Touring nationally, click here to see schedule, including stops in Glasgow
Black Watch author Gregory Burke’s breakthrough swear-y leftie soul-searching comedy-thriller Gagarin Way is the production chosen by Rapture Theatre Company for their latest, tenth anniversary tour, coming to a theatre or community centre near you. With the company and the play exactly the same age, and with economic uncertainty and political agitation back to the fore now in 2011, this outing offers the opportunity to reflect on how contemporary this contemporary Scottish play still is, or (perhaps) is not.
This four-men-in-one-room chamber piece, set in a Dunfermline factory, depicting the kidnapping of a visiting managerial-level consultant by two workers, one an aggressive young git, the other an embittered, overworked middle-aged leftie of the revolutionary socialist variety, demonstrates Burke’s skill at balancing the collisions of political rhetoric, dark humour and masculine bravado. While the kidnappers initially seem to be on the same page, confusion and disagreement over what their real objectives are quickly emerges, while a naive young politics graduate working as a security guard provides a semi-Blairite “third way” perspective on left and right. Amidst all the verbal sparring and looming threats of violence, notes of nostalgia for the activism and optimism of Fife’s old working class left emerge, epitomised by the mention of Gagarin Way, named in the 1950s after the Soviet cosmonaut and a reminder of the quaint optimism of the time.
The performances of Rapture’s ensemble are engaging and credible, and this particular outing is arguably topical given the current political climate. However, Rapture’s entertaining production plays up the farce at the expense of any serious tension, and Burke’s text emphasises the problems of reconfiguring revolutionary socialism in a global economy, where “ya dinnae ken who the fuck’s in charge,” rather than providing any solutions. As a result of these factors, it’s hard not to find the message that emerges from the heart of this play ultimately rather nihilistic and slightly out of sync with the contemporary mood now that, after two decades in the doldrums, the Left is finding its popular voice again.