The Seagull Has Landed, King’s Theatre, Review

Rating (out of 5)
3
Show details
Company
Flying Pigs Productions
Production
Craig Pike (director), Greg Gordon, Andrew Brebner, John Hardie, Moray Barber and Simon Fogiel (writers), Donald Munro (Lighting Design), Brian Gunnee (Sound Design), Keith Donaldson (Stage manager), Andrew Brebner (Graphics and Poster Design)
Performers
Moray Barber, Elaine Clark, Greg Gordon, Susan Gordon, John Hardie, Craig Pike, Steven Rance
Running time
150mins

Puns and parody flee aboot like seagulls at a midden in this mad mix of Doric humour.
For one night only, the Aberdeen based comedy team The Flying Pigs invited its Edinburgh audience to “embrace [its] inner teuchter” before they launched into their singular brand of North East humour.
The 7 strong line up and its writing team have looked out at the big wide world from Aiberdeenshire then turned the telescope to the wee end and planted what they saw onto home soil. The result is an irreverent laugh a minute show that comprises no less than 30 sketches, some of which involve hilarious versions of well- known songs such as Dusty Northfield singing “In the back of a pizza van.”
The show is brilliantly bookended by a brash opening from the white tuxed and tartan trewed Buckie Drifters singing about a lass who “slapped an ASBO on me” and the gloriously comic finale from a gradually gathering ensemble with the outstanding “Dull in Kintore”. In between, the audience is introduced to an array of characters like Mither and Faither and their pals Selma with her bore of a husband, Eddie; The Liar and Pishy Watson. The writing team has tyauvit awa from the heights of the trials of the Creation in seven days to the depths of the sexy goings on at Seton Bowling Club.
The quality reached in the likes of the Cinema Vérité where a French film is given dry and at times monosyllabic Doric sub titles; the hilarious prospect of two dour fishermen being re-employed as air stewards and The Sermon where a bitter meenister berates a wedding congregation is hard to sustain over the 2 ½ hours. The result is that the show is a bit patchy at times but there is always another laugh with its back against the alley wall waiting to pounce out at you!

The style lends itself perfectly to a radio comedy show and the group has already enjoyed success with their BBC Radio Scotland series Desperate Fishwives and it felt a little lost at times on the big stage of the King’s. They use some props and visuals but it is the richness of their use of language with their delivery of it that is their strength. What could have been esoteric jokes travelled aa the wey tae Edinburgh nae bother at aa!
Formed in 1997, the Flying Pigs are known as ‘the punk Scotland the What?’ and are big throughout the North East where they enjoy sell out shows. The seagull may have landed in the Capital but this one left no unpleasant splattering! Instead, the audience was showered with a gently subversive pre -Festival treat. Fitt rerr!

Saturday 25 July 2015, 7.30pm