‘Maggie & Me’ is a heart wrenching, thought provoking production which sheds light on the power of survival. ‘Maggie & Me’ presented by the National Theatre of Scotland is based on Damian Barr’s award-winning memoir, adapted for stage by Damian Barr and James Ley. Vitally this production showcases the power of sharing your voice and your story.
Gary Lamont as DB is astounding throughout this production, he displays complete respect for Damian’s story and is dedicated to the role. Lamont’s stage presence is demanding, immediately enrapturing the audience. Throughout the performance, he takes his time when delivering the text, focusing on the storytelling. His use of voice was well balanced, using intonation and pitch to keep the audience entertained.
Sam Angell as Wee DB displayed such discipline and dedication to his craft. His energy was steadily maintained throughout the production. Angell’s performance was playful and expressive, allowing the audience to follow DB’s youth. The physicality and movement of Angell’s performance was a highlight of this production.
Nicola Jo Cully as Mum used emphasis and exaggeration to depict a very familiar Scottish motherly figure. Cully was bold and confident, a real joy on the stage. Cully gave the impression that she was thoroughly enjoying each minute on stage, her passion shone through.
Beth Marshall as Margaret Thatcher was exceptional. Using her body language and gestures she perfectly embodies Margaret Thatcher while putting her own twist on the character. Marshall’s character choices showed clearly a perfect depiction of the sinister yet consistent prevalence of Thatcher throughout the years of DB’s youth.
Grant McIntyre was a beacon of light, he embodies the character of Mark extremely well. Using killer dance moves, confidence and a lust for life McIntyre perfectly depicts the spark that DB describes Mark as having.
Douglas Rankine as Dad used his body language and facial expressions to delve into the subtext of the character, Rankine was particularly creative in his decision-making and character choices. Rankine showed complete versatility, exploring multiple types of displays of masculinity and toxicity.
Joanne Thomson as Heather has wonderful stage presence. Thomson appears to have a natural likeability on stage, a sort of ‘it’ factor. Throughout the performance Thomson was versatile, used her voice well and had great diction. She added real complexity to some of the characters she portrayed.
The book is beautifully written and adapted by Damian Barr and James Ley. It captures the perfect balance of light and dark within its emotional drive. Scottish humour is used throughout to cut through the darker moments, this resonates with the working-class audience and relieves the tension from the heavier material in the text. The pace feels somewhat imbalanced at times. DB (Damian Barr) takes his time in establishing his story/journey in Act One, however, Act Two leaves the audience breathless, there was laughter, joy, campness, plenty of tears, freedom and revelations. The text explores a number of themes and issues relevant to the struggles of the Thatcherite 1980s. Mainly focusing on the struggles of homosexual men and others who were persecuted for being different. The writing it’s self has a lot of references for those who lived and breathed those times, with many chuckles of acknowledgment being heard from the audience. As much as this play is nuanced by the time’s cultural references and comedy – it cannot be stressed enough how important it is that the voices of the characters in this play are heard. This play holds relevance even now, despite being set in the 1980s, and is something that people should see to acknowledge that the country hasn’t traveled far at all.
The set and costume design by Kenneth MacLeod was extremely satisfying, at the beginning the set created an intimate setting, used cleverly to exert energy into the movement of the production. Throughout the production the set grew more in depth as the audience emerged into the otherworldly journey of facing DB’s past. The use of lighting by Katharine Williams and the sound design by Susan Bear created some very modernistic unique visions. These combined with the video design by Tim Reid created some absolutely beautiful immersive effects.
The direction by Suba Das felt almost inspired by the Wooster Group at times, using multimedia extremely well to emphasize the emotional drive. Live camera feeds are utlised throughout the production- with acting styles being performed for screen and theatre. Within some of the most hard hitting, vulnerable depictions of the memoir, close ups were used to emphasize the character’s reaction. The use of cameras also helped to create a frenzied feeling, shedding light to the difficulty of confronting your own past in order to move on, it captured how out of control Damian must have felt over this period of writing his memoir. Suba has brought life to the text and his commitment to sharing this story comes through with the passion that has been put into the direction.
‘Maggie & Me’ takes you on an exceptional journey of exploration. It provokes you to confront your own truth or reflect on what you have already confronted – to fully free yourself and live unapologetically. Stories are key to the survival of others. The power of stories will never disappear. Stories like these being displayed in theatres have a much more visceral feel. This not only has the power to induce escapism but can open an audience’s mind to a world where they belong.
‘Maggie & Me’ is now touring with the National Theatre of Scotland, for all tour dates/times and to book tickets follow this link: https://www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/events/maggie-me#dates-and-times
– Mihaela Bodlovic
Theatre Scotland 
Leave a comment