''Rainbow Kiss'' is a play by Simon Farquhar, a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

writer. The script is published by

Oberon Books Oberon Books is a London-based publisher of drama texts and books on theatre. The company publishes around 100 titles per year, many of them plays by new writers. In addition, the list contains a range of titles on theatre studies, acting, writin ...

London production

It was first staged at the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...

Upstairs in London in April 2006, having been chosen to occupy the theatre's 50th Anniversary slot. The production starred Joseph McFadden,

Dawn Steele Dawn Steele (born 11 December 1975) is a Scottish actress best known for her portrayals of the characters Alexandra "Lexie" MacDonald from the BBC drama '' Monarch of the Glen'', Alice Trevanion in the ITV drama series '' Wild at Heart'' and D ...

Clive Russell Clive Russell (born 7 December 1945) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline in '' Ripper Street'', Angus O'Connor in ''Happiness'', Lord Lovat in '' Outlander'', and Brynden Tully in the HBO series ...

and

Graham McTavish Graham McTavish (born 4 January 1961) is a Scottish actor and author. He is known for his roles as Dwalin in ''The Hobbit'' film trilogy, The Saint of Killers in the AMC series ''Preacher'', Dougal MacKenzie and William Buccleigh MacKenzie in t ...

, and was directed by actor and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Richard Wilson.

Reviews

A "dazzling Royal Court debut" wrote Michael Billington in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''.Michael Billingto
"Rainbow Kiss, Royal Court, London"
, ''The Guardian'', 12 April 2006 "What makes the play so impressive is Farquhar's portrait of the grimness behind

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

's oil-fuelled boom. This is not just another sex'n'violence play: what it grippingly shows is the disastrous effect of a money-mad materialist culture on society's marginalised no-hopers." On the other hand, Charles Spencer in ''The Daily Telegraph'' panned the play, calling ''Rainbow Kiss'' "the archetypal Royal Court play, almost indistinguishable from all the others we have seen since the arrival of the "in-yer-face" school of theatre a decade or more ago", although he asserted Farquahar "betrays flickers of real talent".Charles Spence
"That kitchen sinking feeling"
, ''Daily Telegraph'', 14 April 2006 Paul Taylor of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' agreed with Spencer that the play was a throwback to the

In-yer-face theatre In-yer-face theatre is a term used to describe a confrontational style and sensibility of drama that emerged in the United Kingdom in the 1990s. This term was borrowed by British theatre critic Aleks Sierz as the title of his book, ''In-Yer-Fac ...

of the late 1990s.Paul Taylo
"Rainbow Kiss, Royal Court Upstairs, London "
''The Independent'', 14 April 2006

Later productions

The play began previews for a limited run in New York at

59E59 Theaters 59E59 Theaters is a venue presenting a year-round curated program of live theater. The three theater building is located in New York City. It shows both off-Broadway (in Theater A) and off-off-Broadway plays (in Theaters B and C). The complex is ...

on 12 March 2008 with a press opening scheduled for 22 March 2008. A production of The Play Company, it stars

Michael Cates Michael Elmhirst Cates (born 5 May 1961) is a British physicist. He is the 19th Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and has held this position since 1 July 2015. He was previously Professor of Natural Philosophy at ...

, Robert Hogan,

Charlotte Parry Charlotte Jane Parry (born 16 August 1976) is a British actress. Personal life Born in Birmingham, England. She graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1999. She is also a painter and has trained as a midwife. Career Aft ...

, and

Peter Scanavino Peter Muller Scanavino (born February 29, 1980) is an American actor. He stars as ADA List of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit characters, Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr. in the long-running NBC Police procedural, crime/legal drama series ''Law & Or ...

and is directed by Will Frears. A production in Rome opened in October 2009.

References

{{reflist Scottish plays Plays set in Scotland 2006 plays