A Play, a Pie and a Pint
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Nov 26^th – Dec 29^th

Script:   Stagecraft:   Performance:     

Hello there from the 2018 panto at the Oran Mor, Merry Christmas! Is there anything better than seeing a panto? Loudly planted on a tiny stage, the set looked very cute with lively colours and characters. This year’s show was sold out and the bustle of the crowd was loud as they took their seats and enjoyed their food.  Four of those familiar panto characters were to take to the stage including the traditional man in a woman’s costume, Dame Beanie Bumpherton (Dave Anderson, Empress Evil-yin, the baddie (Maureen Carr), Handsome Jack, the hero (John Kielty) and Ravishing Rosie, the female heart throb (Hannah Howie) all of whom were up for making a huge joke of themselves, the plot and anything else that came to mind.

All the classics elements of panto were covered – “oh yes they were!” – with the cast enjoining us “Boys and Girls” to greater and greater efforts as, egged on by them, we cheered, booed and hissed our way through the performance. Whenever they burst into song, which was whenever they felt like it, served to further raise the room into something resembling a frenzy. The plot really came alive when Handsome Jack introduced the Empress and she tyrannically declared that singing would no longer be allowed and that there would be a prison sentence for anyone caught singing. As music and singing are basically the heart of panto, her subjects were not happy to say the least.

With the plot fondly set in Glasgow, author Morag Fullerton had managed to cram in plenty of local name drops and hilarious topical references, all in best panto tradition, with all of the cast taking the p*ss from a great height. In particular, I have to mention Dave Anderson as the Dame, who perfectly balanced his place in the plot with a sort of ongoing stand-up act which was performed as if he didn’t know he was a man dressed as a woman. The sharpness of wit – and rudeness of language – had a genuine appeal to the adult audience, which was something we could have expected from the sardonic title “The lying bitch and the wardrobe” – makes you smile, right?

The title was finally explained when it came to light that Empress Evil-yin had a dark secret hidden in there – a nemesis in the shape of the one song that would tear her powers asunder. The story unfolded and the plot thickened, with the people of the town afraid to sing a note for fear of what the wicked Empress might do to them. A few timely costume changes later, Handsome Jack and Ravishing Rosie finally broke into Evil-lyn’s house and discovered the one song hidden in the wardrobe, whereupon her power was destroyed and she was defeated, hooray!

In the end all was forgiven with the Empress even joined in the singing as the audience bade farewell to each character in turn. This turned into a big chaotic singalong that we repeated umpteen times till we got it just right. Then they left us with a big cheerio and a big cheer and applause from an audience full of smiling happy faces.

Daniel Donnelly

A Play, a Pie and a Pint
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Nov 19^th – Nov 24^th

Script:   Stagecraft:   Performance:     

The set caught our attention immediately, with two well-turned beds with tartan drapes hanging above each. There was a Christmas twist to the show, as the two protagonists stood singing a comedic song wearing red leotards and black frilly skirts. Sandy (Julie Coombe) and Rose (Libby McArthur), otherwise known as the Heatherbelles, were twins who worked as entertainers on cruise ships, singing and dancing their way around the globe, though for once about to spend Christmas on dry land.

Singing ‘Donald where’s your troosers’, a famous – and rather righteous – song in the eyes of Scottish culture, the two proudly proclaimed their right to be Scottish. In fact their verve for Scotland put other places down for not being Scottish and hinted at what really made a Scot. This worked later as a cornerstone of the play when information provided from DNA tests reveals that the two are in fact far from being from the singular culture of Scotland. For the moment, their Scottishness was emphasised by their strong, full-on Glaswegian accents, delivering the messages with gusto and pride. Having set the scene, they pulled the focus around and began to reminisce with each other as they put their dressing gowns on.

With a touch of panto, the girls plucked random items from their suitcase – old clothes, a packet of jaffa cakes – using them as props as they really got to grips with their introspections on life, great or small. Sometimes risque, sometimes moving and sometimes just plain funny, the dialogue developed with ever growing certainty, camaraderie and intimacy, touching the audience who were busy laughing at the plethora of jokes, intertwined with many touching moments. Songs such as Paul McCartney’s ‘Mull of Kintyre’ and ‘We are sailing’ by Rod Stewart illustrated the story, portraying pain, celebration and, crucially, to entertain. In the midst of this quick fire, wide ranging patter, they would repeatedly mention KD Lang whose fight for acceptance as a lesbian became a metaphor for other causes fighting for acceptance in the mainstream.

As to the question of nationality, a realisation started to dawn that the platform of being Scottish relied upon the idea of having always lived in the place and may not have been as vivid as they had at first thought. Being on a boat at sea may have had something to do with this growing uncertainty and the story takes a twist where we are asked to join in and question ourselves in a special, at times painful way, all portrayed in a very light hearted manner. Rose repeatedly stated that their unknown father could in fact possibly be Prince Philip himself. It was rather sad to see her reason like that, but it was also a great joke.

There was a shout from the character Gordon (Mark McDonnell) who only graced the stage for a moment, acting as an anchor and a balance from the point of view of being outlandishly loud, ever complaining about his backside at sea. The tragically theatrical side of the play was confirmed with a recorded message about their mother that kept getting cut off. But we found out from Rose that they had in fact been let go from the cruise because she punched someone who was standing in her way, a fact that she was rather proud of.

In the end, Rose smartened herself up, coming clean that she didn’t really think that Prince Phillip could be her father, that she in was in fact a self-reflecting person, rather than a delusional one.  And then, when the final devastating news comes through (I’m not going to spoil it for you by giving it away), the whole play culminates in the realisation at the heart of their story that sometimes the truth is too sore,

I found Lynn Ferguson’s play a wonderful, endearing examination of human strength in the face of potential heartache. There were insights into how to deal with sadness, portrayed through the tender care shared between two loving sisters. Plenty of twists and turns and a message that would break the heart of any onlooker, all masterly done in a cheerful, positive and sympathetic way.

Daniel Donnelly

A Play, a Pie and a Pint
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Nov 12^th – Nov 17^th

Script:   Stagecraft:   Performance:     

A projection of the book ‘Oscar Slater – the trial that shamed a city’ served both as a surreal backdrop and an introduction to Stuart Hepburn’s production, telling the story of a shameful episode in the City’s history which saw Oscar Slater, a German Jew, found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment for a crime he did not commit. The story unfolds, narrated by the great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, played by the familiar actor Ron Donachie, and it becomes clear that Conan Doyle himself took a great interest in the case and had been instrumental in uncovering the injustice done to Slater, played by Kevin Lennon.

The dialogue sets out for us the grim facts of the case; how 83 year old Marion Gilchrist (played by Ashley Smith) was brutally murdered for a diamond brooch on 21 December 1908.  The crime spelled disaster for Oscar who was quickly identified as the likely culprit on the flimsiest of evidence. The drama was intense and moving, but not without its moments of humour, as it portrayed the turmoil of the trial and Oscar’s death sentence, later commuted to hard labour. We were brought close to tears as the dead woman took to the stage and gave her testimony from the grave, she being the closest witness.

But Sir Arthur, our narrator, used his Sherlock-Holmes-like powers of deduction to show that the evidence of the detectives in the case did not stand up to scrutiny, and that the conviction was more to do with prejudice against the foreigner than any real evidence. As he listened to the conflicting accounts of detectives and so-called witnesses, he would feign tiredness, with sad music playing in the background, and echoing the feelings of Oscar, locked away in prison for all of 20 years with his hopes sometimes being raised only to be cruelly dashed again by yet another seemingly outlandish official obstacle.

This production leaves you with a feeling of abhorrence and shame. The moments of silence only heightening the sense of shame, taking us to a place where for one to be ashamed is for all to be ashamed. We have to ask ourselves who is ultimately responsible when it comes to questions of guilt and innocent. Who will accept responsibilities far beyond the call of duty in order for the truth to win through in the end.

Big ideas, big questions, sharp and careful reasoning, all on show at the Oran Mor. A play that faced you with something that really mattered and didn’t allow you to turn away.

Daniel Donnelly

A Play, a Pie and a Pint
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Nov 5^th – Nov 10^th

Script:   Stagecraft:   Performance:     

As we walked to the downstairs venue at Glasgow’s Oran Mor, the room opened on a stage where written in large red letters was the word LIVE. The guitars and podium were standing by and the room had that very special atmosphere that promised that the hour would indeed be ‘Live’. As a title, ‘We interrupt this programme’ worked in so many ways, as the play swiftly moved from scene to scene. It seemed The DM (Danger Mouse) Collective couldn’t help but make jokes and use sarcasm to deliver their dangerous message.

No topic was off limits; racism, politics, alcoholism: all were thrown at the wall to see what would stick. The interplay between the actors, such as a dialogue ridiculing skin tone segregation, enhanced and sharpening the issues, seeking to make some sense of the seemingly overwhelming concerns that these days stretch over the globe. Not to mention the way we are manipulated by live TV and the media. Everything was challenged with close scrutiny, without fear.

They used many characters to show us that it is only when each voice is heard that meaningful progress can happen. Props and costumes; music and songs were all used with great purpose to build up the pictures and tell the stories. Strong writing, grabbing us by the proverbials with punchy, lively action that confronted us with something that bordered on liberation for the masses…

The scenes worked so well that we forgot that the stage had only one set. And the sense of purpose grew stronger and more focused as the jokes flew by. It was as if they were employing every theatrical device known to man in order to make their point – the only thing missing was a trapeze act or a gorilla suit. Just the use of simple things like the wearing of a certain hat or a bathrobe or a business suit, helped to empty our minds of things that might just be irrelevant, of no real use, and offer instead the bright opinion that our minds matter, despite the ubiquitous machinations of the  multimedia.

As I write this review, I am not only writing about the play as a piece of drama, but as a response to the challenges it set me. The company has created a piece of work which encourages the audience to look and really see what’s in front of them, to dig deep for understanding and truth. This drama  mastered everything in its path in a way that made us view their subjects both in pieces and as a whole.  Power to the people

Daniel Donnelly

A Play, a Pie and a Pint
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Oct 29th – Nov 3rd

Script:  Stagecraft:  Performance:     

The house announcer waited for the crowd to hush before telling us that the Play, Pie and Pint at the Oran Mor, Glasgow, would soon be celebrating its 500^th play. There was an air of excitement in the room, a plush, adaptable space, as, fed and watered, everyone readied themselves for the show, “Biscuit” to begin. The small stage space at the back was lit up and the action started with a well-dressed man and woman in conversation, and a third, male, figure lying on the floor. The three were in a panic room, with the assumption that something had gone very wrong in the world outside.

The dialogue soon had the audience roaring with laughter. The unconscious man comes to and turns out to be a Glaswegian, a cleaner employed by the Prime Minister, providing a comic contrast to the well spoken couple who are indeed the British Prime Minister and his wife. The conversation centres around the state of Britain today, swirling around in a 3-way dialogue. The Glaswegian’s perspective is that he didn’t vote, they make fun of him for it, he appeals to the audience and they bond with him, feeling that we all know what’s going on in our world today.

The characters discover – via a stray phone signal- that there has been a massive chemical attack in the outside world; terrifying news for the three stuck in the panic room. The PM starts to deteriorate while the other two find ways to stay calm, as if they know that things would somehow work out. The PM verbally attacks the Glaswegian cleaner in a sort of tantrum as he demands “could you negotiate an international trade deal?”  But for each thing he asks, the Glaswegian responds in kind until the frustrated PM is reduced to saying “you have an answer for everything.” As he tries to cut the conversation dead.

As the play progresses, the clothing worn by the characters starts to take on extra significance as we notice the suit worn by the well-to-do PM start to contrast more and more with the red t-shirt and red training shoes worn by the cleaner. The PM remarks that quality should outweigh fashion sense but the cleaner retorts that he simply “…likes his trainers.” The dialogue conveys to us a sense of growing tension with the PM showing his true colours in his fear of dying, heightened when the Glaswegian announces that he is in fact a terrorist.

The shocking turn-around leaves the PM cowering behind his wife, on his knees begging for his life. The wife betrays him, choosing the stronger character and we see the Glaswegian take command of the situation.  The arguments and commotion become ever more intense, typified by the exchange where the Glaswegian PMs suit “…cost more than a car.”, and the PM shows his true colours when he declares that it’s not about the cost of his suit, but about successfully “managing the rabble”.

Then with no warning, the door suddenly opens and the three escape together with a feeling that no one was any the wiser. And neither are we. If you have an hour to spare at lunchtime, come along to Oran Mor for a Play, a Pie and a Pint. You never know what you’re going to get, but it will certainly give you food for thought, as well as, well, food!

Daniel Donnelly