Midsummer (a play with songs)

Midsummer - a time of year when the sun is at its zenith but poised for change, a gradual change of slipping towards the darkness of midwinter. So too for 35 year olds, halfway along the road to three score years and ten, an age when one is in one’s prime but aware of mortality and ready to take stock and assess what lies ahead. This is the underlying theme of “Midsummer (a play with songs)” currently on at the Traverse Theatre. It is a very slick, very witty two-hander between Cora Bissett and Matthew Pidgeon, the ill-matched love match of Helena and Bob. She is a worm-turning lawyer, bright, sassy and fed up being at the phone end of her married lover. He is a petty cog in the underworld, a musician manqué, a one time fan of the Jesus and Mary Chain, drifting in life and ready to steam ahead. He’s got some ill-gotten gains, a sense of desperation and the recklessness for adventure. She just wants to lose herself and her possibly complicated future. Together they enjoy a wild midsummer weekend of excess and reappraisal.
Underneath the bondage and drunkenness it’s a sensitive play with some great dialogue and wistful songs. It brings together the talent of playwright David Greig (of “Damascus” fame) and Gordon McIntyre (singer/songwriter in the Edinburgh band Ballboy). It is part of the Traverse Too season, a chance to experience experimental work by both new and established writers. The acting is terrific, and both characters are lovingly drawn and very believable. We care about them. We wish them well. Both actors are also competent at singing and playing acoustic guitar in poignant whimsical little numbers that underscore their feelings and counterpoint the action.
This is a play set in a very specific time and a very specific place, and Edinburgh is the place. The settings are very frequently given, from Whigham’s Wine Bar to Broughton High School, St Mary’s Cathedral to the foot of Leith Walk. It all makes for a very accessible and pleasant play.

Midsummer(a Play with songs) is at Traverse 2 until Saturday 15th November