Tobacco @ Assembly George Square

Taking On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco as its springboard, South Africa’s Baxter Theatre presents Tobacco, this frantic and funny adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s one-act play. Andrew Buckland gives a tirelessly resolute performance as Ivan, drawing together elements of physical theatre, comedy and clowning into an eccentric, energetic monologue.

A story of matrimony and madness played with aplomb, Ivan takes to the stage under his wife’s duress to give a lecture on the evils of smoking. But rather than sticking to the topic at hand, he becomes increasingly emboldened by the ears of the audience, and hatches a dream of a life free from the clutches of marriage.  

Lighting, music and some brief moments of dance and song are all employed judiciously, in what is a striking show of contrivance. A half-barrel serves as a lectern, a whimsical boat and a bed as Ivan’s story gains momentum, descending further into frenzy.

Director Sylvaine Strike skilfully parodies the messy consequences of wedlock. We see all too clearly the idiosyncrasies within all of us that only our partners can know, and the effect that overbearing relationships can have on our health. This is a play that balances the comical with the sad, the actual with the caricatural, and the farcical with reality.  

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Tobacco, Assembly George Square Studios, 12pm, until 27 Aug (not 21), £13-14