Tommy McMillan believes that 28 consecutive years of unemployment is a great achievement, "the work of a lifetime". Then he is finally forced on to a government training for work scheme. This turns out to be a chance to escape from the high flats, the mysterious Big Fat Jackie's bronchitis and the constant pressurising of the housing association about the chronic mould. Read more …
Featuring trouserless bankers, talking dogs, flying taxis and a razor-sharp parody of the workings of Scottish politics, Iain Heggie's outrageous Fringe First winning comedy King of Scotland is rewritten and revived to coincide with the Scottish elections with Jonathan Watson of Only An Excuse as Tommy.
As Watson’s painfully hangdog Tommy moves from being a quietly menacing but harmless bam to a full-on care-in-the-community case, this dryly observed study of political and social disenfranchisement appears to be troublingly telling.
[Jonathan Watson] has the right comic timing and feel for the west-coast rhythms of Heggie’s script and scores many a laugh but, in the playwright’s own production, he declines to go down the route of sketch-show caricature.
It is a touching interpretation, but it means the production – directed by the playwright – is muted as comedy and too ribald for serious drama.
Tron Theatre, Glasgow from Tuesday May 10, 2011, until Saturday May 14, 2011. More info: www.tron.co.uk
Assembly @ Assembly Hall, Edinburgh from Thursday August 4, 2011, until Sunday August 28, 2011. More info: www.assemblyfestival.com/
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