A current affairs discussion that no one wanted to leave

The Suter Art Gallery Theatre is a venue which engenders anticipation of ‘‘cultural’’ experiences.

The audience enters to find a cameraman and director setting up for what appears will be a television interview. A list of ‘‘Unsolved Issues’’ on the whiteboard suggests there will be serious discussion of themes such as Nazis, Child Poverty and World Hunger. Not much ‘‘culture’’ here, then. Now we meet the Presenter, Robbie Nicol, who has a wellestablished reputation as a comedian.

It seems his intent is to present a deeper, more incisive alternative to the many current affairs and opinion programmes seen on television. It doesn’t quite work like that.

On television everything is static. Nicol is not static. His metier is supremely ballistic. He can’t sit still. He jumps. He shouts. He gestures. He moves his expressive face as fast as he moves his body.

To add a measure of authenticity to his ‘‘review’’ of current affairs he invites Mike Ward to be ‘‘interviewed’’.

Ward, befitting his pedigree, provides cogent remarks relevant to green issues. Serous digression, but the romp soon returns to humour, with one exception.

The exception is Nicol’s discussion of the state of mental health services, reviewing the alarming rising rate of suicide and singling out a former minister of health for criticism. Fair point.

However, we quickly return to humour as Nicol recruits members of the audience before we reluctantly realise that the party is nearly over.

But nobody wants to leave, preferring to give Nicol a prolonged, enthusiastic round of applause.