Coffee-Table Notes

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh Four stars The party looks like it might never end at the start of James Meteyard’s play, a street-smart spoken-word hip-hopera set to Maimuna Memon’s live score played by Wildcard Theatre’s cast of six. For Jessie, the young woman at the heart of the show, however, the come-down, when it kicks in, sends her on the run from her friends in Leeds to a London where she chases some kind of salvation. This comes initially through sweet-voiced singer Allie Touch, though crashing out in a warehouse is merely a stopping-off point before she embarks on a manic search for her mother.      What initially looks like a dysfunctional post-Skins rave-up in Donnacadh O’Briain’s production rapidly evolves into a far more urgent rush of everyday psychosis as Jessie attempts to come to terms with her losses. That she does this with the help of the friends she almost left behind speaks volumes about where the play is coming from in terms of surrounding yourself with

Brunton Theatre, Musselburgh Four stars Things are stirring in the boot room in Patrick Marber’s play about the tug of love and money that exists at ground level in the so-called beautiful game. What happens on the football field may be what counts to the fans, but winning and losing is just as important behind the scenes too. This is especially the case for those in charge of non-league club the Red Lions, who already sound like socialist heroes regardless of the result, with all the inherent contradictions that entails. The face of the old-school people’s game comes through Johnny Yates, a one-time local hero who sustains his devotion to the club ironing the players’ shirts, all the while keeping an eye out for the next golden boy. Flamboyant club manager Jimmy Kidd is also out to find stars of the future, but is only interested in making a buck on the back of selling them off to a bigger club. Both men find their dream striker in Jordan, the seemingly incorruptible ingénu

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