Dicing with death in my latest show
WHAT a week I’ve had I tell you, utterly bizarre. You see, I’ve spent the past five days at a wake, in a tenement flat, somewhere in Glasgow.
The coffin has been lying under the windowsill as if it’s just part of the furniture, there’s been about 40 gallons of whisky consumed.
We’ve belted out that old Scottish classic the dark island at least a hundred times and the priest in charge of proceedings has been blind drunk since Tuesday.
Ok, ok maybe I should explain a little further. You see, I’ve been in rehearsals all week for a new play called Gone But Not Forgotten directed and starring Liam Dolan, May Miller, Cat Harvey, Andrew Agnew, Craig Glover and little old me.
It’s a belter of a comedy about a mother and her four grown up children who are dealing with the death of their father only to discover that he wasn’t quite the man they all thought he was with hilarious twists at every turn throughout this bleak evening as it unfolds.
I’m not scared to admit that I’ve never really been comfortable with death, mainly because it’s the one thing you can’t prevent or control and also, I’ve never quite recovered from seeing the full 13 minute horror extravaganza that was Michael Jackson’s Thriller video as a child in the early 80s with zombies bursting out of graves and trying to break into wee houses in the woods.
To be honest, it’s right up there alongside seeing Pete Waterman in the flesh, minus any TV makeup, as one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen, ever.
Like most people, I’ve experienced death in my life, losing friends and loved ones, the hardest of all being the loss of my beloved grandparents.
Even the death of our wee family dog Bonnie left me utterly devas- tated but even after all of that, it’s still a subject matter I usually try and avoid at all cost because let’s face it, there really isn’t much humour in death but that’s why this play is so utterly brilliant.
Even in what should be the saddest of times, hilarious situations just seem to occur so much so that we as cast are going to struggle to keep a straight face throughout each performance.
It truly is a beautiful wee piece of comedy gold and I can’t wait until we open next Tuesday evening to a packed Rutherglen Town Hall.
It’s so different to anything I’ve ever done before and what makes it even more special is that I get to do it all with great pals and for that I feel extremely lucky.
The show is only running for a limited period of time so you’ll need to be quick to make sure you don’t miss out.
We kick off the brand new play Gone But Not Forgotten in Rutherglen on February 21 and 22 and then it’s off to The Town House in Hamilton February 23, Lanark Memorial Hall February 28 and finishing off in The Village Theatre in East Kilbride on March 1 and 2. For more information log onto www.sllcboxoffice.co.uk
WANT to say a huge congratulations to all of the cast and crew involved in the spectacular Limelight production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Alham- bra Theatre in Dunfermline.
I went to see the show on Wednesday and I was blown away by just how fabulous it was.
The sets, costumes and generally the whole ensemble cast were outstanding with special mention to the lovely Brett Herriot, the trio of divas and their powerhouse vocals and of course the leading ladies played so wonderfully by Craig Smith, Graeme Melvin and the gorgeous Ryan Matthewson.
You should all be really proud of this truly brilliant production of such an iconic musical. Sadly the show ends tomorrow but there’s still time to get tickets by calling 01383 740384 or log onto www. ticketmaster.co.uk