The Pavilion, Glasgow
Four stars
When a country celebrates itself, it is a show of confidence and strength. When it does it too much, it’s probably time to worry. As the all singing, all dancing comic troupe delivering Scott Gilmour and Claire McKenzie’s irreverent potted history of Caledonia in song suggests from the off, however, this is Scotland. It does things differently. Most of the time, anyway.
Jemima Levick’s production begins and ends in the toilet, that centre of the universe from whence all manner of human waste is purged. It is also one of Scotland’s many great inventions. Here, this monumental porcelain pan immortalised as something more regal on Kenny Miller’s set manifests itself in the flesh by way of the lanky form of Tyler Collins. Dressed like a giant baseball capped condom in Saltire patterned pants, Collins becomes our host for the evening in a fast moving compendium of selected high and low lights from Scotland’s last 1200 years.
Like Horrible Histories for grown-ups, this takes us from Picts, Gaels and the reign of King Kenneth, all the way up to a devolved contemporary Scotland that finally got its Parliament, if not full self-determination. Inbetween, we breeze through the folly of the Darien project, the 1707 Act of Union, the belated legalisation of homosexuality and beyond. If this sounds like heavy weather, think again, as the seven actors on stage give things the air and attitude of a 1970s political cabaret by way of a proper old school variety show.
There is a justifiable emphasis on putting some of the women who helped shape the nation back into the picture. This is done at the end of the first half in a roll call of unsung Scottish heroines led by nineteenth century scientific genius Mary Somerville, currently the face of the Scottish ten-pound note.
The epic litany of fellow travellers reeled off by Katie Barnett, Yana Harris and Star Penders puts the girl power in power ballads. This continues in the second half with a hilarious routine about Annie Gibbons, the woman who had inside toilets put in Glasgow tenements in the early 1970s.
Richard Conlon, Connor Going and Lawrence Smith complete the ensemble in a show expanded from its original form as part of A Play, a Pie and a Pint’s lunchtime theatre initiative. This is soundtracked by Jenny Clifford on guitar, musical director Isaac Savage on piano and drummer Audrey Tait.
While there is definitely much to applaud here across the centuries as well as take the rise out of, at points you wish .the show’s satirical elements could go beyond knockabout fun. There are elements too of Scotland the Brand style sentimentalism that sound not unlike a Visit Scotland promo in waiting. Despite this, Levick’s production, presented by Raw Material in association with Greenock’s Beacon Arts Centre, is a riotous romp through Scotland’s back pages well worth flicking through.
The Herald, March 20th 2026
ends
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