Great things happen a few feet below Byres Road on a lunchtime.
The vaults of Òran Mór open up a world of drama and creativity which is unique to Glasgow and the West End.
A Play, A Pie and A Pint is a wonderful opportunity to invest a small amount of time in live, accessible theatre.
It’s why the ‘experiment’ has endured for so long (est. 2004) against the expectations of its pioneers who set it up (the late David MacLennan, and Colin Beattie et al).
‘Daniel Getting Married’ is the seventh play in the current, and well-received, spring season running at Òran Mór.
JD Stewart is a gay playwright, performer, and creator from the Scottish Borders.
'Awkward and unimaginable'
His play is wonderfully Scottish and fraught with awkward and unimaginable scenarios and emotions.
Its premise is: that moment when an old flame turns up at the church (Kirk Yetholm) 40 minutes before you are about to get married to someone else.
What a thought. How would you cope? (And all this just a few feet below Byres Road on a Monday lunchtime).
Neil John Gibson (Daniel) and Ann Louise Ross (Daniel's mother) work well together, challenging our perceptions of marriage and relationships.
Revelations are made which only ever seem to come to light at the big set-piece moments in life.
Doubts already exist within Daniel’s mind about whether Zac (Daniel’s intended) is the right choice and right man.
But those doubts only turn to chaos when Gabriel (Kristopher Bosch) knocks on the vestry door moments before the guests arrive.
His play is wonderfully Scottish and fraught with awkward and unimaginable scenarios and emotions.
'Daniel Getting Married' - review
He has come to claim his man and save him from the institution of wedlock.
Not surprisingly, the intervention does not go down well. Tension builds, and intentions change.
A witty and bold script drives the narrative and raises a laugh. “I’m your mother, not your fag-hag,” is memorable.
And “you know what they say, show me a gay man who isn’t on antidepressants and I will show you a corpse”, says Daniel when he reacts to Gabriel’s appearance by reaching for his medication.
Director Kenny Millers, a freelance director and designer who has worked at the Citizens' Theatre, presents a credible piece of work.
Kristopher Bosch as Gabriel is a convincing alternative proposition for Daniel to face.
A shorter play, the drama is over sooner than some, leaving you wanting a little more by way tension and fall-out.
But it is a cliff-hanger, or certainly a church-hanger, and the lunchtime investment is a good one.
