HOORS To 20 June.

Edinburgh/Glasgow/Bath.

HOORS
by Gregory Burke.

Traverse Theatre Company and the Ustinov, Bath in association with the Tron Theatre, Glasgow To 20 June 2009.
Runs 1hr 25min No interval.
Review: Rupert Bridgewater 10 June at the Ustinov Bath.

It’s bleak, it’s black and it’s very funny.
In Gregory Burke’s first play since Black Watch, four people discuss the life and times of a deceased fifth character who lies in a white coffin ready for the funeral in the grey light of following day.

The unseen person is Andy, who overdid it on his stag weekend and died in the arms of an air stewardess while having sex. Two of Andy’s mates come round to console the bride-to-be and her sister, on what would have been the night before the wedding. A nod and a wink reveal they fancy their chances with the feisty femmes who run verbal rings around the two dunces. The polite conversation over, the foursome unravel each other’s worlds over a of glass and a line of white powder.

It quickly emerges that Burke’s view of their lives is uncompromisingly grim. Nikki and Vicky are seemingly only interested in shopping, sex and what they can get from men, while Stevie and Tony are little more than hedonistic fools whose excessive lifestyles have finally caught up with them. For when it comes to the sex scene, one can’t get it up, and the other chickens out on the feeble excuse that he hasn’t had a shower.

Catherine Murray and Lisa Gardner are on top form as the Scottish siblings. Their ability to get under the skin of the female protagonists is an exercise in character acting. And Andrew Clark and Michael Moreland as the gormless duo who hope to get some pre-funeral nooky flesh out their equally shallow characters with a delicious relish.

As far as I could make out the title Hoors is literally slang for ‘whores’. It’s a particularly unsympathetic view of the two girls, as they seem to have few redeeming features save that of their wit and ability to inject cash into the economy of the high street. But then Nikki and Vicky end the play declaring that life is short and they rebut any sympathy. The message really does seem to be whores have while they can. Pass the gin.

Stevie: Michael Moreland.
Tony: Andrew Clark.
Nikki: Catherine Murray.
Vicky: Lisa Gardner.

Director: Jimmy Fay.
Designer: Conor Murphy.
Lighting: Paul Keogan.

2009-08-11 00:35:08