A delve into the passionate, absurd, and all-consuming nature of music fandom during one’s formative years

Adapted and directed by Graham Eatough from David Keenan’s cult novel, This is Memorial Device is a one-man show that ingeniously incorporates four additional cast members through on-screen performances projected upstage. The protagonist Ross Raymond, portrayed by Paul Higgins, energetically and vividly investigates the fictional history of the 1980s post-punk scene in Airdrie. He is aided digitally by characters Andrea Anderson, Miriam McCluskie, David Kilpatrick, and Monica Lawson, whose lives were profoundly affected by the punk rock band ‘Memorial Device’. Also, Martin Quinn, as the band’s lead guitarist, Big Patty, makes his flamboyant presence felt through a cassette tape interview conducted by Ross Raymond. 

The performances are grounded, charming, and authentic, making the audience feel privy to audacious secrets and stories, or a vulnerable and unique stream of consciousness. Martin Clark’s video design allows the audience to get close to these characters, despite them not performing live physically on stage. The documentary-style videos provide a sense of intimacy, as the audience can see the pores of the characters’ skin, the blush of their cheeks, and the flicker or swell of their eyes as memories are reawakened. This adds to the concept of Ross unpacking and revisiting memories as a mature fanboy, and the simultaneous distance and closeness between himself now, and the “glory years” then. 

Higgin’s engaging and enthralling storytelling makes the audience understand how much the band’s impact reverberated through the local community, even in small yet equally valid ways. Kally Lloyd Jone’s movement direction gives Higgin’s performance the physicality and stylistic expression of the hysteria, exhilaration, and immediacy that the show’s music creates. Nigel Edward’s effervescent lighting choices capture the crazy, radical, reckless, buzzing, and unfiltered atmosphere during the 80s’ flashbacks. Anna Orton’s set design, with the stage cluttered with memorabilia kept for decades in Ross’s basement, as well as amps and guitars, transforms the stage from a grungy and shadowy storage space into a dome and sanctuary for nostalgia and punk rock – a beautiful, bittersweet medley of emotions and youth. 

The music by Stephen Pastel and Gavin Thomson ignites This is Memorial Device with its eclectic, hard-edged melodies and anti-establishment messaging. Gavin Thomson helped with the spectacular aural hypnotism with his sound design and enveloped the audience in the electrifying atmosphere that Ross misses. The deconstructed mannequins that cleverly represent ‘Memorial Device’ are assembled by Higgins from parts found in cardboard storage boxes. Two mannequins represent Big Patty (wearing shades and a tattered top hat), the drummer Richard dressed more smartly, and the brain-injured lyricist Lucas is represented by a tripod, creating a visual divide between him and the others. Lucas has his own “memorial device” – a notebook to recount what happened the day prior. The character distinctions are clear, but their differences interestingly complement each other in the band. Rather grimly, Ross now retrospectively worships Lucas, understanding with time, life experience, and wisdom what Lucas was getting at with his improvised songs onstage and his initially nonsensical scribblings.

The choice of using mannequins instead of people is also well conceived because it harkens back to what ‘Memorial Device’ did to attract attention to passersby in their supposed heyday. However, it also highlights how Higgins is alone in his basement using objects to help piece together his own memories, musical and social dreams and fantasies, giving him comfort from what slice of that he had in the past. In sum, Graham Eatough’s This is Memorial Device is a stimulating, riveting theatrical adaptation of and celebration of local and personal history, heritage, and music. It also contrastingly explores the desired absolute abandonment of the past and the ability to live for the present day, with music serving as a spiritual awakening that we are all invited to participate in.