Photograph: Nottingham Playhouse
The Tailor of Inverness has relatively little to do with either the town of Inverness, or the tailoring profession. It’s a show about the father of actor/writer Matthew Zajac, who was born in a small town in what used to be Poland. Zajac begins this one-man show in character as his father, and tells the story of how he left Poland during the Second World War and eventually ended up working as a tailor in Inverness.
The show is intimate and thoughtfully designed, with tailoring equipment cleverly used, and a clothing rail with various garments used to represent different people. Throughout the show, Polish poetry (with English translation appearing on a projector) and a superb solo violinist add atmosphere as we hear the story. The piece actually has two distinct phases; the first half is told by Zajac, playing his own father Mateusz. He is extremely likeable in this persona as a hardworking immigrant, his accent Polish and his English slightly broken but tinged with Scottish inflections and syntax. He proceeds to tell his story; how we went to fight during the war, was captured by the Russians, and eventually escaped, making a fraught journey by train to Iran, then to Syria, and Egypt where he fought for the British army. He was in Italy at the end of the war, after which he made his way to Scotland. The story is told matter-of-factly and with good humour, as you imagine Zajac must have been told it as a younger man. At times there are lulls in the story and it is difficult to stay engaged, although it is broken down by short re-enacted scenes from Mateusz’s perilous and often touching flight with his brothers.
This part of the story ends rather abruptly and anti-climactically, with Mateusz simply telling the audience to go home because he’s told us everything- I was relieved when it turned out to not be the actual ending. The second section has a more documentary feel to it, with Zajac as himself recounting his experiences after his father’s death, learning about the truth of his father’s voyage to Scotland, as it transpires there are perhaps multiple versions of what really happened. He uncovers a few shocking truths and is eventually led back to his family’s village, which was now part of Ukraine.
This simple but effective show was a very touching and often fascinating look at family, identity and how storytelling can be subjective. Although there were some problems with pacing, the audience were gripped throughout due to the creative way the story was told. With its themes of refugees fleeing war to find a more safe home, it has a lot of relevance today- also it reminds us that for some people, going home is not an option, no matter how much they would like to.
Dogstar Theatre’s The Tailor of Inverness was performed at the Playhouse on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 March 2016.
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