´óÏó´«Ã½

So yesterday afternoon I checked into the fictional Scarborough Hotel. The location was the very real Ramada EncoreÌýin Belfast but I was there for a unique staging ofÌýplay by Belfast based theatre company .Ìý

The event literally began from the moment I walked in the hotel door. I had to "check in", was told that I would be in room 241 and could I possibly wait a moment as there wasÌýa bit of a delay with housekeeping? As myself and the other "guests" were escorted to the lift, there was a bit of a heated word exchangeÌýbetween the hotel manager and aÌýyoung woman dusting,Ìýa member of staff at the "Scarborough" who was obviously disgruntled about something. But what? I was loving it. (This was, I was told later, Step Up Two, an outreach project directed by Louise Lowe to support Scarborough)

As I stood in the lift with theÌýother members of the audience I wondered what we were all letting ourselves in for?ÌýIÌýfelt nervous.ÌýThen the door of 241 was opened and we were told to enjoy our stay. We walked in and a couple, a man and woman, were sitting on the bed, half dressed, the detritus of a dirty weekend, condom wrappers, underwear, alcopops,Ìýscattered around the room.

I admit it was very odd, andÌýI felt a total voyeur, as IÌýcarefully manoeuvred my way past actress KathyÌýKiera Clarke in her slipÌýand sat down. Kathy was playing Lauren, Brian Markey her boyfriend Daz.ÌýAsÌýtheÌýdrama unfolded,ÌýDaz turns out to beÌýher pupil,Ìýabout to turn 16, hence theÌýhotel room and the weekend away and she is his PE teacher Miss Potts.ÌýThat's Kathy in the picture opposite.

AfterÌý45 minutes of watching their relationship fall apart, we're takenÌýback to the lift and to another room.ÌýAnd this is where Prime Cut'sÌýunique staging of the play really kicked in forÌýme, as my fellow Scarborugh guets talked and argued about what we had just seen. It was amazing. And as we walked into another room I saw another couple was waiting for us,Ìýa mirror image of what we had just seen, with the same text, only this time the pupil is a 15 year school girlÌýBeth played by Lisa Hogg and herÌýPE teacher is a 29 year old man Aidan played by Paul Kennedy. This is Lisa and Paul.ÌýÌý

Ìý

Afterwards in the lift, between floor six and ground floor, my fellow audience membersÌýcoveredÌýsome of the biggest issues in life, morality, sex, gender, and how different attitudes are when its aÌýyoung boy having an affair with an older woman rather thanÌýwhen its the other way around. ÌýÌý

I checked out ofÌýtheÌý"Scarborough" after 90 minutes and came out into the sunshine, exhilarated.ÌýIt got me thinking aboutÌýthe bravery of such a staging. SetÌýagainst a background of funding cuts andÌýgrants being slashed,Ìýand an unpredictable future for all arts groups across the UK and Ireland,Ìýthere were only 12 audience members per performance.Ìý

Congratulations to Prime Cut and director Emma Jordan forÌýtaking the risk to put the play on in this setting,Ìýfor not the biggest of box office returns.

ÌýÌý