Trouble In Spiritland – Traverse Theatre
A story written as a poem by performer Paul Tinto (Guilt, King Lear, Outlander, The Last Post). An epic, complex poem no less, mining for the roots of how in heaven’s name the planet’s most dominant inhabitants have driven it into the state it’s in in 2024. Running to 156 pages in a spanking hardback it’s available for purchase after the show, a boon, since plenty bears re-reading over a pint. Whereupon a couple of lines rise from the text, striking at the heart of the endeavour, Lust telling us we live in a world ‘where saints share the streets with the damned’. Why else would ‘Hate’, the bastard son of ‘Fear’ exerts such an influence on proceedings?
Tinto stalks the stage, drawing us into intimacy, then, propelled by Abbott’s playing, beating us back into our seats with raw tirade...
