Macrobert Arts Centre, Stirling
Four stars
When you fall down a hole it takes a devil to get you back on your feet. This is the case in James Robertson’s Booker Prize long listed 2006 novel, adapted for the stage by Matthew Zajac for the Highland based Dogstar company. Kevin Lennon’s eponymous Gideon is a free thinking son of the manse, who, for want of something else to believe in, finds himself occupying the pulpit of the Kirk in small town Monimaskit, where temptation lurks in every pew.
As we rewind on Gideon’s coming of age, from questioning teenager to Edinburgh student before settling in small town Monimasket with his young wife Jenny, world events beyond his bubble crackle through radio headlines. Margaret Thatcher’s second term as Prime Minister, The Falklands War and the Miner’s Strike are all in the mix. When Gideon disappears for three days after falling down a gorge, any threat of gritty realist nostalgia is tossed aside as we enter more metaphysical waters.
Gideon’s saviour is a vision in a black leather jacket and a sardonic demeanour to match. His claims to be the Devil are given credence when he fixes Gideon’s leg. Gideon’s epiphany once he finally surfaces from his private hell underground weirdly restores his faith, presuming he ever had it. Whether mid life crisis in the face of his loss or else a genuine wake up call isn’t clear, but Gideon is bedazzled either way.
This makes for a heroic performance by Lennon in Meghan de Chastelain’s busy production, his sparring with Zajac – perhaps tellingly playing Gideon’s dog-collared dad as well as the Devil – drives the play as it burls around Kenneth MacLeod’s fast moving set. The rest of the cast includes a fantastic Molly Innes as Gideon’s mother, with Blythe Jandoo, Katya Searle, Fraser Sivewright, Rebecca Wilkie and Antony Strachan doubling up as assorted neighbours, lovers and other strangers.
A ritualistic air prevails throughout by way of Sasha Harrington’s movement direction, Kate Bonney’s sepulchral mood lighting and Aidan O’Rourke’s mournful fiddle score in an epic excavation of the heart and soul of Scotland’s possibly lapsed spiritual psyche.
The Herald, February 24th 2025
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