This was a world premiere and therefore virtually untried and untested. The writer must have a good reputation as it was practically a full house for this first airing at the Fringe.
In the early stages the atmospherics and sounds competing for your attention did not augur well, but the unfolding story was one that you could identify with. A young man goes from Scotland to seek his fortune and through cramming too much in misses the last moments of the life of the father whose advice and philosophy drove him on.
The journey from the funeral to the scattering of the ashes throws up a lot of moral dilemmas and shows some of the characteristics of life in rural Scotland.
A romance features the feisty young woman (Carmella Brown), a concept common in Scottish films and plays, although this has a curious turn.
The four actor/musicians are very talented not only playing and singing but had a nice touch of covering the sound effects. The direction also was creative with ‘the dive’ a highlight.
Only the character at the centre of the story, Roddy was played by one actor (Andrew Barrett) with the other three showing their versatility by changing accents and parts ranging from young and old, Scots to City type (Lawrence Boothman) including a demented taxi driver (Rosemary Stanford).
The lyrics are good and the music while not what you would describe as memorable was of the strong Scottish folk genre.
The sound levels to my ears were a bit variable and maybe would benefit with some smoothing out and while it may be an age thing I found the bed of wind sounds and the use of the drums sometimes did a disservice to hearing the story-line.
Runs to 23 August, 13.10
Tickets range from £6-£10