Òran Mór, Glasgow
Five stars
When a young woman turns up on the steps of the Brussels courthouse intent on putting the state on trial for crimes against women, the odds of victory look hopeless. The woman’s name is Lune, and as her determination makes clear as she sets herself in for the long haul, she isn’t going anywhere.
We are initially told this retrospectively in Belgian writer Pamela Ghislain’s play by Gabriel, the high flying alpha male lawyer who took on her case pro bono. As Lune comes up against the system in the formof the court’s initially officious administrator Darya, her refusal to budge from the steps turns her into a cause celebre. She also becomes a target for the sort of male violence she quietly rails against. This is something the play’s harrowing central monologue in Katherine Mendelsohn’s forensically clear translation makes agonisingly clear.
Wils Wilson’s searing production for A Play, a Pie and a Pint’s lunchtime theatre season lets events in Ghislain’s meticulously constructed play tell a story of how women are treated by society. This is played out on the scuffed steps of Izzy Gough’s classical looking set onto which Joe Miles’ street smart video work is projected. Lune’s martyrdom is commented on by a babble of anonymous voices, with each scene punctuated by the wordless chorales of Luke Sutherland’s score voiced by Freya Nankivell.
As Lune makes the ultimate statement in Kim Allan’s steely and often silent performance, we see the effects of the damage that pushed her to try and hold the powerful to account. With Nalini Chetty’s Darya forever on call and Andrew Rothney’s restless Gabriel receiving attention as Lune’s spokesperson, their lives too are affected by Lune’s stance.
First seen in Belgium in 2023 and troublingly up to the minute, Ghislain’s play is a fiercely intelligent study of societal violence delivered with ferocious intent. It is also a reminder of the rich seam of international drama that used to be a vital part of Scotland’s theatre ecology before the world changed.
Ghislain’s vital call to action needs to be seen by as wide an audience as possible. Scotland’s major producing houses should be lining up to get Wilson’s production on to their stages to ensure that is the case.
The Herald, October 22nd 2026
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