Anna Burnside reviews a production that proves to be ‘a lot of fun’.
Sean and Davie are wee guys from the scheme. They start off watching films together then end up in the jail together.
It’s a tale as old as time, but writers Stephen Christopher and Graeme Smith freshen it up with a strong and well-conceived film conceit. Davie, the gallus one played with huge charm by Sean Connor, loves movies.
Not arthouse pish - I’m paraphrasing here - where nothing happens. (To this end there is a great Ken Loach joke.) Proper blockbusters with cyborgs, car chases and actual heroes.
So, when Davie overdoses after being released, his ghost is straight back to haunt Sean - a sweet, diffident Afton Moran - and bully him into organising a cinematic funeral.
It must be a burial, not a cremation. Davie’s fear of fire is a running joke, although the payoff when it’s revealed which film has sparked this phobia, is badly underplayed.
Thanks to Jake Sleet’s zingy direction, this is a lot of fun. A cracking pace and high gag count give the moments of pathos real emotional punch. When Davie, tangled in the red tape of trying to organise his best friend’s epic send off, from jail, without any money, finally meets someone who treats him with humanity, the audience practically sighs with relief.
Ruaridh Murray does a lot of heavy lifting as the big-hearted funeral director, as well as a casually nasty prison officer and the wing’s kimono-wearing Mr Big.
The finale is slightly lost on a reviewer who prefers films without car chases, but The Legend of Davie McKenzie is a blockbuster on its own terms.
The Legend of Davie McKenzie performs at Oran Mor’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint until March 7, 2026. It then transfers to the Traverse Theatre from March 2-7.
Photo by Tommy Ga-Ken Wan.
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