Tron Theatre, Glasgow
Four Stars
Once upon a time, it felt like Dario Fo's anti-capitalist classic was
common fare on Scotland’s stages in every sense. The 1970s sex comedy styled
soundtrack that opens Johnny McKnight's new take on the play might suggest a
retro style revisitation, but in truth, McKnight's pop culture peppered update
of Joseph Farrell's translation couldn't be more of the moment.
It's not just the everyday thrill of looting the local supermarket that
makes Julie Wilson Nimmo's Toni and Sally Reid's Maggie such a vitally gallus
double act in Rosalind Sydney's production for Glasgow Life in association with
the Tron as part of the theatre's Mayfesto season. Nor is it the street-smart
references to everyone from Ally McCoist to Judy Murray as Toni and Maggie
attempt to hide their booty from their seemingly more conformist
men-folk.
For all the run-around of Toni and Maggie’s increasingly desperate
measures to try and keep their born-again barricade-jumping on the down-low in
the face of Itxaso Moreno’s comedy coppers, ultimately it’s the anarchic joie
de vivre in standing up to power that carries the play. We might never get to
see the rioting on the streets going on beyond Jessica Brettle’s living room
set, but as it intermittently lights up like a quiz show, the infectiousness of
collective action and its aphrodisiac thrill is clear.
Despite the fun and games of the comic interplay, both between Reid and
Wilson Nimmo, and Gavin Jon Wright and Thierry Mabonga as their drippy spouses,
Gio and Louis, Sydney’s take on the play is less manic than some might expect. This
less cartoon-like approach works in the play’s favour, lending it a power that
is sometimes over-ridden by pure knockabout. As Wilson Nimmo’s call to arms at
the end of the play make clear, however, the revolutionary beast, once woken at
grassroots level, is unlikely to put up with being talked down to anymore.
The Herald, May 7th 2019
ends
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