This is the fourth play in the five-week Autumn season of A Play, A Pie and A Pint, the now 7 year old institution supported by the National Theatre of Scotland that showcases world premiere plays.
As soon as Andy Gray (Danny Devine) appears on the stage to take his seat on a painted wooden chair to face the audience, and launches into his casting interview speech to an invisible, but indubitably younger interviewer, it is clear we are in for a treat. Gray and his fellow actors, Juliet Cadzow (Portia) and Kate Donnelly (Emma) are re-visiting Scotland’s current Makar, Liz Lochhead’s adaptation of Molière’s Tartuffe. The currently out-of-work thespian trio had appeared in this together on a tour 25 years before so have a history they would probably rather forget.
Times have changed and budgets are low. Cloths are being cut to the very selvedge and this new production is to be a three instead of a four-hander, which means squeezing the script to fit like an ugly sister’s foot into Cinderella’s slipper. On top of that, a reality TV show is being made about the making of the play so we have actors playing actors and all the angst that involves.
The script is funny with great lines like the loaded ‘hours in make-up for 2 minutes of action – story of my life’. It is scattered with esoteric Scottish theatrical references like NTS meaning ‘not today son’ that went down a storm with Tuesday’s audience and is punctuated with some spot-on music tracks that set the tone well.
I have no idea what the very Liz Lochhead thought about it all but this Borgesian style piece of theatre about theatre was great fun for this reviewer. There is a piece of writing in the programme entitled Credo which is not attributed and could be Lochhead’s or McCardie’s (apologies if I should know this). It has the wonderful line ‘…Though it is Show Business Not Tell Business…’ - the basis of good writing. God Bless Mike McCardie!
The remaining play in this season will be Watching the Detective (Tues 8 – Sat 12Nov) at 1pm.
All Tickets are £12 and include a play, a pie and a drink from the Traverse Theatre bar café.
Tues 1 – Sat 5 Nov (1pm)