A brilliant revival of a tale of restless youth in an overlooked town.
This stark remount of Simon Longman’s 2018 play Island Town will resonate with anyone who grew up in an unfashionable part of the UK. Amid the whipcrack of the characters’ “sh*te” chat, the constant hum of the ring road is heard in the background – and little else – defining the unnamed setting. Conjuring up the patches of scrubland that fill the fringes of our urban landscapes, where young people often congregate.
The play’s power lies in its ability to transcend time and place; its setting could be any corner of the UK at almost any point over the past fifty years. Following three youths on the cusp of adulthood, it charts that period in life where hope and ambition – however modest – come into contact with reality. The dialogue neatly captures the inane patter of bored friends but is littered with philosophical turns, which the young local cast snap through, infusing this production with a strong Scottish flavour. And there are just enough laughs to offset the bleak, harrowing backstories shared over swigs of cider.
This is a timely revival for a play with these themes. In director Anna Whealing’s words, ‘It goes straight to the heart of what social neglect, austerity and marginalisation do to communities.’ While the gloomy economic outlook of our times isn’t new, its burden falls disproportionately on younger people and left-behind communities. Where shrinking opportunity leads to shrinking ambition, desperation, and distraction, is the world Island Town so sharply captured.
With a cast and creative team largely made up of artists at the beginning of their careers, the production carries with it an honesty and earnestness. The staging perfectly matches the tone of the play – sparse, dark and minimal. The circular centre stage a visual metaphor of the town’s ring road that characters are trapped by – the austere design creating a confined atmosphere that places the focus squarely on the actors to make the characters the focus. And they do that brilliantly. The cast of Maria Woodside, Mollie Milne and Kyle McLean give real spirit to the characters Kate, Sam and Pete. Adding light to the dark with each managing to convey the hopes of their character as they try to cope with their circumstances.
The only real flaw in the play is that the tragedy foreshadowed throughout doesn’t quite land in the ending. The emotional gut punch that always seems to be coming doesn’t quite hit the mark. At the end, the mounting pressures each character was facing are left unresolved, with the group’s coming-of-age story instead derailed by misadventure.
Mobile in a way its characters are not, the play moves on from its two-night run at the Tron Theatre, Glasgow, to another two-night run in the Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh, in May. It certainly has the potential to connect with audiences beyond those.
This show runs at Assembly Roxy from 9th-10th May. Tickets available here.