Dear Billy’ presented by the National Theatre of Scotland is a beautifully crafted mosaic of Scottish voices which embodies the spirit of Billy Connolly as a symbol of hope. If you don’t know who Billy Connolly is, ask the people of Scotland. And if you want to know about the people of Scotland, ask them about Billy Connolly. Gary McNair and his expert team of storytellers spent years speaking to people up and down the country about The Big Yin. Gary took this collection of stories and grafted it into this excellent theatre production accompanied by musicians Simon Liddell and Jill O’Sullivan. So join him and the band as they go on the road again collecting more stories, making every show different and will have you in stitches.
Written and performed by the excellent Gary McNair, ‘Dear Billy’ focuses on the impact of representation. The writing follows a nice pace as it takes you through a journey of Billy Connolly’s life – the story takes you from his upbringing and his time working at the shipyards through to his Parkinson’s diagnosis and peoples worries for the future. The collection of voices chosen to be displayed throughout invites you to embark on a journey and experience a whirlwind of emotions.
McNair uses his body language, facial expressions, accents and intonation to depict the real people displayed. McNair exudes passion throughout this performance and maintains a high energy level throughout, his dedication to representing real people is astounding and will have a huge impact.
Simon Liddell and Jill O’Sullivan, the excellent musicians (band yet to be named but they are open to suggestions) elevate the performance. They play a variety of instruments, using folk influence to underscore the text. The underscore perfectly compliments the weight of the stories being told. The passion for this performance is shared with these musicians as you can see the playfulness and joy throughout the production as they work together to create a wealth of different atmospheres.
Director Joe Douglas has crafted an excellent energy to the production, his use of blocking transports us from the Highlands to Partick using small shifts in movement. The blocking is simplistic yet highly effective in bringing the next person’s depiction to life. The use of music throughout is key in highlighting the grandness of The Big Yin, despite his humble approach, Billy Connolly represents a hope, a fearlessness and courage that people aspire to have.
The lighting and sound designers on the production have worked together harmoniously to bring the real voices to the forefront of the performance. The lighting design by Kate Bonney and Simon Hayes has an excellent edge around it, it creates the environment of almost an intimate comedy club stage within the grand venues. The sound design by Calum Paterson uses a minimalist approach, alongside the lighting design to push the real voices to the forefront. The combination of the two allows the raw voices to be the star of the show while creating a sensory delight for the audience. The set and costume design by Claire Halleran was excellent, with reference to Billy Connolly throughout. The set was visually clean and created a fantastic intimacy, using a welly boot, banana and some killer round glasses with LED lights to change colour depending on the atmosphere of the story. The costume again had nods to Billy using black t-shirts with suspenders, banana trousers and a pink shirt with a slick design. The costumes were a perfect blend of simplistic yet flamboyant – certainly not beige.
McNair’s production is certainly a love letter, yes somewhat to Billy Connolly, yet more importantly to the people of Scotland. To hear so many Scottish recollections, using our natural storytelling and humour felt special. Especially within The Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow. The Pavilion has always welcomed everyone as ‘The People’s Theatre’ – a space where everyone has a chance to belong and feel seen. The impact of this performance, especially in this space is incredible. We strive and hope to be bold, to live unapologetically and within Scotland we have a lot of shame placed on us by others. This production invites you to be a bit more like Billy Connolly because it holds a mirror to how important our voices really are.
📸 – Sally Jubb
Get tickets for the production’s UK Tour here – https://www.nationaltheatrescotland.com/events/dear-billy?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0ruyBhDuARIsANSZ3wow6tOM8n2645AumUBwexJE-kV5uFMplURCnt_RNkGDRLs3bheC_HAaAj6YEALw_wcB
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