The situation for Nick Bright (Daniel Lapaine) is pretty desperate. He is a banker who when riding in his boss’s car was kidnapped by an Islamist extremist group. He is being held as a prisoner manacled in a breeze block cell and 10 million dollars is demanded as his ransom. We hear about the beheading fate of a Western journalist and the graphic video they released.
We hear about the precarious life of a musician dependent on patronage and the whims of the German nobility. We hear Bach's acerbic wit and cut to his conducting a choir where we realise he is not just a perfectionist, he has low levels of tolerance. We see he has a bad temper and is stubborn, so will fall out with those he depends on financially and get into petty quarrels. We also appreciate the humour of Bach's witty lines and put downs.
Out West is a collection of three one actor plays by three renowned playwrights, linked by each play illustrating differing aspects of racism and alluding to the area where the Lyric Theatre is today. One is about a mixed race marriage, one about a black woman's fight for self esteem and one about a law student from overseas arriving in Britain in the reign of Queen Victoria.