UK Theatre Network

A classic Glaswegian play finds itself back home on this new tour, and received the welcome of an old friend in it’s Glasgow opening night audience.

Much of the appeal of The Steamie lies in the fantastic script by Tony Roper. As with his recent works (the wonderful Celts in Seville being of particular note) this play is observational, caustic and full of wonderful “parliamo Glasgow” terminology where the author has created well rounded characters whose appeal is not in their glamour or appearance, but their good humour and loyal natures.

The Steamie characters – Dolly, Magrit, Doreen and Mrs Culfeathers feel like old friends to most Scots, who have watched the televised version of this play many a Hogmanay on TV. This makes it a tough gig for any actress to take on these iconic roles, without trying to mimic the previous performances that are known so well. Leading the way on this front was Maureen Carr as Dolly. Excellent comic timing combined with an intelligent physicality brought this character believably to life, which is some feat considering the flights of fancy this character gets carried away with. Jacqueline Hughes, making her Scottish debut, was a sweet and naive Doreen, with a singing voice to match. Her lilting spoken voice worked well against the harsher tones of the older female characters, and helped create the imagery of the plans that she dreamt of, making this young actress one to watch for the future.

Kay Gallie, making a return to the role of Mrs Culfeathers, shows why she is in such demand in both TV and theatre. Knowing just how long to hold a comic pause for effect requires a lot of experience and Kay Gallie has that in spades. Her interpretation of the frail, hardworking older woman had the audience moved to tears, at times with sheer emotion and also with laughter. The “Top Dog” of this group is Magrit – Julie Austin got a lot of laughs here as she had a great delivery of the comic put-downs. It would have been nice if she had been asked to provide more light and shade in the role, so that the emotional sections hit home more. I think this is down to direction, as Alison Peebles seemed to be driving to make sure every laugh was “wrung-out” from this production. This did not make the comic bits seem forced, actually much the opposite, but this same interest did not seem to be shown to the sentimental or emotional moments of this clever play. David McGowan did try to make the most of the role of Andy, however his “drunk” scenes seemed to be a little too “Rab C Nesbitt” to be believable.

Dave Anderson’s songs still stand the test of time, again due to the classic Glasgow patter used in the lyrics – “ a swagger that wid dry a washin’” being a particular favourite of mine – but it didn’t really work to see some singing and non-singing cast trying to put these harmonies together.

All in all, it is great to see The Steamie back on the stage, but it does look like it maybe needs another rinse and a bit of an iron to get it back to it’s former sparkling glory. That said it is still a hugely funny and entertaining piece of theatre, and for Maureen Carr’s alone, especially during and after the “Galloway’s Mince” section, it is well worth the ticket price.

Listings Info:

Mon 2^nd – Sat 7^th November

Tue – Sat eves 7.30pm

Wed, Thurs & Sat Mat 2.30pm

Audio described performance Thu 5 Nov 7.30pm

Tickets: £10 - £25

Box Office: 0870 060 6647          www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow