Mike Maran tells the story of the life of R.D. Laing with great affection and sincerity. R.D. Laing as a doctor had a huge effect on the development of psychiatric medicine in the latter half of the 20^th Century. He was a complex character whose methods and drinking brought him into conflict with the medical establishment.

Laing’s recognition that the barbaric methods of treating the mentally ill did more harm than good, led him almost by accident to stumble into what we now know as treatment based on therapy. In his performance Mike Maran conveys the importance of Laing’s contribution with reference to numerous case studies of patients whom Laing treated. David Milligan on keyboards provides a musical accompaniment playing the gentle jazz of various composers including Bill Evans.

Indeed Mike Maran’s singing of the Bill Evans composition ‘What kind of fool am I’ is such a suitable way to round off the whole piece. Laing’s life and Mike Maran’s narration is an interesting and absorbing experience.      

***

Venue & Venue number

Valvona & Crolla V67

Dates

5,8,9,17,18,19,21,22,25,26 August 2006

Times

Times vary see Fringe Brochure

Company

Mike Maran Productions - Escalator East to Edinburgh

Fringe Programme page number; 161