Lorna Irvine reviews the 'intelligent and worthwhile' production at Oran Mor.
It is the minutiae in post-crime that makes you shudder—the mundane stuff that's left of a person: clothes, letters, dust, ornaments; the detritus of a life and examining that stuff within the framework of what happened to them.
Acclaimed author of the macabre Denise Mina's forensic eye for detail is cast over the chilling true story of Peter Manuel, the rapist and serial killer who was the second-last man to be hanged in Barlinnie Prison in 1958.
Played with great swagger by Andy Gray (wonderful to see him cast against type, there is no cheeky chappy here), Mina's script fills in the hellish gaps in the killer's life. Less assured is Callum Cuthbertson's performance as William Watt, who meets up with Manuel in seedy backrooms and restaurants to glean information on who killed his wife, teenage daughter and sister-in-law. Soon, it becomes abundantly clear that Manuel is a fantasist with delusions of grandeur and an ugly streak of misogynistic intent in his eyes. Manuel and Watt's relationship shifts from trust to mistrust to Watt's slow, stomach-churning realisation that Manuel is a psychopath.
Shadow play and the sound of laboured, terrified breathing punctuate each scene, with Andrew Cowan's sound effects worthy of full credit and Patrick McGurn's noirish visuals an unsettling contrast.
The last few minutes, when the lights dim, are truly sickening. There is, understandably, tentative applause. Not an easy experience, nor one I would like to repeat, but intelligent and worthwhile nonetheless.
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