Liz Lochhead, the national Makar until earlier this year, has been a major figure on Scotland's literary landscape for more than four decades. As well as her poetry and original drama her body of work includes acclaimed translations of the best known Moliere comedies into Scots. She clearly has an affinity with the seventeenth century comic playwright. That affectionate empathy, and a clear understanding of the theatrical process and microcosm, combine in a comedy that re-imagines scenes from the great Frenchman's life.
Written in Scots, the script is sharp, bawdy and filled with memorable lines, turning familiarity into twisted originality - "I didnae come up the Seine in a seive". Moliere's self destructive tendencies, and ability to seek out defeat whenever a win seems likely, form a central thread, but the members of his theatrical company provide a constantly switching range of sub plots. Along the way they demonstrate the mistakes of youth, the cynicism of middle age, the perils of lust and that 'midlife crisis' is nothing new. There are ever-relevant digs at the pernicious influence of the rich and powerful on society, Theatrical life is precarious, egotistical and subject to the whims of fashion. And an inability to compromise can bring it's own troubles.
Against a monochromatic and oft changing set, the characters are bursting with colour, both literally and figuratively. Jimmy Chisholm is superb as the main man - playful, obdurate, self deluding and all with spot on comic timing. Sarah Miele's naive Melou is a touch underplayed at times, her tragedy not fully emerging, but the remainder of the cast deliver strong performances. Molly Innes provides the still anchor of the piece, the maid Toinette, whose dour common sense gets many of the biggest laughs and comes armed with one of those catchphrases that becomes funnier through every repetition - "I'll no say it...... but....".
Fast paced, insightful and very, very funny. What more could you ask for from an evening at the theatre?
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