Spice of Life: The Neighbourhood Variety Show returns to Glasgow

Everybody needs a neighbour. Someone to share ideas with, collaborate together, and learn from. For many years, local arts venues provided that space for artists, giving them a home to grow their vision. Sadly, foreclosure signs are becoming more common, and we’re losing the spark that makes our communities so unique. But if our civic spaces are dying, where will artists find their voice? 

As part of the 10-year development phase programme for Sauchiehall Street, the National Theatre of Scotland has partnered with Glasgow Life to commission The Neighbourhood Variety Show – Sauchiehall Street on 5 June. Created by Eoin McKenzie, the project aims to transform the stage into a truly civic space by reimagining the variety show tradition with local people and performers.

Instead of creating for mass appeal, The Neighbourhood Variety Show meets performers and audiences where they are. It encourages acts by non-professional artists and tries to create work that has a hyper-local interest. It is a tastemaker of creativity, but as McKenzie jokes, there is something for everyone: “Everything is ten minutes long, so if you don't like it, it's going to be over really soon.”

This is the second year of the Variety Show, having taken over Springburn Auditorium last July for a celebration of a Glasgow neighbourhood which has often been disregarded in favour of motorways and industrialisation. 

McKenzie says that a big part of the show for him was about reclaiming the stage as a place of self-expression and connection for local communities: “It did start as a question for me of, how can you make a stage somewhere that community can be felt? How can you make it somewhere where lots of people who might not meet or might not connect otherwise can come together?”

This time, The Neighbourhood Variety Show comes to The Garage, a Glasgow institution which has been the stomping ground of musical legends, local talent, and bass hunters for over 30 years. It is a fitting venue to celebrate Sauchiehall Street's once-international recognition as an entertainment hub.

However, McKenzie admitted to not having much experience of the club after being denied entry in his student days. All is forgiven now, though. McKenzie said: “I’ve been really struck by how committed and invested the staff are at that venue in a way that I didn't expect. It comes from a genuine place for them, I think, where they're really invested in this idea that the venue is for everyone, which is amazing.”

The Garage is just one venue in a long history of Glasgow's love of Friday night entertainment and packed music halls. Unfortunately, for every venue which survives against the odds, there are countless others lost to time. We are losing training grounds for artists to develop their acts, so it’s more important than ever to protect them.

“That is the politics of the work in a way. We live in a time in the UK where we've got a collapsing welfare state, and our civic spaces and our community spaces are constantly being eroded, if not destroyed. There is no sentiment of care on a government level for those spaces,” McKenzie says.

However, Glasgow has not forgotten this legacy. The line-up boasts an array of performers and flavours to satisfy any craving, from Overdrive Dance Company to drag artistry by southern belle Mona Mae to Karyn Turner’s excuse for singing. The sonorous offerings of the Mission Voices Choir will be there as well as a special contribution from Phil and Fiona of Glasgow Music Tours – The Music Mile. 

Monday Night Drama @ Platform has even put together a performance which McKenzie describes as a “surrealist, meta-theatrical, bizarre interpretation of an urban myth” after which he chuckles, muttering “the kids are alright.”

Also taking part is Jess Fitzgerald, a former dancer in popular variety shows in Glasgow. McKenzie says: “When I speak to her, she talks about it as being part of the social fabric of people's lives, that they would go to the theatre on a Friday night with their friends and family, and they would engage in this form of entertainment.”

It takes an extraordinary amount of effort to build a neighbourhood. But if people like Eoin McKenzie and everyone involved with The Neighbourhood Variety Show continue to create space for artists to create and discuss, there will always be a place for true artists to call home in Glasgow.

“I really believe that there are loads of amazing things that happen in the city that are incredibly important, beautiful, profound connections that we just don't celebrate… We want to remind people that culture is this really important thing that brings people together, and Glasgow is really good at it. We know how to throw a very good party.”

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The Neighbourhood Variety Show, The Garage (G2), Glasgow, 5 Jun, 6pm & 8.30pm, £2.50-5