The final addition to the main auditorium at Pitlochry is often found to be a hidden gem as the summer season enters its last few weeks.
With a short run of only ten performances, it is often the time to experiment with a contribution away from the mainstream. And what better than a world premiere to test actors and audience alike?
After breathing new life into the Monarch of the Glen at Pitlochry (award winning farce in 2017), playwright Peter Arnott returns to give birth to another Scottish-based play set in a Perthshire country house during the Scottish Independence referendum of 2014.
George Rennie, a former academic with heavy Labour leanings, has invited family and former students to his retirement party — the only thing missing from the invitation being the word “disaster”.
After all, George and his wife, Edie, are not love’s young dream, and he has invited their daughter’s former partner and his very pregnant girlfriend. Dominating the whole scenario is the spiritual presence of their dead son Will.
The other kind of spirit fuels an evening of strong political opinions and arguments before the real reason for the gathering is dramatically revealed.
While lacking the political bite of Hector McMillan’s The Sash from the 1970s, this more secular theme nevertheless takes an honoured place on the shelf of home-based drama which also includes a generous proportion of Arnott’s humour.
David Greig, playwright and artistic director of Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum, directs this piece with particular attention to sound and lighting to extract every ghostly nuance.
The nine-strong cast is admirably led by John Michie as the world-weary Rennie and Deirdre Davis as his distraught wife.
An abundance of angst and excess of emotion is beautifully-handled by Sally Reid, as daughter Emma, along with Keith Macpherson (Frank), Patricia Panther (Frank’s fiancee), Matthew Trevannion (Charlie) and Nalini Chetty (Charlie’s ‘assistant’).
Benny Young, as family friend Moon, revels in most of the humour.
Robbie Scott is riveting as the ever-present but dead Will — sometimes robotic with excellent lip-syncing of other characters and great support from the special effects team.
Lighting (Simon Wilkinson) and sound (Pippa Murphy) added value to the atmosphere with an eclectic sound track ranging from a foreign version of Hotel California to
Mountain Greenery, although balance between music and speaking voice was sometimes challenging.
The flexible set with a magnificent backdrop of rolling hills was designed by Jessica Worrall.
This co-production with The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh continues in Pitlochry until September 28, then transfers to Edinburgh from October 4-14.
