Ten Plagues

From August 2011

I survive the south east of Scotland's dismal meteorological conditions by convincing myself that weather is merely a state of mind. But as the rain continues to tank down for the second day in a row I am forced to admit that summer in Edinburgh would be a miserable season if it wasn't for the various arts festivals that take place in the city during August.

However, not as miserable as was the summer of 1665 in London. In April of that year the first case of what was to become the Great Plague of London was recorded in St-Giles-in-the-Fields. The plague was caused by a bacillus in the fleas that lived on black rats and in an already overcrowded city, rats thrived. This combined with an unseasonably warm summer mean that the plague spread rapidly and by October of that year 100,000 people - one third of London's population - had fallen victim.

This is the subject of acclaimed playwright Mark Ravenhill's song cycle Ten Plagues based on eye-witness accounts of that summer including Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year. Performed by iconic singer Marc Almond, Say Hello, Wave Goodbye this is not. Almond's voice combined with piano accompaniment (written & played by Conor Mitchell) makes for a style which is a curious mixture of opera & torch song.

It took me a while to get into the rhythm of the piece and at times it made for uncomfortable listening but this is theatre of true quality. But then, as the gentlemen sitting next to me said: it's the Traverse, it's Mark Ravenhill - what do you expect?

Ten of Plagues, Traverse Theatre, until 28th August