Anna Burnside reviews an ‘underdeveloped’ production at this week’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint.
Jordan and Russell, two flat-sharing drag queen besties, are going to see Beyonce at Murrayfield. This trip to see Queen Bey has been decades in the making. A four-figure sum has been saved for tickets and merch. Anticipation is at fever pitch.
Until Jordan’s Grindr hook-up steals the tickets from the shrine in the living room.
To get to Murrayfield, Jordan has to face down the trauma caused by being attacked after a drag queen children’s story session. First, reporting the theft at the police station, then by performing in a dress and wig again.
The idea is not a terrible one, and writer JD Stewart is at his strongest exploring the idea of found family that is at the heart of the gay community.
But the storyline about Jordan’s attack is poorly set up and there’s an underdeveloped subplot about his ex-husband’s wedding. The ending is as predictable as death and taxes.
James Peake warms up as Russell, serving bao buns to support his pal through bad times. As Jordan, Jamie McKillop has more to do and is less convincing while doing it. Kaylah Copeland, playing a drag king and sub-Village People cop, garbles her lines.
There is a feel-good show in here somewhere, but director Laila Noble fails to find it.
You Won’t Break My Soul performs at Oran Mor’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint until June 14, 2025. For further details, go to their website.
Photo by Eoin Carey.
RSS