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