Shepherd’s Warning covers a lot of heavy themes, all with an excellent Scottish wit and humour
Slàinte! Theatre is a Scottish and Irish Theatre Company based in London with the aim to champion Scottish and Irish creatives, giving them a platform to be seen and heard. Their newest contribution to London’s theatrical landscape is Shepherd’s Warning by Kari Hall.
Set in a dystopian-esc Edinburgh, Shepherd’s Warning follows the story of three siblings, whose lives were torn apart after they entered the failing care system when their mother was deemed unfit to look after them, due to neglect caused by drug addiction. The play opens at their real mother’s funeral where siblings, Cass (Kari Hall) and David (Ross Barbour) are reunited for the first time in years. Cass is about to go off to Uni and David is making ends meet dealing drugs. We soon find out that there is a third sibling, Beth (Elle O’Hara), whom they manage to track down at the company she works at. This makes for an interesting interaction, as the audience have already met Fraser (Hamish Somers) (Bethany’s husband) as he buys from David, unbeknown to his wife. Bethany and Fraser have it all – the nice house, the good job – however Bethany’s past coming back to haunt her all at once puts a major strain on their relationship. The play goes through the triumphs and tribulations of adult sibling relationships, all whilst being unable to escape an unavoidable truth going on around them – the planet is getting hotter, the Maldives have disappeared, and the planet isn’t showing any sign of stopping and reversing the damage.
The play takes a shift, when environmentally aware Cass ends up accepting a job at Fraser and Bethany’s company (an oil company) thinking she can make a change from the inside, whilst David has turned to Social Media to voice his anger at the climate crisis to the masses. Tensions come to a boiling point, when Cass finds out Fraser has been lying to her about the project they’ve been working on, and Arthur’s seat – a long extinct volcano – erupts causing death and destruction in Scotland. But of course, the oil company had plans in place, and Frazer tries to convince Bethany and their newborn to come with him on a flight to escape. Classically, the rich and powerful have an opportunity of a new life, leaving behind those less fortunate to suffer. Bethany decides to stay with her siblings, and Frazer escapes to freedom with their newborn baby.
Shepherd’s Warning covers a lot of heavy themes, all with an excellent Scottish wit and humour. The play has a very complex and winding plot line, ensuring the audience never knows what is going to happen next. The dialogue is well written, fast paced and drops in just enough humour to keep the audience locked in.
The performances across the board were very strong. Kari Hall’s, Cassie, was feisty, fiery and impassioned, and they had a real presence and tenacity to their performance. Ross Barbour delivered a fantastically raw performance, and brought superb comic timing with his portrayal of David.
Overall, Shepherd’s Warning is a very engaging piece of work. It covers a lot of mammoth topics and themes, and as much as that makes for an interesting watch, I would consider sifting through, and seeing if there are any plot-lines that could be simplified, in order to let certain moments breathe for a bit longer. With strong performances all round, I would recommend this show. It has an important message at its core, and manages to encapsulate so many.