Moorcroft @ Tron Theatre, Glasgow
Tron Theatre's Spring season kicks off with Eilidh Loan's beautiful, hilarious and bittersweet Moorcroft
It's Garry's 50th birthday, but he's not in a celebratory mood. Instead, he feels like reflecting – so he takes the audience on a journey back in time, to 1980s Scotland when he set up a football team with his best pals. The story that ensues is funny, tender and bittersweet, as the group of friends go through the ups and downs of a shared life. The downs may be dark – terminal illness, alcoholism and physical abuse are all covered – but this story is also full of love, humour, working-class solidarity and the kind of camaraderie that is wholly true to life.
Writer-Director Eilidh Loan's script sparkles. It's hilarious, perfectly capturing the easy banter of life-long friends. It's heartbreaking too, in its examination of grief, mental health, the pressures of masculinity and a life with few options under Thatcher's rule. The characters are well-drawn and the pacing is meticulously crafted. Loan spent seven years working on the script, which is based on her father's experiences. The hard work has paid off – the play is pitch-perfect.
It's also flawlessly directed. There isn't a false note or a throwaway moment in the staging of this piece, which includes some brilliant dance sequences and the clever use of props. Carys Hobbs' set design is wonderful, beautifully transporting you from club toilet to dancefloor to football pitch with seemingly minimal effort and impressive ease.
Last but certainly not least, the cast are fantastic. All seven of them are superbly convincing and entertaining, breathing riotous life into Loan's script, but special mention has to go to Martin Quinn as the poor group dunce Mince. His physicality as Mince is exceptional, and he delivers some of Loan's best lines with an adorable pathos so that you can't help but root for him.
This production is the result of that rare synchronicity in theatre, when all talents involved align seamlessly to bring something truly great to the stage. Moorcroft isn't trying to do anything fancy or overly innovative – the premise and concept is a familiar one – but this is no bad thing. It prioritises telling a cracking good story in a beautiful and authentic way, and is all the better for it. #MonTheCroft!
Moorcroft, Tron Theatre, Glasgow, until 5 Mar (no shows on 27 & 28 Feb)