Looking For Me Friend : The Music of Victoria Wood

Fronted by experienced cabaret act Paulus, and supported on piano and the odd quip by Michael Roulston, the show features, as promised by the title, a wide range of the late Ms Wood's songs, both famous and more obscure.  Because, as Paulus tells us from the start, it takes two men to do the job of one woman.  There's nothing wrong with the voice or the playing, and they clearly enjoy and revere the material.

Woven around the numbers is Paulus' tale of growing up with Wood as an important influence in his life, and then career, even though they never met.  He clearly sees himself as something of a superfan, with considerable knowledge of the national treasure.  So it's a very personal show, and Roulston an enjoyable dry collaborator. There's no denying that it is often entertaining.

But the show stumbles on two counts, one of which I doubt anyone could overcome.  Paulus is very self consciously camp, and the arch home counties persona doesn't always sit well with Victoria's bluff north of England sense of humour.  And even grates at times, feeling OTT in realtion to the memories of the woman herself.  Which also applies to my second quibble.  The lyrics and melodies stand by themselves, but watching this show reminds any Wood fan of just how much came from her own delivery, and how hard it is to replicate.  There was always a sense of something being lost, missing.

Entertaining, but disappointing.

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

Scarlet (Alice Glass) is a climate activist.  So when her mother Sarah (Laura Harvey) wants to get her a big surprise for her 21st she knows it has to be related to her daughter’s passion.  And Ivor is very big, and very very surprising.  But also an indication that spending a lot of money on a gift  doesn’t guarantee that you’ve fully understood what the recipient is really all about.  Scarlet isn’t about to give up on her plans to tend to Ivor, she and partner Judith (Betty Valencia) have a planet to save.

Mothers and daughters, the generation gap, and the lack of real understanding surrounding climate change are all tackled in this ambitious metaphor.  I won’t give away the nature of the mysterious Ivor, but he is much more problem than solution, a reflection of the misunderstanding of climate issues.  Surreal, often darkly funny, the script doesn’t fully hit the mark, but does provide some food for thought, partly spoiled by an unnecessarily confusing ending.  The acting is decent enough,with some excellent timing. Harvey does the controlling parent well, Valencia perhaps the best in conveying her frustration and desperation with a world that is going down the tubes.

Not the best PPP, but still interesting.

Dancing Shoes (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

Donny (Stephen Docherty) is getting on in year.  Craig (Ross Allan) is approaching 40.  Jay (Craig Mclean) is the baby of the trio, But they have a common bond- addiction to drugs and/or alcohol, and a desire for recovery, and that turns the unlikely group into pals.  Trying to support one another as best they can.

That bleak sounding scenario is the background for one of the funniest plays the PPP series has ever opffered up.  Breaking the fourth wall from the start, the audience are immediately drawn in, to a world where humour is one of the strongest lifelines available.

Donny reveals his secret, the reason that keeps hime going.  He dances.  Alone in his room he dances to keep ther world at bay.  When he demonstrates Jay videos, and then posts, and 'Dancing Donny', the internet senastion, is born.  This will test the friendships, and, more worryingly, the commitment to not repeat past behaviours.

It's hilarious.  An excellent script and some great comic timing.  Physical comedy skills too, from all cast members.  There's a lot of action and choreography that keeps the play going at a rapid pace.

But pathos too, reflecting the sensitive nature of the underlying subject matter.  As Craig says, everyone laughs at junkies and alkies, and not in a good way.  The serious moments are brief, by work as sharp counterpoint to the stream of laughs.

Breathtakingly wonderful.

Maddie Morris, Traverse

 I'm sure Morris could become a lesbian folk icon if she got the exposure.  A sweet voice, charming personality and a kibd of innocence about her.  The songs lack true melodic identity, but the lyrics are always interesting, telling stories in themselves.  She has an unusual guitar style that works well as accompaniment

Morris is also an accomplished and amusing storyteller between numbers, often with a self deprecating side to them, which kept the gig rolling along nicely.  

Not the most exciting of acts, but with enough of a difference to mark her out as worth a watch live.

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

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.  

Kev Campbell Was He (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

There aren't many plays which begin with the hero running in and getting himslef plonked down on the toilet with a sigh of relief, but that's the unusual opening of this one man performance, written by and starring Alexander Tait.  He plays the eponymous Kev, a working class man who almost does, but does not quite, fit in with his pals.  It takes a chance meeting with a stranger, who becomes his mwentor and new friend, to make him realise that there is another world he could fit into.  Even if it means having to leave his present behind him.

Tait delivers an energetic performance, not just as Kev talking direct to the audience, but also the voices in the dialogue - old best pal, new nest friend, and Moira, his slightly scary boss.  Using parallels with The Great Gatsby, the difficulties of moving from one world to another are clear, because they have very different standards.  In his old life 'gay' is a common slur, in his new it's just what people are.  Yet it's hard to defend the new world against the old, the one that's nurtured him for so long, and hard for the new to understand the old.  The drama lies in trying to resolve that conflict, and deciding who he is.

The set (above) provides 5 seats for different locations, an idea that works well.  But the drive comes from Tait, who is mesmerising at times.  He's a man to look out for.

Dookin' Oot (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

Diane (Jannette Fogge) has had enough.  She's made it to 70, had a decent enough life, but now the body is packing up.  She's confined to her flat, seeing nobody except her carer Julie (Helen McAlpine) and young postie Connor (Kyle Gardiner).  Fortunately she has seen a solution to her problems - Dignitas.  A solution well beyond the grasp of her financial situation.

Julie's life a is a mess too.   Her abusive husband is getting too much to cope with.  But she has an idea how to make money for both her and Diane).  She'll become a dominatrix!  But how to make a start?

Connor has the answer - Onlyfans.  So he sets up the tech side and then the adventure begins.

It's very much played for laughs, and borders on good old-fahsioned farce at times.  But there are some serious undertones too, about the invibility of middle aged and elderly women, and the need to die with dignity.  Three strong performances, notably from McAlpine.

A hularious romp with a message should you choose to look for it.

Heaven, Traverse

 Mairead (Janet Moran) and Mal (Andrew Bennett) have been married for a couple of decades now. They're best pals, they say, but are they still husband and wife? Were they ever really?

They're back in Mairead's home town for her sister's wedding. From the city to an insular place where life has stood still and she finds many familiar faces. Not least her old lover, the one who she never forgot. While Mal is left to his own devices, falls off the wagon and lets himself indulge his long repressed fantasies. Both takes paths they had not expected, but are they really going to diverge?

The play takes the form of alternating monologues, her then him then her then him, as each talks about the self they've kept inside, and the person they have lived with. The technique emphasises their separateness, but their words also show their affection and understanding for one another, each explaining things that the other can't even admit to themselves. It's a perfect illustration of how lives can be so interconnected and so far apart, and of how long term relationships will often keep afloat long after the thrill of the launch has departed. That affection and dependence can take many forms.

It's a smart script, with plenty of Irish humour, and a few surprises. Two strong performances, but I sometimes felt I was losing my hearing during Moran's sections. But could hear every word Bennett uttered. It's a shame, as I'm sure I missed some good lines from the lack of projection.

Overall a very satisfying performance, and one that ends before you were expecting it, which is always a good sign. Well worth seeing.  

Triptic, Traverse

Take 3 members of the much lamented Moishe's Bagel quintet, and give them a good cause to support.  This was a benefit gig in support of Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP), one of the most important and essential charities currently operating.

The trio are Greg Lawson (fiddle), Phil Alexander (piano and piano accordion) and Mario Caribe (upright bass and guitar).  Togerther they play an eclectic mix of tunes from around the world, a few composition so their own, and the audience is taken, musically, to Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, Ukraine, Russia and beyond.  The arrangements are often complex, and at times it feels like all 3 unstruments are paying their own melodies, albit ones that jigsaw so well together.  They's a joy to watch too.  Caribe and Alexander exchanging smiles, grins, glances, while Lawson brings drama in his body language as well as his playing.  He has an incredibly pure tone to his sound, no doubt a product of his classical background.  

They're good storytellers too, by way of introducing their numbers.  Notably Lawson's tale of approaching a policemen for directions, whilst too stoned to realise that the spliff in his hand might attract the worng sort of attention!  (He was lucky to find a very relaxed constable...)

Fun, depth, top class musicianship and some wonderful tunes.  An exceelent way to spend the evening.

Dean Owens and the Sinners, Traverse

The annual pre-Xmas Dean Ownes gig is not to be missed.  This year, to allow a (much) bigger audience in, it moved from the usual cafe-bar location down into Traverse 1.  Dean confessed he was nervous about the switch, worrying that not enough tickets would sell to justify it.  It was a sell-out!

With good reason.  This is always a December treat for Dean's big local following.  On this aoccaison with full band.  Dean on guitar and vocals (and whistling), long term sidekick Craig Ross on lead guitar, Adam McMillan on bass, Andy Duncan at the drum kit, and Philip Cardwell blowing trumpet.  The latter indicating that Owens is still very much in his TexMex phase.  The first half was mostly newer material, much of it from the album to be released next year, including several songs no live audience had yet heard.  The second set dived more into the back catalogue, with some very familiar singlaong numbers included (such as Raining in Glasgow).    

Dean was as good as ever, Craig Ross in fine form, and the crowd loved it.  I'm already looking forward to next December...

Rachel Walker and Aaron Jones, Traverse

Very professional.  Two good voices, two good musicians.  She the purer of tone, on keyboards, he with the more distinctive sound, on guitar and mandola.  A set of songs from their new album, and a couple from their last one.   Mostly slow paced ballads, in a mix of Gaelic and English (she’s from the Gaeltacht, he from the north of Ireland), almst all telling sad tales.  They can both relate a story too.

But.  While enjoyable enough, as a show it lacked variety of pace and tempo, lacked laughs, lacked any Wow moments.  Pleasant, gentle, mildly entertaining.  And ever so slightly soporific.

But full marks for ending with the beauty of The Broom o’the Cowdenknowes...

Will Pound & Jenn Butterworth, Traverse

 This had everything I could want from a gig.  Virtuoso performances, wonderful tunes and songs, and madcap humour.  

Pound is a harmonica genius, and not far behind that on the melodeon. Butterworth is the consummate accompanist, on guitar and stomp, as well as being a quality vocalist. It was a set of variety. Trad material in the main, but not as you'v eheard it before. New tunes, mixtures of fast, slow, and more fast.  Tunes from England, Ireland, Scotland, Holland, Spain…  Improvisations that made you wonder how many different variations on a simple melody line could there possibly be? Plus songs from Jenn’s upcoming solo album, with sympathetic backing, and solos, from harmonica.

And very funny, very unpredictable, and solidly on the left of politics.  What’s not to like?

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

 Yemi (Titana Muthui) has been detained in a detention centre for refugees and asylum seekers.  Bea (Laura Lovemore), , her best friend eventually visits.And what’s the big difference between them?  A UK passport.

The threat of deportation hangs over Yemi, and months will pass as her solicitor works to get her free.  And, more importantly, prevent her being sent back to South Africa where a far worse fate awaits her. But Bea is a narcissist, and insists on relating her trivial probllsms, what she perceives to be her 'suffering', than to listen to her friend. And it takes further trauma for Yemi before she realises just how serious the situation is.

It's a low key script, with not a lot happening, a reflection of the tedium of incarceration. There are few laughs, mostly low level embarrassment for Bea's lack of self awareness. Muthui is convincingly despairing, but Lovemore took time to warm up, and looked a bit lost in the opening 20 minutes.

That tedium has it's uses though, bringing home the pojt of the asylum system. Dehumanising, threatening, boring, and designed to keep inmates (who may have done nothing wrong) in a constant state of anxiety. And, with Yemi’s case, a reminder that everyone who migrates has their own individual reasons, sometimes from circumstances that may be hard to explain.  They can put their own loved ones at risk if they divulge too much.

Not a sparkling addition to the PPP canon, and it’s a subject that really needs much more than 50 minutes, but it provides a decent stab at raising awareness of how terribly the UK behaves towards people seeking a new start in life, and how little understanding of their plight there really is.

Lost Girls/At Bus Stops (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

Jess and Iona, out for a good time in a bustling Fringe-laden Edinburgh.  Friends for a long time, almost but not quite lovers for just as long.  A love letter to the city, through closes the arteries, up and down hills.  Fringe venues, bars, clubs.  And bus stops.

It’s a  lively script, jumping around through the night, through the places,through histories, between two povs.  A few extra characters thrown in.  A will they, won’t they love story.

Except… we know they will.  Despite the jumping around, and the implications of uncertainty, the ending is always well telegraphed.  And that makes it feel like a long and at times unnecessary journey.  There are a few laughs, even a hint of sadness, anger, but it’s all too predictable despite those elements.

A shouty Catriona Faint plays Jess - more aggressive, wilder, likely to cause trouble (as wit a bouncer)

Leyla Aycan’s Iona is  quieter, more introspective, but loves the contrast between them.

But upsetting to an Edinburgh audience to have someone who is supposed to be so familiar with the city pronouncing Cowgate like an English tourist!

Anna / Anastasia (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

 Anna (Kirsty McDuff) has been rescued after jumping off a bridge in 1920s Berlin.  Franz (Chris Forbes), a police detective, has the job of finding out who she really is.  But what is he to make of her claim to be the last surviving member of the Romanovs, the despotic rulers of Russia before the revolution?

Anna - or the Princess Anastasia? - will come back into his life over the years,always with a story to tell.  Are her stories true>  And does it really matter (except to a policeman…)

McDuff plays the younger Anna as a manic child, who softens her edges, but never loses her edge, over the decades.  Forbes plays the straight man for the most part, but has some wonderful comic moments when playing the entire Romanov family, and their firing squad, as the executions took place.  And Franz learns something of life from the intriguing Anna.

While there are plenty of laughs, and moments of real pathos, the story does build towards a more serious point of reflection.  We are who we present ourselves to the world as.  Sometimes that can be to hide from the hurt of our past, or maybe it’s just to be who we prefer to be, or to not succumb to society’s image of the ageing process.  We all need to tell stories.  Anna (or Anastasia) is an extreme example (and based on the real story of Anna Anderson), but Franz also learns that he can be more than he seems, if that’s who he wants to become.  We all can. 

An excellent demonstration of just how much power a fifty minute comedy drama can exert.

Lulo Reinhardt and Yuliya Lonskaya - Gypsy Meets Classic , Traverse

 Billed as Gypsy Jazz (Reinhardt) meets Classical (Lonskaya), the evening gave us 2 guitars and 2 vocalists (with a little bit of unusual percussion!), and a mix of instrumentals and ballads from all around the globe. Songs from Mongolia  India, Argentina Brazil, Eastern Europe, North Africa.  Songs in at least 7 languages. There might not be much gypsy jazz involved, but the melting pot of material throws up some fascinating contrasts, and a hugely varied set list.

Her classical training is obvious.  In the way she sits, holds her instrument, in the precision and discipline of her playing.  While he improvises, adding and taking notes in as he goes.  The rhythm and melodic responsibilities swap back and forth, sometimes several times a tune.  There is drama, and emotion.  His voice is passable, hers a beautiful instrument, that bring love and drama out, even though the words are alien to the listener.

At times they may overindulge their mutual passions, make things overly intricate.  But then the natural musicality and understanding always returns and brings surprises and delights. They do talk between numbers, and provide interesting background to the music.  Neither feels like a natural raconteur - but English is not their first language!!

A delightful mix of styles and genres, with often astonishing musicality and a glorious singing voice.

The Wolves at the Door (A Play, a Pie and a Pint), Traverse

 It’s early 2023 and the cost of living crisis is biting hard.  Daniel (Ciaran Stewart) lives in a grubby flat, kips in a sleeping bag on the couch, and tries to keep his head above the turbulent waters. Mostly for the sake of Belle, his 7 year old, who lives with her mum most of the time. 

While he’s out the flat is broken into by Malc (Ben Ewing) and Susanne (Beth Marshall), who quickly reveal themselves to be, not burglars (because what is there to steal?), but a debt collector and electrical engineer respectively.  They’ve come because Daniel owes a four figure debt to the power company.  Malc just wants to get on with it, but Susanne, new to the job, thinks that maybe they’re being unnecessarily harsh.  And when Daniel comes home to find them in his flat, trouble breaks out.

Set against the metaphor of the 3 Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, the script looks to portray just how hard life, and the System, is for people having to live on the margins.  The script is more hammer than scalpel, but it gets the point over clearly.  And, unfortunately, what’s not exactly the greatest dialogue ever written is not helped by some weakness in the performances.  Marshall stands out as the one who really delivers, and Susanne is the most believable of the trio, filled with a confusing mix of compassion, guilt, and her own needs.  Stewart is rarely credible, despite having the most emotional meat to work with.  While Ewing spans the middle ground, certainly coming over as unlikeable, but not quite credible as the hard man.

It’s a bleak subject, and there are a few decent laughs to relieve the gloom, but overall this was one of the weaker additions to the PPP canon.

The Last Cabaret on Earth (A Play, a Pie and a PInt), Traverse

Sam is a cabaret performer, now stuck, for his final hours, in an airport hotel, a long way from the love of his life.  There are others there too, so he puts on a show, for what else is there to do?  As frequent announcements make clear, the sun is about to explode, the world as they know it is about to come to an end.  Time for…. entertainment?  Reflection?  Love?  What to do with your final breaths?  As he says, the bucket list crowd must be exhausted.

A strong solo performance from Marc Mackinnon.  Perfectly camp, a charismatic performer, slightly larger than life.  A decent enough singer, and charming pianist. His accompaniment to Let It Be was truly beautiful - sparse, minimalist, with simple additions of what was required to enhance the melody and lyric.

But.  Regular readers will know I am no fan of musicals.  Too much song and dance, not enough story.  And so it is here.  An intriguing premise wasted on classic songs.  Every time it felt like there was something of real interest building, off he'd go to the piano.  Opportunities spurned.

Yes, it did mention how trivial how much of our lives seem in the light (!) of such an event.  That material belongings mean little, nor cleaning or acquiring, when the reality of life bites.  But it never felt like it would be going deep enough.  Here was a chance to ponder what really matters to people, lost to song after song.  

However well done (and there was some clever use of props on an well planned set) this was a frustrating experience, as I sat there willing it to be better than it was - the better it could and should have been.

Maggie & Me, Traverse

 Already a successful memoir in print, this is not a straight stage adaptation of the original, but a look at how Damian Barr faced up to his childhood traumas in writing the book.  

Barr (Gary Lamont) is trying to write his memoir, but having problems facing up to the truth of the traumatic abuse he suffered as a child.  His partner Mike (Douglas Rankine) is sympathetic, but uncertain.  So Barr starts to revisit his past in fantasy enactments, guided by the ghost of the Wicked Witch of Grantham, whose brutal actions dominagted the policital landscape of his formative years.  Notably the vile Section 28.

With Thatcher as his guide to separating fantasy from reality, the adult Barr watches his teenage self interact with friends, family, school, all the while shying away from the events he most needs to revisit if he's to make his memoir honest.  he gets there in the end, of course, but it's an effective illustration of how difficult the process must have been for hom.  Along the way there are plenty of laughs, a bit of song and dance, and moments of pathos and tragedy.  An entertainment show with a dark underside.  

In general this structure works well, if a little forced at times, and the writer writing about his writing is a better idea that a straight retelling of the memoir.  Enjoyable, but not as memorable as the book.

Alice Howe and Freebo, Traverse, TradFest

 

The equal billing reflected the content of the show.  While Howe did the most songs, it was as much the Freebo show, with a lot of his own material too.  Their own songs, with the exception of Alice's perfect rendition of Jonie Mitchell's A Case of You.  Good songs too, mostly with a country music inflection, but other influences present.  Personal songs, with a story behind them, which both related with great humour.  And in Freebo's case, a couple of funny songs which had the audience laughing.  Howeve plyed guitar, mostly as accompaniment, but plays well.  Freebo is the more virtuosotic of the pair, playing both guitar and electric bass.  It's first time I've seen someone play lead guitar parts on a 5 string bass, and it was a pleasure to be induced to the sensation.

So both were entertaining, more than competent musicians and singers (Howe has a wonderfully clear and pure voice, with excellent phrasing), and provided us with a memorable hour.  And she can say 'Edinburgh' pretty good for an American!