Molly and Me - It's Not About Us

Molly and Me have home advantage in Glasgow: recently, the difficult performance scene has grown in both size and enthusiasm. Perhaps the sell-out at the National Review or the putative threat to the RSAMD’s Contemporary Performance Course has emboldened them. Either way, The CCA is busy tonight, and the cheers at the end are supportive.

The intimacy between the two performers and audience is surprising but earned. They offer cake, address the crowd directly: the struggle for dominance on-stage appeals to the spectators for approval. Given that It’s Not About Us follows the usual influences - shades of dance, popular culture given a personal and oblique symbolism, echoes of stand-up comedy and slapstick - its warmth is rare. When so much contemporary performance merely challenges boundaries and patience, it is wonderful to see a company willingly accommodate the audience.

That said, It’s Not About Us does slip into occasional bouts of repetition and confusion. While the constant battle for attention between the two characters yields much comedy, the underlying causes of the conflict are never exposed. Molly’s cutesy affectations are irritating - at first for comic purposes, but gradually for real. The bouts of singing and dancing are deliberately executed with increasingly tired and limited technique - again, the initial joke wears off, and the momentum dips towards the end.

Yet by using a circular structure and returning to the earliest themes and scenes, It’s Not About Us manages both a fulfilling finale and hints at irresolvable differences. A snapshot of the hidden pains and irritations that blight many relationships - from flatmates to lovers, from co-workers to team-mates - Molly and Me evoke laughter and reflection. It almost feels as if the CCA renaissance begins here.