MORAG, YOU’RE A LONG TIME DEID at the Arts Depot

★★★

“There is an openness and gentleness in their performance and they make the audience feel welcome and safe.”

It all starts the moment you step into the theatre: a simple set (Robbie Thomson & Wladimiro A. Woyno R.), consisting of a piano, a music mixer stand, some hangers with costumes (Jessica Oostergo) and Claire Love Wilson, who walks around with a mic in her hand creating sounds. With a child-like curiosity and excitement, she is preparing us for what will follow, what she and Sally Zori have in store for us. These two multidisciplinary artists have created a piece of performance that is experimental, musical, magnetising.

Wilson (the writer of the show with Peter Lorenz (who also directs)) plays Sam, a Canadian woman who is prompted to explore her Scottish roots when she inherits the piano that belonged to her grandmother, Morag. No one in the family can explain the peculiar letter she finds in the piano, a letter containing ballads and affectionate words, and when she turns to her grandfather for answers, or at least some indication about Morag’s character, he refuses to reveal any details. Sam’s mind is suddenly filled with ballads, questions and an irresistible urge to find out what the story of a grandparent she never got to meet is. And on the way, she realises that they’re more similar than what she thought.

Let’s make one thing clear: this is not a show for people who wish to watch a traditionally constructed fleshed out story. There are some prose specific scenes, but the majority of the performance is like an acoustic fairy tale, made of live recorded sounds and songs (Claire Love Wilson, Rory Comerford & Sally Zori), with some interesting touches of audience participation. Not a big fan of audience participation myself, but I have to admit that learning some ceilidh, singing a song and having a boogie are too good to resist, even if one detests audience participation in the theatre.

Through this musical installation, which combines more traditional sounds with modern pop beats, we delve into a discussion on heritage, uncovering family secrets ‘never to be told’, and finding patterns that make us feel less alone in a world where we all need to know who we are and where we belong. Wilson and Zori, who is also the musical director, bring their beautiful voices together and are delightfully playful to watch onstage. There is an openness and gentleness in their performance and they make the audience feel welcome and safe.

The set has only items that are absolutely necessary for the story, with some beautiful lighting that contributes in creating a sense of place that shifts constantly, from a club to a hospital room and many others. If only the eerie atmosphere the show began with lasted longer before turning into a pop concert, the show would have an even more magical effect. Some details could have been developed further, like Morag’s mental health issues and the effect on the family (especially the grandfather), the obsession that urges Sam to put together the pieces of the puzzle or the hints of similarities between Morag and Sam.

Overall, it was an enjoyable show that underlines the importance of the past and its connection to the present. If you’re a music lover, you’re guaranteed to have a good time and if you are intrigued by the exploration and reconstruction of what has come before, then Morag, You’re a Long Time Deid is the show for you.

MORAG, YOU’RE A LONG TIME DEID at the Arts Depot

Reviewed on 25th September 2024

by Stephanie Christodoulidou

Photography by Sarah Darling

Previously reviewed at this venue:

TRIFFIDS! | ★★★★★ | March 2022

MORAG

MORAG

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