PPP: Miss Lockwood Isn’t Well

★★★☆☆     Patchy

Traverse Theatre: Tues 31 Mar – Sat 4 Apr 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson

Miss Lockwood Isn’t Well by James Reilly, the last of the Spring season of Òran Mór’s Play, A Pie and A Pint productions at the Traverse, is an intriguing comedy that contains some moments which misfire.

Alice Lockwood’s Primary 5 pupils at the Catholic school where she teaches have been told that she isn’t well, but she disagrees. All that’s happened is that a procession of saints have appeared in her classroom, visible only to her. They have given her useful if banal advice on where to find missing earrings, or what dish of the day might give you stomach trouble.

Unfortunately, it’s all escalated past the patron saints of food poisoning or barbecues into full-blown visions, and now she’s not allowed to teach – or at least not until a doctor says she’s fit to work. Alice’s parish priest, meanwhile, might be a help to her, or might be more interested in how her experiences conflict with established doctrine.

There’s some interesting stuff in here about religion and personal belief, but it takes a long time to get going. The climax, meanwhile, shows every sign of a writer who wasn’t sure how to end things. The result is almost guaranteed to puzzle audiences (and not necessarily in a good way).

sparring partner

In between, there’s considerable fun, much of it provided by Mark Cox (best known as Still Game’s Tam) as Father Mackin. Not as sympathetic to Alice’s miraculous experiences as might be expected, the character gets most of the best one-liners. Jane McCarry, Cox’s old sparring partner from the sitcom and much else besides, has a leaner time of it as Dr Freer. The character is not as fleshed out as it might be, despite McCarry’s best efforts.

Similarly, there isn’t enough in the character of Alice for us to truly believe in her situation, which starts off as rather ridiculous and doesn’t get any more plausible. Karen Young does have a real sincerity, however, which helps hold things together.

Catriona MacLeod’s direction is sympathetic but lacks pace at times. The time-honoured problem of how to present an interview situation on stage does lead to a swapping of chairs that can be overly mechanical.

plenty of humour

Heather Grace Currie’s kitsch shrine of a set, together with Ross Nurney’s lighting and sound design, provides an arresting backdrop. However, they can also distract at times; the flashing of the light-up crosses, and the religious sound effects, are occasionally intrusive rather than illuminating.

There is no doubt that the production suffers from a script that does not always appear fully realised. However, there is still plenty of humour and commitment on display.

Running time: 50 minutes (no interval)
Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge St, EH1 2ED
Tuesday 31 March – Saturday 4 April 2026
Daily at 1.00 pm
Tickets and details: Book here.

A Play, A Pie and A Pint will be at the Assembly Roxy for a short season in May and June. Details here: Summer Lunching at the Roxy.

ENDS

Tags: A Play A Pie and A Pint, Catriona MacLeod, Heather Grace Currie, Hugh Simpson, James Reilly, Jane McCarry, Karen Young, Lunchtime Theatre, Mark Cox, Miss Lockwood Isn’t Well, Òran Mór, PPP, Review, Ross Nurney, Traverse