“We are writing history” NTS magic at the Citz
The Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, has reopened after its seven-year closure; however, this was a comeback for the ages. In association with National Theatre Scotland, Small Acts of Love brings the NTS magic to the Citz stage.
With an ensemble cast made up of recent graduates along with performers who are no strangers to the Scottish theatre scene, this cast brings a captivating performance to this production, accompanied by a live band on stage and wonderful vocals. The show, written by Francis Poet and composed by Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue, is about the union of two communities through a tragic event. Following interviews and stories of those affected by the Pan Am 103 incidents back in 1988, set over a time frame of roughly thirty years, bringing together Southwest Scotland and the New York State through a time of loss and tragedy, creating new relationships with an almost family-like feel to them. Playing a range of different characters and constantly swapping between Scottish and American accents, this cast does a wonderful job conveying a brilliant story, one that remembers those who are no longer with us.
There are many moments throughout the piece that stick with you, going through the motions of the changes within the piece, such as Royal Conservatoire of Scotland graduate Holly Howden Gilchrist’s gripping performance as Lindsey and the relationship between Barrie Hunter and Beth Marshall throughout the performance. Ewan Donald plays the role of Colin perfectly, to convey a younger version of himself as a policeman on the night of the incident, to a dad who is still haunted by his past, and it is phenomenal to watch. Jo Servi, however, stole the show in this production. Servi’s characters always felt alert and lively in a way that fitted with the piece, feeling that you couldn’t take your eyes off the stage. Directed by the Citizens’ very own Dominic Hill and Laurie Bayley-Higgins, the performance was a joy to watch, with the transitions between scenes and the use of physical theatre at points as well from movement director Emily Jane Boyle. This team of three creating such a wonderful way of telling this story, my only critique is it would be interesting to see more of is the children who are involved in the production as we only see them for a small amount of time and would be interesting to see if they could be involved in the production more.
The set for this production is minimal yet very effective at the same time, seeing this vision come to life and be created by Tom Piper is lovely to watch, especially with editions and movement of set pieces, along with an interesting choice to not include the wings, making the performance feel more authentic with the different costume changes throughout the performance to showcase the change in characters. With costume design from Jessica Warrell was brilliant, with no items looking similar to another and helping to convey who is who within the story. Having two full racks of costumes on each side of the stage to break down the wall for storytelling was a brilliant choice along with a great range of garments as well to make sure that no two characters looked the same.
Overall, this new piece of theatre is a must see and a great choice to reopen the venue with after the refurb process, you can tell everyone involved in this performance has put a lot of love and care into it making sure it is the best it could possibly be. As this is the first show in since the grand reopening of a beautiful venue, I look forward to seeing what the cast and creative team get up to next with their future projects and what shows will follow in the Citizens return to the Scottish theatre scene.