Chemo Savvy
★★★★☆ Uplifting
Gilded Balloon at the Museum (Venue 64): Thur 15 – Sat 24 Aug 2024
Review by Hugh Simpson
Chemo Savvy, from Gilded Balloon and Ryan Dewar at the National Museum Auditorium in the Fringe’s last week, is an exploration of life and death that ends up as far more cheery (and far more touching) than you have any right to expect.
Written by Alan McHugh, the play is presented in memory of Scottish stage titan Andy Gray, and features some of those many who worked with him before his tragic death in 2021. In particular, the lead role is played by Grant Stott, who describes it as Gray’s final creative project, and a reaction to the ‘unfinished business’ of their last Fringe production together, 2018’s The Junkies, having to end after one performance owing to Gray’s cancer diagnosis.
Gail Watson, Grant Stott, and Jordan Young. Pic: Steve Ullathorne.
Stott plays Rab, who on receiving the news he has leukaemia returns to Scotland and to the brother (Jordan Young) and fiancee (Gail Watson) he walked out on years before when his mother had cancer. As children, Stott and Young’s characters were obsessed with the Lone Ranger; it is from ‘kemo sabe’, the way his sidekick Tonto described the Ranger, that the play’s punning title is derived.
Young and Watson play several other roles in a play that combines an often detailed and technical exploration of cancer and its treatment with a salute to the NHS. There is also an element of straight-out pantomime (albeit one whose jokes are often a shade more adult than your average panto).
As a drama, it is far from complex, and the ending (perhaps necessarily) seems little more than wish fulfilment. And yet …
real gravitas
The performances are every bit as committed as you might expect, with Stott handling his characters’ darkest moments with real gravitas, and Young and Watson’s comedy chops well to the fore. Sally Reid’s direction is the surest and fleetest of foot imaginable. McHugh’s script is equally nimble, with a winning combination of pathos and humour, and several laugh-out-loud moments.
Jordan Young, Gail Watson and Grant Stott. Pic: Steve Ullathorne.
Snatches of pop songs are used brilliantly, and the ‘easter egg’ reminders of Gray – Stott, of course, being ‘no very well’, the sudden realisation that his bandana and cape of a billowing sheet are evoking Batman – are brilliantly done. It is no spoiler to say that the TV monitor that has earlier shown the Lone Ranger features an image of Gray at the close, by which time dry eyes are unlikely to be much in evidence.
This works beautifully, especially as a tribute to Gray. Despite the subject matter, it is also ultimately a life-affirming piece.
Running time: One hour (no interval)
Gilded Balloon at the Museum (Auditorium), Lothian St, EH8 9LH (Venue 64)
Thursday 15 – Saturday 24 August 2024
Daily: 7.40pm
Details and tickets at: Book here.
ENDS
I saw this show on sat 24th august.
It was fantastic . It was very funny and emotional.
The whole cast were excellent and I was surprised at how good an actor Grant was.
I saw this show on 20 August. I lost my husband and father to this cancer both being treated in ward 34 Ninewells the same as Andy Gray. I loved the show the actors were fantastic and treated the subject with great humour and sensitivity. It’s a must see it will make you laugh and cry in equal measures.