The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart at the Playfair Library.
This Lyceum presentation of David Greig and Wils Wilson’s haunting tale is presented in the grand surroundings of the Playfair Library on Chambers Street.
Charlene Boyd delivers a stunning performance as Prudencia, a stuffy academic with a strong sense of self-importance. Ewan Black as Colin Syme portrays a laddish love-interest who is only too willing to burst her bubble as they argue about Border ballads and the folk tradition. The library is transformed into a pub and the setting lends itself well to the wild energy of the production that finds the actors getting among the audience for some mild participation.
When Prudencia gets lost in the woods, a cultured B&B owner offers to guide her back to the accommodation. All is not what it seems. We are soon in another world where Prudence’s study of hell has become too real. There is an almighty battle between the Devil and Colin Syme to bring Hart back to this world in a stirring romantic scene that is epic in its delivery and imagination.
David Greig has fun with the polar opposites and contradictions of Scottish life allowing the play to feel more relevant than ever in 2022.
