Gemma Patchett
PPP: Pushin’ Thirty
★★★☆☆ Delicate
Traverse: Tue 19 – Sat 23 Mar 2024
Review by Hugh Simpson
Pushin’ Thirty at the Traverse is a delicate and evocative piece that does not always convince.
PPP: Bread & Breakfast
★★☆☆☆ Spirited performances
Bread & Breakfast by Kirsty Halliday, this week’s Play, Pie and a Pint at the Traverse, moves away from the usual monologue or two-handed fare into the honourable tradition of misunderstandings, falling over and sticking your foot in a bucket.
PPP: Disfunction
★★☆☆☆ Confusing
Disfunction by Kate Bowen and directed by Lu Kemp, the last in the Traverse’s current season of Òran Mór’s A Play, A Pie and A Pint, is a lively but ultimately puzzling piece.
PPP: Meetings With The Monk
★★★★☆ Imaginative possibilities
Meetings With The Monk, the latest Play, Pie and a Pint from Òran Mór and the Traverse, is a beautifully considered and tremendously well-staged play.
PPP: Stay
★★★☆☆ Engaging
Stay, the latest Play, Pie and a Pint from Òran Mór at the Traverse, is a tuneful and emotional piece.
PPP: The Sheriff of Kalamaki
★★★★☆ Impressive
This week’s A Play, a Pie and a Pint from Òran Mór at the Traverse, The Sheriff of Kalamaki by Douglas Maxwell is another tale of mismatched siblings, this time played by the real-life McCole brothers.
PPP: Coast
★★★★☆ Touching
Coast, the latest offering at the Traverse from A Play, A Pie and A Pint (co-presented with Òran Mór), is a wonderfully judged and absorbing drama.
PPP: Ship Rats
★★★☆☆ Energetic
Ship Rats by Alice Clark, the first in the latest series of A Play, A Pie and A Pint at the Traverse (co-presented with Òran Mór) is a pacy and intriguing work. There are undoubtedly problems with the play, but the vigour and acuity of the production go a long way towards compensating for them.
PPP: The Spark
★★★★☆ Fiery
The Spark by Kathy McKean, the final offering in the current Traverse run of Oran Mor’s Play, Pie and a Pint, is a clever and compelling piece of theatre.
PPP: Variant
★★★★☆ Unsettling
There is a pleasing intransigence to Variant by Peter Arnott, the latest Play, Pie and a Pint from Oran Mor at the Traverse and Arnott’s fiftieth professionally produced play.
