Tron Theatre, Glasgow
Four stars
Karaoke night is the
main event in Gav Prentice’s new solo play performed by himself in the Tron’s
Victorian Bar, which here doubles up as the sort of small town social club or pub
that was once the hub of the local community. These days, alas, as Prentice
makes clear, they are dying out, priced out by soulless chain pubs or else
going for a song for developers to snap up. Tonight, however, all the regulars
are in, with assorted movers and shakers embodied by Prentice with little more
than a microphone, a laptop and an old-school computerised backdrop on which
the lyrics are spelt out for the night’s plucky turns.
Titch is the main man,
holding the night together with some creaky routines and past-it’s-prime patter
bolstered by his sidekick Kevin, who may yet prove to be the one most likely
to. Then there is Caroline, the belle of the ball with stars in her eyes. Only
her husband and club treasurer Rick is keen to put a dampener on the night with
some company business that might silence things forever.
In terms of recognising
the power and potency cheap music to bring people together, there are echoes here
of everything from the plays of Jim Cartwright to Chumbawamba’s 1990s entryist
pop hit, Tubthumping, all the way back to Terence Davies’ back-street grimoir,
Distant Voices, Still Lives.
Prentice has fun with
all this, making his everyday tale of working-class culture very much his own, giving
each character a theme song as he goes. His own experience playing low-key gigs
with his band Over the Wall comes into play here, and for all the cheesy
karaoke arrangements of his original material, both the quality of the songs
and his delivery are more evocative than any off-key cover version could ever
be. What comes through most of all is a gentle nod to a form of self-determined
entertainment which may never make the headlines, but which for the one-night
superstars who take the stage, makes for the happiest of hours.
The Herald, May 13th 2019
ends
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