Tartan Tat
★★★★☆ Authentic comedy
theSpace @ Niddry St – Studio: Fri 2 – Sun 20 Aug 2024
Review by Allan Wilson, Aug 10 2024
Shark Bait Theatre’s Tartan Tat, playing theSpace @ Niddry St for the first two weeks of the Fringe, is a very funny play set in a tourist gift shop on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.
Written by Lex Joyce and Isla Campbell, it provides an authentic and humorous glimpse into the lives of a group of young people, adjusting to work as part of a team in the Tartan Treasures shop as they consider their future careers.
Robyn Reilly, Lex Joyce, Jed Bury, Freya Anderson and Jess Ferrier. Pic: Shark Bait Theatre.
The simple set consists of a couple of display cabinets, with a range of tourist gift products, a sales point and a portrait of Susan Calman hanging on the back wall.
We meet the staff as they arrive and take their places. Millie, played by Freya Anderson, is posh, pays a lot of attention to her appearance and is clearly very ambitious. She gets into conversation with Robyn Reilly’s Orla, who has just broken up with her partner and is now stressed about finding somewhere affordable to stay.
Floor manager, Kayley, portrayed by Jess Ferrier, as a conscientious manager struggling with her responsibilities and quick to snap at others, welcomes newcomer Harris, played by Jed Bury, with a personable weirdness. Finally, we meet the sullen Arran, played by co-author, Lex Joyce. Arran has been banished to the stock room as customers find him scary.
Don’t be a dick!
Kayley delivers a health and safety briefing to Harris with a simple message – “Don’t be a dick!” and the staff then gather in front of the Susan Calman portrait for a brief prayer to Our Lady of Perpetual Lesbianism to start the day.
The day continues with arguments with suppliers, dissatisfied customers, a social media storm, threats to staff, a visit from a journalist (nicely portrayed by Reilly) and a lovely unscripted improvisation when the portrait of Susan Calman falls off the wall, and Anderson instantly screams, “Oh my god – Suze!”. All, no doubt, regular happenings in a typical Gift Shop on the Royal Mile.
Lex Joyce, Freya Anderson, Jed Bury, Robyn Reilly and Jess Ferrier. Pic: Shark Bait Theatre
Joyce and Campbell have written a beautiful piece of work, skilfully combining many moments of genuine humour, interwoven with issues of concern to many young people, including homelessness, trans rights, the power of social media and work-place safety.
Director, Sarah Marie Mooney, has brought together the various elements of the play, adding purposeful movement to create a coherent piece that works, brilliantly, in the limited space of a typical Fringe venue.
Shark Bait Theatre can be proud of this lovely play, performed by a cast that works well together. It certainly deserves a future after the Fringe, whether that might be workshops for youth theatre groups, a small-scale tour, or possibly even television.
Running time: 55 minutes (no interval)
theSpace @ Niddry Street (Studio), Niddry Street, EH1 1TH (Venue 9)
Friday 2 – Tuesday 20 August 2024
Daily (not Sun 11): 2.10pm
Details and tickets at: Book here
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