Leslie Black PhotographyThis is comedy with a serious centre. Peter has become so exhausted by the daily demands of contemporary living (endless re-structuring at work, daily commute, emails, consumer choice, CCTV, terrorist threats etc etc) that, as soon as he arrives home, he goes straight to bed. Read more …
This is not how it used to be when Maggie fell in love with him. Back then they had dreams, and they had each other. Now he just sleeps.
Sweet Dreams is a decent enough slice of comedy agitprop, perhaps best summed up under the Blur album title: Modern Life Is Rubbish. Or Western, consumer capitalism life at least. But the hobby horses Butlin rides here seem overly familiar, and much less significant than the calls for political change showcased in Oran Mor's recent Arab Spring season.
Butlin seems to have few ideas about how to drive the story forward through action; he attempts some mild absurdism, complete with rhyming advertising slogans, and then eventually falls silent. Yet Anita Vettesse and Greg Powrie deliver two fine, light-touch performances; and if the play often seems to be going nowhere, the characters remain memorable, long after the last pint has been drunk, and the last pie eaten.
A Play, a Pie and a Pint, Glasgow from Monday May 28, 2012, until Saturday June 2, 2012. More info: http://playpiepint.com
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