In the original myth, King Midas was cursed to turn everything he touched to gold.
But in new play This Is A Gift, on now at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, the myth is updated to present day Leith.
I went to see for myself if This Is A Gift delivered on its title.
What is it?
This Midas tale, reimagined by playwright Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir, takes place not from the perspective of Midas himself – in this case an unnamed Leith shop owner and single father with not a lot of money – but from that of his daughter Zoe instead.
Zoe helps her dad tend to a man they find passed out on their doorstep when she gets back from a drunken night out.
This man, Silvain, has a friend named Dennis, who it turns out can grant wishes.
He grants one for Zoe’s dad by way of thanks, but turning everything you touch into gold and being unable to control that power wouldn’t be much fun, as we discover.
Come for:
The opportunity to see a real change of pace for Pitlochry, which is more usually known for its big, main stage adaptations of classics, like this year’s summer season takes on Grease and The Great Gatsby.
Instead, this is a one-woman monologue performed in Pitlochry’s intimate studio space by actor Blythe Jandoo.
She delivers a relevant and contemporary piece of writing with a balance of tenderness and urgency under Sam Hardie’s direction.
Stay for:
The opportunity to enjoy the promising first major playwright production by Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir. Icelandic, but based in Edinburgh for many years, Sigfúsdóttir has already picked up a Critics’ Award for Theatre in Scotland nomination for her work at the Tron in Glasgow.
Although some of the other character’s backgrounds and motivations aren’t made clear, Sigfúsdóttir’s portrait of Zoe is compelling, as a young working class woman with concerns about her post-school future and her father’s money problems.
Avoid if:
You’re a cat lover, because that golden cat statue on the poster… well, it’s no statue, as the eeriest scene demonstrates.
Verdict:
3/5 stars.
This is a Gift is at Pitlochry Festival Theatre until Thursday September 11 2025.
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