‘The Long Drop’
Citizens Theatre, Glasgow 10/6/26
Citizens Theatre Company
Adapted by Linda Maclean from the novel by Denise Mina
Director Dominic Hill
The Citizens Theatre sits at the heart of the Gorbals. But the Gorbals is not what it was; it’s been erased, knocked down, rebuilt, varnished, polished; today unchaperoned kids play on swings between neat blocks of flats. This production is a re-creation of the Gorbals as it was in 1957 – crime-ridden, violent, vulgar, tangled with complex inter-relationships. I have my own personal relationship with the Citz. My career in theatre spiralled to an ignominious end with a season there as assistant director. As I took the train south seeking a new identity, my lover – the aptly named Patti Love – joined the company, going on to win the Scottish Actor of the Year award for her performance as Saint Joan. That was 60 years ago; this is the first time I’ve been back.
The true story of notorious murderer, Peter Manuel, is told mostly around the bar: either that of the High Court or Jackson’s low-life drinking dive. The set encompasses both. And throughout, a communal microphone, suspended from high above on a long black cable, gently, suggestively, hangs.
The first few minutes of the show encapsulate the whole. Two prison screws await the last judicial hanging in Scotland with nothing much to do except look out of the window at the bleak cityscape. Rain falls but does not clean the coal-blackened buildings. They recall executions they have witnessed where horrifying things went wrong. They josh each other on many matters including the Catholic-Protestant divide. We laugh at them, and with them.
The action begins in the criminal court. It then gradually unfolds in a series of flashbacks interspersed with court scenes. A man is accused of shooting three women. Another man offers to help get him off the charge. But who is really the killer? Dozens of other characters are presented by the actors who shapeshift from one to the next with ease. We become deeply entwined in a complex story of gamblers, gang bosses and grovellers. Accents move between authentic Glaswegian and the ‘refined’ language of the lawyers. The repartee is rapid, sometimes confusing. Not always chronological? I’m not entirely sure, but it is such fun and so atmospheric, who cares?
Perhaps for some tastes the first act does err towards confusion. But with Act Two the storyline becomes clear. It opens with a shock meeting of the darker powers of gangland Gorbals; the sheer brutality of that underbelly is chilling. The actors drive it home.
Keith Fleming and Brian Vernel play two very believable crooks of whom only one will hang. Under Dominic Hill’s skilful direction, Andy Clark, Martin Donaghy, George Drennan and Robert Jack play all sorts so convincingly one is not always sure which is who. The sole female actor, Mary Gapinski, deserves special mention for her outstanding skills in voicing and embodying different people – including some blokes.
Praise is also due to the novelist Denise Mina and Linda Maclean who has adapted it for the stage. They’ve brought to vibrant life a male-dominated hell without, one presumes, any direct personal experience of it.
This delightfully dark comedy of gallows humour is a joy to watch especially here, smack in the middle of where it all really happened.
The show runs till June 20th.
