Showing @ Eastwood Park Theatre, Giffnock, Fri 28 Feb only, then touring
Scotland 2014, year of the Referendum. A period when momentous decisions will be made on the future of the nation, so it is timely that the creators of Rantin choose now to explore what Scotland means to its population.
A beleaguered drunk on the Methil seafront; a Palestinian woman traveling on the bus to her first day of work as a cleaner; a Port Glasgow, teenage supermarket checkout girl obsessed with the Luddites and an American man with a one-way ticket to Prestwick to discover the land of his fore-fathers, are a few of the characters we meet in this drama, gig, ceilidh hybrid. Interlaced with songs in the great Scottish folk tradition this is an evening full of heart and soul, albeit with a few flaws.
There’s variation in the effectiveness of the monologues throughout the piece, some are a little self-conscious and certain stereotypes have been thoroughly exploited here, but it is performed with such conviction that any flaws are easily forgiven and the music that accompanies it is in turn both stirring and beautiful. There’s an engaging warmth from the performers too, co-creators: theatre maker Kieran Hurley, playwright and performer Julia Taudevin, and musicians Gav Prentice and Wounded Knee‘s Drew Wright, making the audience feel fully invested in the stories being told.
There’s an air of something magical about the whole event, absorbing, atmospheric, lyrical and beguiling, it will send you back into the cold evening air with a fuzzy feeling inside and a few new thoughts about what it means to be Scottish. It also shows that even in the most unlikely of places – an unprepossessing community hall in a city suburb – magic can still happen. A worthwhile and thoroughly engaging evening.