The art of stage illusion relies in part upon the audience leaving behind their scepticism and, for a short time at least, allowing themselves to ‘believe’. It is this notion – belief – that Arnott says is vital if the theatrical experience is to be successful: the  ”power of imagination is magical. Human inventiveness and the ability to create a world on-stage is a magical experience.”

Arnott’s work has often had a historical focus, from his versions of  classic European plays including Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s The Visit and Brecht’s Punt/la to his trilogy of classic adaptations for Glasgow’s Citizen’s Theatre Multinational Community Company. As a writer he’s interested in contemporary parallels with the past.  This is also true of the work of Vox Motus,  the company behind the visually inventive The Not So Fatal Death of Grandpa Freddo.

This new play, The Infamous Brothers Davenport, a Royal Lyceum co-production, takes the form of a fictionalised account of real life brothers Willy and Ira Davenport: a pair of illusionists who became famous in late 19th century America for their claims of clairvoyance and ability to communicate with the spirit world. Arnott’s play is in part about the brothers’ claimed supernatural abilities, and in part a family drama which explores the brothers’ tragic past, a past full of violence and abuse doled out by a tyrannical father.

The production plays up the idea of theatre as a form of illusion, from the scene transitions to the way the costumes are designed for quick changes. Magic threads through everything that happens on stage.

Spirited away.

With the theme of magic and trickery so intrinsic to the production, Arnott expresses  anxiety about the idea of inviting the audience up on stage to examine the workings of things; there is the possibility that in doing so the spell would be broken, the illusion exposed, but this was a chance worth taking. “The hardest point was to accept that the audience are inside the play and that the characters are exposed. There are no secrets and this creates a pressure. The actors are aware that at all points they are being watched.”

The plot is only loosely based around fact; Arnott has merged the stories of many stage magicians  of the period. The question of emotional manipulation, of the Davenports by their father and of the audience by the Davenports, is fundamental to the play. Class divisions also play a role in the tale Arnott is trying to tell: for the brothers, performance provides an escape from a life of poverty.

Audience members are invited to examine the wooden spirit cabinet that forms the centrepiece of the set. Some of these audience members are even dressed up in period costume in order to do so, creating a further blurring between performer and spectator.  There’s an element of risk in all this, but for Arnott this just emphasises the unpredictability and spontaneity of the piece; theatre is all about risk. “It is a scary process. And it gets harder as you get older. You know what can go wrong. And what happens if it does.”

Trained magician James Harrison and illusionist Candice Edmunds were on hand to ensure that this aspect of the production was, if not risk-free, then visually spectacular. The production is studded with impressive illusions including one where the spirit cabinet folds out to form the set of the Davenports’ house. In this way the set itself becomes part of the magic: trickery permeates the production, giving a visual dimension to what is an otherwise plot-driven piece.

Theatre and illusion have always walked hand in hand. They speak the same language, they occupy the same space. In The Infamous Brothers Davenport this relationship is made explicit.

The Infamous Brother Davenport is at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, from 14th – 18th February and the Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, from 22nd – 25th February 2012.