Rough Island
Oran Mor, Glasgow
* * * *
They’ve travelled only as far as Inchgarvie, a fictional island not far from their home in Motherwell, and even when posh punk Joanne manages to track down the concert on her giant ghetto-blaster, their views on the music being played there often border on the contemptuous.
As the play begins, the level of aggression and nastiness simmering among the four characters – Joanne, her best friend Sharon, Sharon’s bullying boyfriend Gary, and Gary’s hopeless wee brother Stephen – seems excessive, even repellent.
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Hide AdGary’s hair-trigger violence is frightening, Joanne and Sharon exchange savage insults, and everyone mocks poor Stephen, brilliantly played by Barrie Hunter in a wig and school uniform.
As the play unfolds though, McCartney’s grip on the big themes of the 1980s – the death of heavy industry, the arrival of an age of individualism that these kids both reject and embody – begins to shape a compelling drama; a tragedy in miniature that offers a powerful snapshot of a generation haunted by change, as Alasdair McCrone’s production sets off on a Highland tour, alongside last year’s Oran Mor show Doras Duinte.
• Rough Island is at Oran Mor until today, and on tour throughout the Highlands and Islands until 8 March. (Seen on 3.2.14)