'Can We Live With You?' cry the McScott family, on the run from the menacing Mr. Big Fish and his equally terrifying wife (David Brown and Leigh Flynn).

Hard up and facing homelessness, Jock McScott (John Edgar) and his wife (Sheila Wilson) approach Mr. Big Fish in the hope of getting a cash injection from his new acquisition - a money machine, ably mimed by members of the cast. Although his offspring put in their own requests, it doesn't take the canny McScott too long to work out that what's afoot is a full nine-yard money-laundering scam of which he wishes to have nane. Unfortunately, twiting a Big Fish in it's own nest, as it were, has consequences, and the McScotts find themselves on the run and on the lam in their own neck of the woods.

Despite the plea of the title, not one of their ain folk want to take them in - they're all too scared of the fall-out falling on them. However, the friends and neighbours club together to buy them a ticket to the 'Land of Delightful Things', hopefully far away from the thoughts and clutches of the Big Fish clan. Unfortunately, the McScotts find themselves, after a delightful fantasy sequence, firmly back in the clutches of their potential nemesis, courtesy of the well-named Captain Dodgy (Alastair MacCulloch). The 'Land of Delightful Things' turns out to be a grim factory where equally glum workers toil to produce delightful things they'll never enjoy. The arrival of the McScotts, however, induces a peaceful rebellion which ends their trials and the play.

It's obviously been great fun for the cast, producing some worthy performances and cameo spots. Lung Ha's collaboration with Drake Music Scotland has also clearly worked well, and both incidental music and that used for the dance sequences is a delight in itself. Although a little under-rehearsed when seen, the large cast worked hard and efficiently on a large and (to some, possibly) unfamiliar stage. Although this piece is very much 'for fun' rather than the polemic of some of Lung Ha's previous work, it's obviously enjoyed by its large cast, and it's good to see some familiar members of the company working with enthusiasm.

As this reviewer has previous 'form' in community theatre, it's in no way condescending to point out that often, some of the best parts of any community production are never seen by the audience - the confidence gained, the friendships formed, the simple sense of achievement. It's these 'soft indicators' which funding bodies never consider but are the very reason for any community endeavour. In our straitened, target-obsessed times, it's heartening to find the spirit still flourishing.

Published on EdinburghGuide.com 2008

Copyright Bill Dunlop 2008