Writer: Gillian Duffy
The Ghosting of Rabbie Burns is a comic two-hander by Gillian Duffy. The premise is simple: 30-something writer Emily is staying alone in a cottage in Ayrshire to get on with her novel. A telephone call with her agent allows us to learn that it’s Burns Night and, yes, that she is still heart-broken after the failure of her relationship with non-appearing character, Charlie. As she starts to sing Burns’ ‘Charlie is my darlin’, there is a clatter of hooves outside the door, and in sweeps the ghost of the bard himself. It’s his cottage – the National Trust apparently got it wrong – and each year he returns from the afterlife for one night only. So far, so droll.
In the ensuing conversation, we learn the outline of the poet’s life, or at least of his love life. He insists that what killed him at 37 was a broken heart. Historians may disagree. The pair perform a number of his lovely songs, including ‘Red, red rose,’ and ‘Ae fond kiss’. There is a certain charm to the performances by Emily Ashton and Kieran Francis Begley which are definitely the high-point of the show. The segues into each song, however, are clunky. The show could really do with some direction.
The rest consists of larky, pun-filled jokes of the ‘Ophelia? – I’ll feelya!’ variety. Begley plays the poet as camp – constantly preening and posturing, fixated on his reputation as a great lover. Begley has a modest range of gestures – repeatedly hitching one leg up on a chair or slapping his bottom to suggest sexiness. There’s an awful lot of winking at the audience to raise a laugh and some cringe-worthy attempts to engage directly with us. No one actually responded with ‘Awa’ an bile yer heid’, but it was tempting.
He tones himself down a bit when he engages with Emily’s broken heart, nipping behind his chair to draw out his anachronistic guitar to sing a song. He’s more or less up-to-speed with the twenty-first century – in the afterlife they have access to iCloud. But he hasn’t come across the phenomenon of Tinder, so Emily fills him in on the etiquette of swiping right. The climax of the piece is when Emily tells her tale of woe, and then – hold onto your hats! – she ends up being ghosted (geddit?) by Charlie. It’s all rather underwhelming.
Runs until 14 January 2023
1 Comment
I really disagree. I went to see the play last night as (being Scottish) I was looking for something new prior to Burns night. The play seemed very well coordinated and engaging. I certainly did not see the amount of “bottom slapping” you have referred to. I found the small portion of audience interaction very much in the spirit of fun and light hearted entertainment I assumed it was intended to be. It certainly entertained me and my party.