Review: Morning Star

Theatre 118 has got off to a flying start with their Play of The Week series which has delivered a new production for each week of July. It is a testament to their talent, ideas and utter dedication that they have pulled this off in so short a time without an iota of a hitch. In so doing, they have managed to create a community, a buzz, in an unused office block, just off Glassford Street.

Alan Muir’s Morning Star is the latest play in the run…and not all is as it first seems. On first glance there is a council worker who has come to support a forgotten woman living on the top floor of a high rise in Springburn. Directed by Sara Robertson, Morning Star operates on two levels: the story of a man trying to revive his career, set against packaged existentialist philosophy. It is a premise which offers beautiful moments of juxtaposition such as the retelling of sad events to a wall of unabated glee. The disintegration of morality together with the setting is fleetingly reminiscent of J.G Ballard’s High Rise (albeit with a wider social fabric remit). Actors Angela Edgar and Derek Banner are absolutely gripping in their roles as Ms Maara and Bobby Johnson. There is an agility to Morning Star as it flips from the personal to the global; a footing which is perhaps less certain upon reverse flipping whereby the scale of comparison can seem to overwhelm the personal story.

Morning Star brings an intriguing close to the Play of The Week season with its dystopian vision, demonstrating that Theatre 118 is thoroughly willing to take risks. That is truly refreshing for their effervescent energy is precisely what the Glasgow theatre scene needs right now. And on this evidence, it is working: reaching talented playwrights, brilliant actors, and appreciative audiences. If Theatre 118 can achieve this level of excitement and sheer dazzle in a few short months of existence, think what they might have to offer next season.

Morning Star runs 24th-26th July at Theatre 118, Glasgow.