On the peak of their powers, Scottish band Runrig’s music was an aural embodiment of the ties that intrinsically bind the Scots to their homeland.
There would look like, on paper, no higher combine than Scottish playwright Morna Younger whose deft pen has been displayed in Aye Elvis and the gripping Misplaced at Sea, and the Celtic rock giants. Nonetheless, The Stamping Floor just isn’t with out its faults.
Annie and Euan, now of their 30s, and their teenage daughter return to their highland house from London. It’s a recent begin for all, however it’s removed from idyllic. Annie is invigorated, Euan is in a downward spiral of obsession with one thing that occurred prior to now and daughter Fiona has been faraway from the relentless bullying she skilled within the capital. So as to add to the combo, Glenbeag, their as soon as quiet city, is now a vacationer lure and the combined bag of native characters are feeling displaced.
It’s by no means a simple course of to create a jukebox musical, weaving a narrative round current songs with copyrighted lyrics and The Stamping Floor isn’t any totally different, it performs out like a sequence of vignettes, little snippets of life which are introduced on stage, the accompanying music duly sung, then the subsequent quick scene unfolds. The themes of house and belonging are grand ones but it surely doesn’t efficiently obtain a way of togetherness, the ties that bind this are considerably tenuous. It wants one thing higher to convey all of it collectively.
The songs have clearly been chosen to suit the storyline, and rightly so, however it’s on the expense of lacking out on a lot of Runrig’s most acquainted hits. In contrast to that different Scottish musical Sunshine on Leith, Runrig’s songs usually are not as properly generally known as The Proclaimers, and it actually wants a couple of extra well-known tunes to maintain the viewers on board. The 2 and a half hour operating time can also be half an hour too lengthy.
The fault lies in its disjointedness, and the overwhelmingly melancholy tone (a lot current in Scottish music). The solid are excellent and the band equally so. The crystal readability of the singing voices is an absolute pleasure.
It’s a largely pleasurable night out, however it will profit from a re-think earlier than taking it past the boundaries of its Caledonian house. Not fairly there but.
Runs till 17 June 2023 | Picture: Tommy Ga-Ken Wan
