The Stage

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Published Monday 15 June 2009 at 17:20 by Peter Cargill

The Scottish theme continues at Pitlochry with the introduction of the fourth play out of six this season by home-bred authors.

The awesome twosome of director Richard Baron and designer Ken Harrison combine once again at Pitlochry to present an atmospheric blandness redolent of a girls’ school in the thirties and, at the same time, successfully drawing comparisons with the starkness of the nunnery from which former pupil Sandy Stranger reminisces on her school days and her part in Miss Brodie’s downfall.

This adaptation by Jay Presson Allen, concentrates equally on the growing awareness of pupil Sandy and the unconventional teachings of the redoubtable Jean Brodie in her prime.

This is a personal triumph for Helen Logan, with a highly stylised performance of Miss Brodie, with melodramatic hand movements and vocal vicissitudes. Maggie Smith does spring to mind, but there are worse comparisons.

Another performance of note comes from Irene Allan, accurately portraying the growing maturity of Sandy from giggling schoolgirl to confused lover and nude model on her way to taking up Franciscan orders.

Others in the Brodie set as equally-enthusiastic pupils are Gillian Ford as Jenny, Shirley Darroch (Monica) and Isabelle Joss (Mary), with Dougal Lee perfectly sardonic as art master Teddy Lloyd.

Greg Powrie is Miss Brodie’s lover Gordon Lowther with Elizabeth Graham suitably stentorian as Miss Mackay, and a couple of cameos could not be in safer hands than those of Carol Ann Crawford. Creme de la creme.

The roles of pupils from Marcia Blaine School was boosted by pupils from the local High School, epitomising the community involvement at Pitlochry.

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