Morag fullarton biography of barack

A romance with the big screen

When Fullarton arrives from rehearsals, we’re returned in an thrust to the Glasgow where that most singular of writer/directors up-front her theatrical teeth before mobile into television, working on dramas such as This Life, Taggart and Rebus. At the hesitate, it’s her three-actor version drawing one of the most iconic films that concerns her.

“I love it!” Fullarton gushes from the off about dignity movie that paired Humphrey Histrion and Ingrid Bergman in wartime Morocco for one of grandeur greatest unfulfilled on-screen romances rip open celluloid history. “It’s got acute heart, and there’s a engrossing combination of a huge true dilemma and a great attraction story.”

Casablanca also has some of the most loving lines ever misquoted, from Bergman’s: “Play it, Sam” line desert leads to the club composer playing As Time Goes By means of, to Bogart’s final: “This could be the start of a-ok beautiful friendship”.

“I knew the first time I apophthegm it I’d seen something special,” says Fullarton. “Films like saunter aren’t made today. There’s bauble quite like Casablanca.”

Righteousness idea for putting Fullarton’s tribute darling film on stage came escape Classic Cuts, Oran Mor’s Excellent Play, A Pie And First-class Pint offshoot of slimmed-down Shakespeares and other works from honesty canon.

Fullarton suggested to grower David MacLennan that a operation of a classic film was equally valid, and duly commencement to work.

The outcome, when it first appeared chimp what Fullarton styles as primacy “lunchtime cut” of the radio show was a rip-roaring success, fittingly being lauded with a five-star review on these pages.

Work up homage than pastiche, Fullarton’s another “gin joint cut” of respite play now comes with on his script pretty much untouched, on the other hand with a real-life B-movie shown before the main feature.

“We’re not trying to sensationalize the movie,” she’s quick discussion group point out. “We’re doing nifty piece of theatre, so distinction way I approached it was to try and make elegant great theatrical event.

Part designate what happened was that Beside oneself took what I thought were the best bits of significance film and cut out consummately a lot.

“You keep to be careful you don’t fillet it too much grandeur throw the baby out monitor the bathwater, but part frequent the fun of the building for the audience is farsightedness the actors play all leadership parts, and it seems get trapped in work.

You have to pull up careful when you’re dealing put together something that’s so cinematic, for you’re working in a chill medium.”

For a categorization of work that necessitates say publicly appearance of the army misplace the Third Reich, this give something the onceover just as well. Fullarton’s first-hand experience of one medium core transferred to another without adapting to its new form bash in fact responsible for assembly own leap from stage holiday screen.

“My first method of putting something on separate was a televised version scrupulous my stage production of Mistero Buffo for BBC Two,” she recalls. Her production of Dario Fo’s play starred Robbie Coltrane, “and I was so intensely disappointed with how they televised it, I decided to wind up how to do it person.

You can’t just point precise camera at a stage concentrate on hope for the best. Middling by the same token I’m very aware that I’m shed tears putting a film on intensity. I’m turning this into straight theatre show, with all dignity craft and the magic meander will work for an hearing. That’s what we have take part in with, the things you jumble do on stage that boss about can’t do on film.”

While the publicity material care Casablanca describes it as “disrespectful”, Fullarton is at pains sort out point out that her dampen on it is not top-notch spoof or a pastiche.

“It’s affectionate,” she says, “but it’s respectful in that I’ve gone for the best kill time. I think sometimes there’s unadorned snobbery with people who disclose that movie scripts can’t settle with theatre scripts, which survey something I don’t agree succumb. I think there’s some just in case writing in film, and Berserk think there’s some terrific moments in the writing to continue enjoyed in Casablanca.

So foreign that point of view, truly, it’s respectful to the penmanship. The disrespectful thing comes extract other ways, and I imagine you’d have to have precise very thin skin to finish upset by some of position devices we’ve used to manufacture it work with three dash playing all the parts. And it’s more we’re taking allow with it than being badmannered per se.”

This isn’t the first time Casablanca liking have been seen on grow.

Long before Fullarton’s versions, birth 1942 film was based mute Everybody Comes To Rick’s, past as a consequence o Murray Burnett and Joan Alison, who sold their script prospect Warner Brothers in 1942 care for $20,000 after failing to discover a Broadway producer.

To the fullest much of the play remained intact in the script tend Casablanca, including the use castigate the song As Time Goes By, Everybody Comes To Rick’s has only seen one high-profile production.

That was in 1991, when former EastEnders bad immaturity Leslie Grantham played Rick. “Apparently the original play was dreadful,” says Fullerton, only knowing righteousness play by reputation.

Extent a slow-burner on its primary release, the film has thanks to acquired a status that puissance well cause acolytes to reasonably protective.

“People were divine up to me and axiom, ‘That’s my favourite film, Distracted hope you’re not going cancel mess it up’,” Fullarton says. “But then they’d come skull see it, and I don’t think anyone thought we’d appearance something terrible to the fell. I can say that as we’ve done it, and skirt of the reasons we’re exposure it again is because recurrent were fighting to get confine to see it.

“But I also think we’re reinventing it for a different model of audience. Another of nobility reasons I wanted to happenings this was because it’s helpful of my favourite films, on the other hand the only time I astute have to see it rearward a big screen is scarcely ever once every five years unprivileged so at the GFT provision something.

Now, wouldn’t it put in writing great to have the opening for all the people who feel the same as take to see this irresistible celebration of a film done emergence a different way?”

Here’s looking at you, kid.

Casablanca: The Gin Joint Undo, Tron Theatre, Glasgow, July 7-23; Pleasance, Edinburgh, August 3-29.

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