Jack (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

 

A solo performance from Laurence Boothman as the unnamed character who is processing the stages of grief.

He receives a puppy from his partner for Xmas, despite never having expressed the slightest interest in dogs. Would like to say no, but... it's cute. They compromise on Jack as a name and the puppy takes over their lives.

But one day Jack returns in the arms of, not his purchaser, but a policeman. The man he loves has died in a road accident, now he's alone with Jack. And all that pain. Boothman's character copes badly. At first. But can he come through it all, and what role does the initially unwelcome Jack play?

This is a moving study of how we deal with grief, not as something predictable, but as individual human beings who all react differently. Nobody knows your grief, and helpful suggestions aren't always helpful. Having to endure a bit of old fashioned homophobia along the way is only going to make things worse. But there is a way through, sometimes in a surprising direction.

Liam Moffat's script is often darkly hilarious, but always humane, and draws the tears at the end. Imaginative direction, within the confines of a flashy, but simple, set drives things along. But is Boothman's performance that is most impressive, from manic to quietly contemplative, from despair to joy. He does the voices of the people he has to deal with (including a memorable turn as the puppy), giving us a range of characters. It's raw and emotional and very powerful.

It's astonishing that fifty minutes can convey so much, but Jack does it brilliantly.

Cahalen Morrison, Traverse

 Two solo Americans for this show, both Scottish domiciled.

Frist up was Edinburgh resident, and Arizona native, Cera Impala. Accompanying herself on guitar and ukulele she sang her own compositions about the troubles of life and the world. Her soft breathy voice is very pleasant, but made the announcements, and lyrics, hard to grasp at times. Add in the slowish tempo of all the numbers and, for all their worthiness, this got a bit boring. Some out of tune guitar work didn't help. Disappointing, as I know she can be better.

Cahalen Morrison, all the way from New Mexico, but now living in 'that place' (!) at the other side of the M8, was a clear step up in quality musically. An excellent player of guitar, banjo and fiddle. The former pair used as song accompaniment, and ornamentation, the latter to deliver a couple of tunes, and he also did some a capella singing.

His voice is haunting, with excellent variation in pitch and tone, and the songs were varied in subject and melody. But the pace was, for the most part, as slow as the first half of the gig, and I wasn't sorry when it all came to an end.

I should add that my rather negative views may have been influenced by a heavy cold and lack of sleep, which made it hard to feel positive or engaged!

All of Us Strangers

 Adam (Andrew Scott) is a lonely screen writer who works from home in his flat, which is in a high rise block with seemingly no other occupants. He is trying to write something based on his own childhood, and goes through a box of old photos which trigger mixed memories. But then he meets Harry (Paul Mescal), who seems to be the only other resident of the block, and they end up having a passionate love affair.

But Adam is too troubled by the ghosts of his past, which his writing efforts have stirred into life. What follows is a portrait of a disturbed man held in the grip of unresolved grief and love. While the plot is often confusing, and the red herrings swim in shoals, that's an accurate reflection of Adam's state of mind, which increasingly leads him down paths that seem destined to lead to crisis.

It's a powerful evocation of the power of grief to determine our entire life if we allow it to, and the need to share if we are to deal with those issues. The idealised dialogues we allow ourselves to build internally have the ability to take over from reality. In Adam's case the two become increasingly one, and it will take something drastic to bring him out of it.

The performances are strong, and intense, with all four actors (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell have the only other speaking parts) delivering excellent performances. But the film revolves around Scott's troubled Adam, and his portrayal of a man in turmoil, using the past to try and understand himself, is masterful.

This is a movie, and character, that leaves you with questions and stays in the mind for a long while after viewing. Not to be missed.

Transatlantic Sessions, Usher Hall

 A joyous and sophisticated melange of an evening. With a total of sixteen talented musicians and singers on stage (I won't name them all...) and backgrounds in Scottish and Irish traditional music, and American Country and Bluegrass, how could it not be?

Of course there is some trepidation in going to a show which comes out of TV origins, but the overall format with some tweaking, transfers well. Helped out by plenty of laughs in the introductions and band interactions. Phil Cunningham is never one to be short of a funny story.

Fronted by American dobro maestro, Jerry Douglas, with fellow TA-founder Aly Bain from Shetland, the band played tune sets that mixed up the various styles of playing, with changes in tempo and mood. The singers all had a set in each half - Joshua Burnside from Ireland, Gaelic songstress Kim Carnie from Scotland, and country singers Lindsay Lou and Carlene Carter from the US. With Carter, daughter of legend June, showing her star quality and charisma (and channelling a bit of Johnny Cash, her stepfather). There was also a song from the band's guitarist John Doyle. And, an undoubted highlight, a solo from Appalachian bass player Daniel Kimbro. His chosen subject Michael Collins, the Apollo 11 crew member who didn't get to walk on the moon. Or, as Kimbro put it, the bassist of the astronauts.

But the biggest spontaneous cheer of the night went to Burnside for his lyric - "March up the Shanklill, March up the Falls, Doesn't matter where you're from, The tories fucked us all". Folkies are mostly decent people!

The encore was for the core band only, a set of tunes that once again demonstrated how that mix of styles and cultures can add delight and surprise to even the most familiar of tunes. Long may they continue to bring such imagination and joy to people.