Oran Mor

Play / Pie / Pint Season

16-22 May

£12

From out of the mini-country that is Glasgow comes this fine piece of native-born theatre, inking its way into the world along the pen of the award-winning Lou Prendergast. She presents us with the monologing Tommy, played by the talented & perfectly experienced Tom McGovern. Having been in & out of Barlinnie more than most folk go to Benidorm, Tommy is a hard-drinking, petty gambler & one of the characters Prendergast would have witnessed in her youth. Last year, her play Blood Lines brought the story of her gangster father to the stage, & this production seems a perfect spin-off off-shoot of that world.

The very cute Lou Prendergast

The story is set around trying to have a good Christmas for Tommy’s dying dad, with his ex-bird being invited along for good measure. McGovern brings these extra vocal parts into the story with expert changes of voice & mannerisms, & combining these skills with his phrenetic stage-presence really brings Prendergast’s vision to life. Colloquial as hell, as McGovern rattles through his lines we watchers really feel like we are in the heart of Glasgow, as indeed the Oran Mor theatre is.

Prendergast’s first effort at writing for the male voice is something of a triumph, pulling off all the nuances that are involved in the banter-driven patter of the modern man. Together with McGovern’s wonderful oratory skills, witty one-liners & a genuinely touching plot, this play is a true winner.

Reviewer : Damo Bullen