Traverses production of his latest play, Damascus shows him on excellent form. Paul (Paul Higgins) is a Scottish writer and the reluctant salesman of an English language course who has come to Damascus to convince Muna (Nathalie Armin) and the Dean of a college, Wasim (Alex Elliot), to buy the course. The entire play takes place in the lobby of a 3-star hotel where Zakaria (Khalid Laith) acts as the porter, receptionist and coffee maker. Alongside the action between these four, the hotels piano playing Ukrainian Marxist Christian ex-KGB agent (Dolya Gavanski) narrates.
In a world of fringe theatre where the average production seems to be around an hour, over 2 hours feels long. That said, the action moves along quickly, particularly in the first half, providing a number of laughs and cringes at Pauls cultural ineptitude. There is plenty of political comment, from the Iraq war to Palestine, with a theme of the impact of the west and colonialism running throughout. Questions are raised about the compromises that have to be made to work under an undemocratic regime and about the nature of language itself.
Paul Higgins is excellent. Having most recently seen him as the psychotic Jamie in The Thick of It it was initially a bit disconcerting to adjust to him as the awkward salesman (particularly as his opening lines included a list of expletives), but his portrayal of the Scotsman abroad struggling with his feelings, longing for home and longing for Muna, misunderstanding Zakaria and leading him on a fateful night on the town, hits just the right note. Muna remains enigmatic throughout, and Laiths Zakaria combines innocence, knowing and desperation. Gavanskis position at the edge of the stage isolates her with the piano, and while the device of her narration works well, and Im not sure that I wouldnt have preferred her to be a bit more involved in the action it does seem strange that no-one interacts with her at all. Other than that, the set works well and the direction is good.
As you would expect from Scotlands leading new writing theatre, this a professional and extremely well presented production. If you can still find a ticket, snap it up.
