The Maw Broon Monologues at the Tron, Glasgow - Times Online

The Maw Broon Monologues at the Tron, Glasgow - Times Online

The Maw Broon Monologues at the Tron, GlasgowRobert Dawson Scott

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You may think you know Maw Broon and all the other Broons, the family that has lived at 10 Glebe Street in the pages of The Sunday Post since 1936. But you may have to think again.

Jackie Kay’s script for this Glasgay! show begins with the invention for Maw, played by Terry Neason, of her doppelgänger, or alter ego, in the shape of Suzanne Bonnar. The idea that Maw would use, or even understand the meaning of, words such as that is part of a huge in-joke that would leave anyone who does not know the original gasping for air.

But it is more than just a joke at Maw’s expense; doppelgängers and alter egos are a key part of Scottish cultural tradition. Kay invites us to conclude that Maw Broon, all common sense and family values, is just as valuable. Meanwhile, still dressed in heavy tweed skirt and sensible skirt but egged on by her alter ego, Maw finds herself with a full-size mid-life crisis. Cue any number of modish solutions from psychotherapy to colonic irrigation (“I’m my own worst enema,” she cries).

In each case, the scene is decorated with equally inventive songs by Tom Urie. Dressed as the plain Broon daughter Daphne (his first entrance, complete with black wig and heavy beard got one of the biggest laughs of the night), Urie accompanies the songs live from the piano and occasionally supplies other characters in a range of finger puppets.

There are too many great lines (“Reality’s not just on TV”, “built like a bothy”) and too much gleeful recognition for laughter not to be guaranteed. And Neason and Bonnar are two of the best voices Scotland has produced, so the songs are great. Indeed, in the face of general audience adulation, it seems almost rude to point out that actually it could, and probably still can, be a whole lot better.

The opening performance was messy technically. Both principals were clearly nervous and Maggie Kinloch, who directs, has not persuaded them to adopt a consistent style. Are they cartoon characters or real people? They are stuck somewhere in between, which looks and feels uncomfortable and does not make the best of Kay’s clever but wordy script.