Theatre reviews: The Events | Glasgow Kiss

The EventsThe Events
The Events | Mihaela Bodlovic
In a new production of The Events at Cumbernauld Theatre, David Greig’s play seems even more timely and compelling than it did when it was first performed a decade ago, writes Joyce McMillan

The Events, Cumbernauld Theatre ★★★★

Glasgow Kiss, Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow ★★★

Mass shootings by lone gunmen are still far more common in the United States than elsewhere. Yet still, the fear of sudden deadly violence directed against specific groups increasingly haunts our society; and when far-right sympathiser Anders Breivik unleashed his murderous 2011 shooting and bombing attack in normally peaceful Norway - killing 77 people, most of them teenagers at a trade union summer camp - the playwright David Greig was moved to begin work on his play The Events, first seen at the Traverse Theatre in 2013.

Now, The Events has been revived in a new production by Wonder Fools of Glasgow and Cumbernauld Theatre; and if anything it seems even more timely and compelling now than it did a decade ago. Greig’s play tells its story through a single central character - a woman priest, Claire, who has survived a murderous shooting attack during a rehearsal of her community choir - and her interactions with a range of other characters, including her partner, her doctor, and the boy shooter himself, who are all played by the same actor.

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The play has a vital third element, though; and that is the community choir itself, which comes together from the community where the play is being produced to carry the emotional weight of a story which is about terrible fear, despair and loss, but also about the human capacity for recovery and rebirth, not least through music and song.

At Cumbernauld, all of this is beautifully realised in Jack Nurse’s heartfelt and haunting production, staged on a superb set built from church hall stacking-chairs by designer Becky Minto, and stunningly lit by Lizzie Powell. The Events is not an easy play; over 90 minutes, it follows Claire’s journey into some dark, fragmented and deeply irrational places.

Yet Claire Lamont as Claire, and Sam Stopford as the boy and other characters, handle this complex material with immense skill and clarity, leaving us to brood on the questions that haunt Claire about why a young man would resort to such violence; and they are supported at by a magnificent 14-strong choir drawn from the communities of North Lanarkshire, its voice and presence resounding with warmth, humour and common sense, and offering hope, even after such a terrifying encounter with human violence and hatred, at its lethal worst.

Glasgow KissGlasgow Kiss
Glasgow Kiss | Mark F Gibson / Gibson Digital

There’s also strong sense of community surrounding Davie Carswell’s new tribute musical Glasgow Kiss at the Pavilion in Renfield Street. Here, though the community is a whole city, drawn together by its own recent history as the home of a generation and more of mighty rock bands, from Texas and Blue Nile to Deacon Blue.

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Adopting a similar style to Stephen Greenhorn’s Sunshine On Leith, Glasgow Kiss tells the story of James, a long-lost Glaswegian who has spent 20 successful years working in London, but returns home for a family funeral. Over two acts of an hour each, he reconnects with his family, with the oddball company of regulars in his local pub, and with his lost Glasgow love, who couldn’t cope with their long distance relationship; and at every step his journey is punctuated by songs, both familiar and relatively little known.

In truth, the story is fairly run-of-the-mill stuff, and little more than a peg on which to hang not only the songs, but some entertaining song-and-dance pub scenes, and a cheerfully upbeat vision of a tolerant 21st century Glasgow. Yet with music that ranges from Franz Ferdinand’s Take Me Out to a rousing final chorus of Simple Minds’ Don’t You Forget About Me, it’s difficult for Ruairidh Forde’s vivid and energetic production to go far wrong; and backed by talented 11-strong company of actor-singers, Stephen Arden turns in a suitably thoughtful and compelling performance as our hero James, in a show that should have a bright commercial future, following its successful Pavilion run.

The Events at Cumbernauld Theatre and Glasgow Kiss at the Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, both run until 5 October

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