Bannockburn! - the almost true story!

 ‘Bannockburn! The 'almost' true story!’ by John Grimshaw, is the latest production from ‘A Lad in Sane’ in association with the Phoenix Theatre inc. It is showing at the newly renovated, well-equipped, 100-seat Memorial Hall at the corner of Rockingham Road and Carrington Street, Hamilton Hill. The performances are nightly at 8.00 until Saturday the 9^th May.

          It is the year 1314, and the Final of the Scottish Soccer Cup is drawing to an end, when at the local hostelry a messenger boy delivers a message from Edward II (Longshank), the King of England. It states that if the Scots do not pay their crippling feus, then an army will be dispatched north to Scotland. The peasant farmers, who have only recently finished a war, are now facing 20,000 men. With only a handful of men, what will Sergeant Jock (Tim Prosser) do? Especially when half the farmhands do not have two brain cells to rub together. 
        We follow three of the compatriots, Hamish (Ariel Simone), Billy (Theo Messenger) and Angus (Sinead Bevan) as they train under the capable hands of Gerald (Frank Fazio). Angus, who is a virgin, does not want to die this way and seeks Billy’s advice. Donald (Steve Osborne) had a touching, final prayer before the fray. All aspects of an army going to war are considered.
       The battle takes place and we witness the Scots winning techniques.

In this black comedy, which verges on an adult pantomime, there are many very good and original ideas. The play is about the men in a rough, Territorial Army and so the language and humour is very coarse.  There is plenty of fun, with numerous puns and achronistic comments, interspersed with lines of well-known songs being quoted throughout. The lighting (Hywel Williams) and sound design (Rob Harwood) are above average. The costumes and props appropriately rustic. The large cast, many of whom are new to the boards, moved well and worked hard, however some first night nerves tended to slow down the pace - this I am sure will correct itself  in the next night or two.  Generally good Scottish accents, with one Welshman.

Johnny Grim has never been one to pull back on a joke, subtlety is one adjective that John has not learned, one can almost hear the audience muttering ‘too much information’ when bodily functions are mentioned. John’s work is close to being so much better. The script certainly needed thinning out – please see the ‘Billboard’ section of this site.

If you smile or groan at lines like ‘Robert the Bruce’s spider has a great web site’, then this could be the show for you. If you are a Grim fan, then this will not disappoint.