Writer/Director Lana Pheutan is from Skye, where the play is set.
It’s Saturday night, and cousins Eilidh and Eilidh have missed out on a lock-in, so they break into a remote holiday cottage to carry on drinking. It’s February, so none of those Air BnBs will be occupied. Will they?
Boisterous Eilidh (MJ Deans) is a teacher, back on the island after 8 years in Glasgow. And pissed off that she and her boyfriend are having to live with her mum, because everywhere else is too expensive. The more reserved Eilidh Beag -wee Eilidh - has stayed on, and lives on her own in a tiny council flat. Fired up by the boose and her own frustrations, the returnee rants about tourists and English making property too expensive. While her cousin sees more of the bigger picture, conscious how much the tourists bring to the local economy. Their banter is entertaining, with a serious undertone.
Things turn darker when the actual resident rushes in wearing a motorbike helmet and pyjamas, and threatening the youngsters with a shinty stick. They all get a surprise when they realise that this is Ms NicilleMhicheil (Annie Grace), once the highly respected teacher of the 2 younger women. And the situation reveals more about the island property scene than any of them had realised.
A well crafted script provides a lot of laughs, and an optimistic ending, but doesn’t shy away from the darker problems that communities like these face from locals being priced out of their own homes. While all 3 actors are excellent, Chelsea Grace as the more cautious girl brings an extra layer of subtlety to her performance that underwrites the complexity of the situation.
Another excellent contribution to the PPP canon.
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