Theatre
Voices in her Ear
Oran Mor, Glasgow
Mary Brennan
three stars
THIS week,there are spirits to go with the pie and pint – well sort of, as glittery-garbed Betty (Alison Peebles) gives her all as the medium with messages from the “other side”. Is there anybody there? Apart from the droves who pay top dollar for crumbs of cliche’d comfort from Betty’s “voices”, that is.
Peebles simply oozes glutinous, couthy sincerity, as Betty hazards the names of hopefuls longing for reassurance that the dead are truly happy and at peace. So who is the woman at the side of the stage, with clipboard and headset? That’s Siobhan (Neshla Caplan) the only voice in Betty’s ear, feeding her info previously gleaned from bereft, confiding punters.And it’s the briskly business-like Siobhan who has arranged for Betty to give a post-show private reading to Mark (Andrew Still) in her dressing room. Was this wise? Has Mark a hidden agenda?
It depends on how much old-fashioned drama you’ve seen on stage and television whether or not David Cosgrove’s plot-twists spring any surprises. On the off-chance, I won’t give any clues away. However, any tension that does build is, in the main, thanks to the persuasive Peebles. Is Betty just a money-grubbing con artist, or is the supernatural “gift” still with her? Cosgrove’s writing hedges those bets, but Peebles puts interesting flesh on the bones of possibility. Knocking back the booze, complaining of burn-out, talking of retirement – Peebles lets slip Betty’s faux-bonhommie just enough to reveal a genuinely weary woman. But when she encounters Mark, a whole host of other Betty-faces come into play: fear, wily cunning, self-preservation. Whether Betty hears voices or not, she’s still haunted by her past. Director Libby McArthur ensures the pace doesn’t flag, and by the end, regardless of whether Betty is a fake or not, you’ve seen the real deal in Peebles.
Sponsored by Heineken
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here